Direct detection searches for WIMP dark matter

A very active hunt is underway to discover the composition of dark matter in the universe. A large effort is devoted to the direct detection of dark matter through interactions with detectors in the laboratory. In this paper, we give an overview of the dark matter problem, discuss some of the design considerations taken in direct detection experiments, and describe some of the current efforts to discover Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), a well-motivated class of candidates for dark matter.