Athena Safa Sefat, born 1977 in Iran
/ref> is a Canadian/American physicist, with research focus on quantum materials and correlated phenomena. She was a senior scientist at

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1943, the laboratory is sponsored by the United Sta ...

and led the DOE Basic Energy Science on "Probing Competing Chemical, Electronic, and Spin Correlations for Quantum Materials Functionality". She is currently a Program Manager at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, with Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering.

Early life and education

Sefat was born in Iran and came to Canada in her teens. She studied chemistry for her bachelor's degree at

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

(Canada). Sefat remained at McMaster for her PhD, completing a thesis entitled ''Magnetic and electronic transitions in neodymium(1-x) titanium oxide: A study of correlation effects'' in 2005 where she was supervised by John E. Greedan.

Career and research

Sefat was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at Ames Laboratory working under Paul C. Canfield. She joined ORNL in 2007 and was awarded the prestigious DOE Office of Science Early Career Award for the period 2010–2015. She is a fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

and the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based not-for-profit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, physics research, research and applied physics, application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide ...

. She serves as a member of the

Committee on International Freedom of Scientists, and the

Materials Research Society The Materials Research Society (MRS) is a non-profit, professional organization for materials researchers, scientists and engineers. Established in 1973, MRS is a member-driven organization of approximately 13,000 materials researchers from academi ...

New Meetings Subcommittee. Sefat has participated in science communication and outreach events like Science Saturdays at ORNL.

Awards and honours

* Fellow of the American Physical Society * Fellow of the Institute of Physics * Eugene Wigner Fellowship Award * U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Early Career Research Award * Named among Thomas Reuters’ top influential researchers for 2014 *2011 Gordon Battelle Award for Group Scientific Discovery

References

External links

*
Women @ Energy: Athena Safa Sefat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sefat, Athena Safa 21st-century American physicists American women physicists Fellows of the American Physical Society Living people 1977 births 21st-century American women scientists