Faculty & Staff Directory
Ferah Munshi
- Assistant Professor
Contact Info
- Name
- Dr. Ferah A. Munshi
- Preferred Pronouns
- she/her
- Job Title
- Assistant Professor
- Office Number
- Planetary Hall 243
Affiliations
Departments
- Physics & Astronomy Department (Faculty)
Education
BA, UC Berkeley
MS, PhD, University of Washington
About
Ferah Munshi is an astrophysicist and dark matter hunter exploring some of the universe’s most elusive mysteries. As a Simons Emmy Noether Fellow and recipient of the COS Dean’s Early Career Excellence Award (2025) at George Mason University, her work bridges theory, computation, and observation to understand the invisible (dark) matter shaping galaxies and cosmic structure. Passionate about asking questions at the edge of the known, Munshi challenges how we define discovery when the universe refuses to reveal its secrets easily. Beyond research, she is committed to expanding who gets to participate in science and how bold ideas are cultivated in academia. Through her work, she invites us to rethink what it means to search for something we cannot see—but know must exist.
Current Research
Munshi's work focuses on utilizing hydrodynamic simulations to study galaxy formation- in particular, the formation and evolution of the smallest and dimmest galaxies- in an effort to constrain the nature of dark matter. Because they are so small, dim and dominated in mass by dark matter, these galaxies are thought to be pristine laboratories for understanding dark matter through astrophysics. Munshi's simulations are run on national supercomputing facilities, including NSF's Frontera, one of the world's fastest supercomputers.
Selected Publications
Contact Info
- Name
- Dr. Ferah A. Munshi
- Preferred Pronouns
- she/her
- Job Title
- Assistant Professor
- Office Number
- Planetary Hall 243