Athena Sefat | |
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Born | 1977 Iran |
Alma mater | McMaster University (BS, PhD) |
Scientific career | |
Institutions |
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Thesis | Magnetic and electronic transitions in neodymium(1-x) titanium oxide: A study of correlation effects (2005) |
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]
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]
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]