Mariana Graña, works at the Institute of Theoretical Physics in Saclay (CEA/CNRS) in the field of string theory, which aims to unify the theories of gravitation, quantum mechanics, and the Standard Model. It combines mathematical virtuosity on the formal aspects, with an effort in favor of concrete verifications of the predictions obtained. A challenge faced by these approaches is the need to "recompute" the original description, in a high dimensional space (ten or more), to account for the properties of the four dimensional space-time as we know it.

She has made major contributions to the compactification of string theories with fluxes (which can be seen as generalizations of the magnetic field), to the study of the generalized geometry of the compactification inner space and to the stabilization of moduli fields that describe the quantum fluctuations of the inner space. In particular, she has identified the constraints for obtaining a positive cosmological constant in this context. Author of decisive contributions to the state of the art, and which have had a very great impact, she leads a very active group, and has established herself as an undisputed leader in her field and one of the most prominent internationally.