Research by University of Oregon particle physicist and CSWS affiliate Tien-Tien Yu is featured in Oregon News this week.
Yu is investigating the mysterious material known as dark matter. She co-founded an experiment called SENSEI, which uses highly sensitive detectors similar to those found in digital cameras to look for dark matter candidates and interactions.
Yu has earned a CAREER award through the National Science Foundation — a major grant for early-career researchers — and been awarded the New Horizons Prize in Physics. She was also selected to serve on the Particle Physics Prioritization Panel, a scientific advisory panel that created a roadmap for the future of particle physics in the United States. In 2025, she was awarded a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, a prestigious award from the U.S. government given to outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their careers.
At UO, she spearheaded an ongoing collaboration between STEM researchers and students in the UO’s Comics and Cartoon Studies Program to share science with the public through comics, including her work on dark matter.