Dr. Andrew Patrick Vincent Siemion has dedicated his career to the rigorous pursuit of one of humanity’s most profound inquiries: the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Serving as the Principal Investigator of Breakthrough Listen and the Director of the Breakthrough Listen Hub at the University of Oxford, Professor Siemion orchestrates the most comprehensive and technologically advanced search for technosignatures ever undertaken. He holds concomitant appointments as the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI at the SETI Institute and Director of the Berkeley SETI Research Center. He additionally lends his expertise as an Honorary Professor at the University of Manchester.
Dr. Siemion’s academic trajectory was established at the University of California, Berkeley, where his early research was recognized with both the Josephine de Karman Undergraduate Fellowship and the Dorothea Klumpke Roberts Prize. His doctoral work, which advanced our approach to detecting exotic radio sources, culminated in the Mary Elizabeth Uhl Dissertation Prize. He was named the recipient of the SETI Institute's 2024 Drake Award, the highest honor in the field, acknowledging his exceptional and pioneering contributions to the scientific discourse and his continuous redefinition of its methodological rigor.
Dr. Siemion frequently discusses astrobiology and the search for technosignatures in global media, including BBC Horizon, Through the Wormhole, Space's Deepest Secrets, and the PBS NewsHour. He has also been called upon to offer expert testimony before the United States Congress, formally briefing the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on the prevailing status of astrobiology.