Athena Safa Sefat, born 1977 in Iran[1] is a Canadian/American physicist, with research focus on quantum materials and correlated phenomena.[2] She was a senior scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory 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.[3]

Athena Sefat
Athena Sefat
Born1977
Iran
Alma materMcMaster University (BS, PhD)
Scientific career
Institutions
ThesisMagnetic and electronic transitions in neodymium(1-x) titanium oxide: A study of correlation effects (2005)

Early life and education

edit

Sefat was born in Iran and came to Canada in her teens. She studied chemistry for her bachelor's degree at McMaster University (Canada).[1] 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[4] where she was supervised by John E. Greedan.[5]

Career and research

edit

Sefat was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at Ames Laboratory working under Paul C. Canfield.[5] She joined ORNL in 2007 and was awarded the prestigious DOE Office of Science Early Career Award[6] for the period 2010–2015. She is a fellow of the American Physical Society[7] and the Institute of Physics.[8] She serves as a member of the American Physical Society Committee on International Freedom of Scientists,[9] and the Materials Research Society New Meetings Subcommittee.

Sefat has participated in science communication and outreach events like Science Saturdays at ORNL.[1]

Awards and honours

edit
  • Fellow of the American Physical Society[7]
  • Fellow of the Institute of Physics[8]
  • Eugene Wigner Fellowship Award[1]
  • U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Early Career Research Award[1]
  • Named among Thomas Reuters’ top influential researchers for 2014[1][10]
  • 2011 Gordon Battelle Award for Group Scientific Discovery[11]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f press release knoxnews.com,2015
  2. ^ "Oak Ridge National Laboratory – Athena S Sefat".
  3. ^ Sefat, Athena. "Department of Energy - Basic Energy Sciences". Energy.gov. Archived from the original on 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  4. ^ Safa-Sefat, Athena (2005). Magnetic and electronic transitions in neodymium(1-x) titanium oxide: A study of correlation effects (Thesis). OCLC 181788652.
  5. ^ a b "AthenaSefat - USERN". usern.tums.ac.ir. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  6. ^ "Athena Safa Sefat: Then and now | US Department of Energy Science News | EurekAlert! Science News". www.eurekalert.org. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  7. ^ a b "Six ORNL researchers elected fellows of the American Physical Society | ORNL". www.ornl.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  8. ^ a b "ORNL's Sefat named Institute of Physics Fellow | ORNL". www.ornl.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  9. ^ "American Physical Society - Committee on International Freedom of Scientists".
  10. ^ "Five ORNL scientists rated among world's most influential". Oak Ridge Today. 2014-08-01. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  11. ^ "HFIR and SNS Experiments Take Gordon Battelle Awards for Scientific Discovery | Neutron Science at ORNL". neutrons.ornl.gov. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
edit