Sebastian Hoof is an astroparticle physicist driven by the quest to unravel the mysteries of the Universe. His research is focused on the study of new particles, specifically “axions” that hold the potential to solve fundamental problems in modern physics, including the elusive nature of dark matter. 

Sebastian began his academic journey at the University of Heidelberg, where he also participated in an Erasmus exchange program at UCL in the UK. There, he worked in the group of Bart Hoogenboom at the London Centre for Nanotechnology, before completing his Master's thesis at the University of Heidelberg, where his supervisor, Joerg Jaeckel, introduced him to axions. 

Sebastian's curiosity led him to be awarded an Imperial College President’s Scholarship for doing his PhD at Imperial College London, supervised by Pat Scott and Roberto Trotta. Following his PhD, Sebastian expanded his knowledge and expertise during postdoctoral positions at the University of Göttingen and KIT in Germany. As a result of these experiences, he has become an expert in statistical analysis and high-performance computing, which he now uses to compare predictions of new particles against data.

Sebastian joined the University of Padua and INFN in January 2023 to begin his MSCA fellowship project, “AxiTools.” The project aims to improve the availability of open-source software for axions and other weakly interacting particles, thereby advancing the study of their phenomenology and constraining their properties.