Assistant or Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering, Fall 2027

The Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position at the Assistant or Associate Professor level. The department will pursue tenure consideration for qualified candidates. The anticipated start date is August 2027. 

Duties include teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in nuclear engineering-related subjects, developing and sustaining an externally funded research program, advising graduate students, publishing scholarly work, and providing service to the department, college, university, and professional community. 

The UT Department of Nuclear Engineering is the largest Nuclear Engineering PhD program in the United States, with a diverse research portfolio and close collaborations with Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the Y-12 National Security Complex, and more than 150 nuclear-related companies within 50 miles of the campus. The department is housed in the state-of-the-art Zeanah Engineering Complex, home to more than 20 nuclear engineering laboratories and computational resources. The department is committed to cultivating work/life balance and a family-friendly environment for faculty, staff, and students. 

The Tickle College of Engineering (TCE), comprised of nine departments that house 213 tenure-track and 8O+ non-tenure-track faculty, is in the midst of unprecedented growth under Chancellor Donde Plowman and Dean Matthew Mench, having added 30+ new faculty over the past 4 years and set records in research expenditures ($113.9M in FY25J, enrollment (4,800 undergraduate and 1,500 graduate students), and increased ranking (now 28th among public universities) in the US News and World Report list of top engineering colleges. Key partnerships with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Consolidated Nuclear Security (Y-12) and growth are supported by new facilities including the Zeanah Engineering Complex and the Innovation South building. 

Knoxville is a vibrant city with a beautiful, walkable downtown, active neighborhoods, a lively nightlife with numerous theaters and museums, a rich live music scene, and eclectic dining. Nestled in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains and surrounded by lakes and the Tennessee River, Knoxville offers outstanding access to outdoor recreation and is within 200 miles of four major metropolitan areas. 

We seek candidates whose research and teaching interests strengthen and broaden the department's capabilities in one or more of the following areas: reliability and maintainability of nuclear systems and components; data analytics, artificial intelligence, digital twin technologies, and cyber security for nuclear applications; nuclear instrumentation and control; radiation instrumentation; robust decision-making, empirical/data-driven modeling, and process & equipment monitoring; thermal-fluid sciences and experimental reactor thermal-hydraulics.

Candidates whose work bridges experimentation, computational modeling, sensing, and thermal­fluid or reactor systems analysis in support of reliable, sustainable nuclear power are especially encouraged to apply. Ideally, successful candidates will be able to contribute across more than one of these areas.

Preference will be given to applicants with demonstrated (or clearly emerging, for more junior candidates) research success that complements existing departmental strengths and who have a vision for developing collaborative, sustainably funded research programs. Candidates must also show strong commitment to high-quality undergraduate and graduate teaching. 

Candidates for assistant professor must have a demonstrated potential to develop a nationally recognized, externally funded research program.

Candidates for associate professor must lead a nationally recognized externally funded research program and demonstrate the potential to develop an international recognized research program. 

Applicants must hold a doctorate in Nuclear Engineering or a closely related field by the effective date of appointment. 

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