I am an associate professor at the University of Oregon in the Department of Physics and a member of the Institute for Fundamental Science. My research is in particle physics phenomenology and I am interested in understanding the nature of dark matter. Dark matter comprises nearly 85% of the known matter content of the Universe, but its identity remains a mystery. Specifically, I focus on methods and techniques of detecting various candidates of dark matter. I am a co-founder of the SENSEI experiment, which uses silicon CCDs to look for dark matter candidates that are less massive than a proton. In addition, I investigate the potential of astrophysical and cosmological probes to detect models of ultralight dark matter. You can find a list of my publications at INSPIRE-HEP. I was a member of the 2023 Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5), which was charged with creating a roadmap for the next two decades of particle physics in the US.
Since arriving at UO, I created -- in collaboration with Prof. Kate Kelp-Stebbins and the UO Comics Studies program -- the UO Science and Comics Initiative. You can read more about the initiative here!
Brief CV
2022 - present // University of Oregon, Associate Professor of Physics
2017 - 2022 // University of Oregon, Assistant Professor of Physics (on leave 2017-2018 AY)
2016-2018 // CERN, theory group fellow
2013-2016 // CN Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics, postdoctoral fellow
2011-2013 // Fermilab theory group, graduate student fellow
2008-2013 // University of Wisconsin - Madison, PhD Physics
2003-2007 // University of Chicago, AB Physics and Mathematics
Awards and Honors
2025 // Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
2021 // New Horizons Prize in Physics with Rouven Essig, Javier Tiffenberg, and Tomer Volansky
2020 // NSF CAREER Award
2011 // Fermilab Fellowship in Theoretical Physics
2010, 2011 // Elizabeth Hirschfelder Scholarship for Graduate Women
2008 // NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
2008 // GANN Fellowship
Group Members
Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in joining my group!
Ansh Desai (PhD student, co-advised with Eric Torrence)
Former group members
Pouya Asadi (IFS postdoc > Postdoc at UCSC)
Thomas Bouley (PhD 2025 > Adjunct instructor at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College)
Ben Lillard (IFS postdoc > Postdoc at Penn State)
Aria Radick (PhD 2024 > Software Engineer at NOAA GFDL, Data Science group)
Thomas Schwemberger (PhD 2025 > Postdoc at QUP@ KEK, Tsukuba Japan)
Anna-Maria Taki (IFS postdoc)
Teaching
Winter 2026 // PHYS610: General Relativity I, please see Canvas for course information.
Code
QEdark
474 Willamette Hall
Eugene, OR 97403
tientien[at]uoregon[dot]edu
The University of Oregon is located on Kalapuya Ilihi, the traditional indigenous homeland of the Kalapuya people.
Last updated: January 28, 2026