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The question is pretty much the one of the title. I'm a graduate student in theoretical physics and I notice a lot of professors work in string theory and I ask them to talk about it when they can.

The idea of strings intrigues me but I would like learn as much as possible from people working or studying in the field as to how much it has helped us gain a better understanding of areas such as quantum gravity, superconductors and the holographic principle.

I have read the Wikipedia String Theory article which is very comprehensive but I would really appreciate a chance to hear from anybody working in the field.

I would compare it exactly as if I asked about the benefits of classical electromagnetism or general relativity 100 years ago.

RenatoRenatoRenato
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Aside from a number of interesting mathematical discoveries made in the course of developing String Theory, String Theory and it's related variants are the most likely successors to the Standard Model. While it has been wildly successful as a scientific theory, the Standard Model is far from perfect. Currently, the Standard Model doesn't provide an explanation for gravity, and to the best of my knowledge current attempts to integrate General Relativity and the Standard Model have run into a number of serious problems, such as the cosmological constant problem.

As anna v pointed out, research into String Theory has lead to many of the various proposed resolutions to the problems in the standard model (in the sense of changing the model), and how to better integrate the standard model and general theory into a single, unified theory.

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Alecto
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