Benjamin Safdi

Benjamin Safdi is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, affiliated with the Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics. He holds a PhD from Princeton University (2014), a Master of Advanced Study from Cambridge University (as a Churchill Scholar), and an undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Prior to UC Berkeley, he was a Pappalardo Fellow at MIT (2014–2017), an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan (2017–2020), and part of LBNL before joining Berkeley in 2021.

Research Focus: Dr. Safdi specializes in dark matter physics, particularly axion dark matter detection via novel laboratory experiments and astrophysical probes. His work integrates high-performance computing simulations, data analysis techniques for astrophysical datasets, and collaborations with experimental facilities like the Fermi gamma-ray telescope and the Green Bank radio telescope. He co-founded the ABRACADABRA axion dark matter experiment.

Awards:

• Department of Energy Early Career Award (2018)
• IUPAP C11 Young Scientist Prize (2020)

His research bridges theoretical particle physics and observational astrophysics, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to uncovering dark matter's microscopic nature.