Biography

Mojdeh Banafsheh was born in Tehran into a family belonging to the Bahá’í religious minority. From an early age, she faced persecution because of her religious identity, including psychological abuse, exclusion from school, and the denial of fundamental civil rights. These experiences taught her to view suffering differently—not to deny it, but to transform it into a path toward inner growth, resilience, and compassion for others.

At the age of sixteen and a half, she began studying computer engineering, philosophy, and theology in parallel. Driven by a lifelong intellectual curiosity, she later left her homeland to study physics, the discipline in which she hoped to find answers to questions that had accompanied her since childhood. At the time, pursuing this path in Iran was not possible: Bahá’í students were denied access to the country’s universities, and physics was not among the programmes offered by the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE).

Mojdeh Banafsheh holds a PhD in theoretical physics. Her scientific experience encompasses particle physics, cosmology, many-body systems, and computational modelling. Her background in computer engineering, combined with her work in scientific research, technology, and the management of industrial projects, has shaped a deeply systemic approach to complex questions.

Teaching also holds a central place in her journey. At the age of thirteen, she began earning a living through teaching. It was then that she discovered the unique joy of helping someone understand a subject that had previously seemed inaccessible—and of seeing confidence and a smile emerge through that understanding. This formative experience shaped her vocation as an educator.

For more than two decades, she has taught mathematics and physics in Switzerland and internationally. Over the years, she has developed an ethical and compassionate approach to education, centred on understanding, trust, intellectual autonomy, and responsibility. Her work extends beyond the transmission of knowledge: it seeks to cultivate discernment, a sense of justice, and a lasting commitment to human dignity and the pursuit of knowledge.

This commitment led to the creation of AcademieLab Sàrl in Switzerland in 2022. Through the company, Mojdeh Banafsheh develops educational projects and programmes that bring together intellectual excellence, responsibility, and service to the common good. She also founded a Service Committee within AcademieLab to place education and ethical reflection, on a voluntary basis, at the service of Swiss society—her adopted country, to which she is deeply attached.

As a researcher, educator, author, and speaker, Mojdeh Banafsheh builds bridges between science, education, philosophy, and practical decision-making, while remaining faithful to the rigour of each discipline. Her work is guided by a central conviction: knowledge finds its fullest meaning when it helps human beings understand, choose with discernment, and act responsibly.

Alongside research, she has taught mathematics and physics for nearly two decades in Switzerland and internationally. This sustained experience led her to develop an ethical and benevolent pedagogical approach centred on understanding, confidence, intellectual autonomy and responsibility.

As an author and speaker, she builds bridges between science, education, philosophy and practical decision-making—without diluting the rigour of any of them.