Post-Doctoral Research Associate: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - UTK

University of Tennessee Athletic Marketing Department
University of Tennessee Athletic Marketing Department

Knoxville, TN, USA

USD 75,024-75,024 / year

Posted on Jul 9, 2026
Apply now

Civil and Environmental Engineering invites applications for one full-time Postdoctoral Research position to collaborate with our team in areas of biological treatment processes, water and wastewater quality, environmental microbiology, and renewable energy. Candidates should strong background knowledge in environmental engineering/science, particularly wastewater treatment, and data science and statistics.

The position is available to start as soon as selected. The Postdoctoral researcher will report to Dr. Qiang He. This is a twelve-month appointment, renewable annually for up to two years based on performance and funds availability. The compensation package includes a competitive salary, health benefits, career mentoring, and any required travel.

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has shaped leaders, changemakers, and innovative thinkers since its founding in 1794. The university is home to more than 38,000 students and 10,000 statewide employees—the Volunteers—who uphold the university’s tradition of lighting the way for others through leadership and service.

UT Knoxville offers over 900 programs of study across 14 degree-granting colleges and schools. As Tennessee’s flagship land-grant university, its footprint spans the entire state. The university holds the highest Carnegie classification for research activity and has deep partnerships with industry leaders and the US Department of Energy’s largest multidisciplinary laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The Knoxville campus serves and recruits for UT Knoxville, including the Institute of Agriculture and the Space Institute, as well as the UT Institute of Public Service.

UT Knoxville considers its employees its number one asset. With values that focus on work-life balance, compensation, and innovation leadership, all Vols are supported to advance professionally. Employees have access to career development and coaching, continued education, and an extensive list of development and training possibilities. The Volunteer employee experience implements structures and practices to attract and retain top-tier talent, fostering a strong staff community and supporting a culture of involvement and engagement for everyone.

The university holds a strong commitment to its land-grant mission of learning and engagement, with a tradition of service and leadership that carries that Volunteer spirit throughout the state and around the world. It has been ranked nationally as “Best Employer for New Graduates,” “One of America’s Best Large Employers,” and “Best Workplace for Women,” and has been designated as “Best Place for Working Parents” by Forbes Magazine.

Apply today and join the Tennessee Volunteer community!
Civil and Environmental Engineering invites applications for one full-time Postdoctoral Research position to collaborate with our team in areas of biological treatment processes, water and wastewater quality, environmental microbiology, and renewable energy. Candidates should strong background knowledge in environmental engineering/science, particularly wastewater treatment, and data science and statistics.

Required Qualifications

  • Ph.D. in environmental Engineering, chemical engineering, or related field.

  • Experience with the ability to manage and mentor undergraduates, Masters, or starting doctoral students.

  • Strong written and oral communication, management, and team leadership.

  • Extensive post-graduate preparation in wastewater treatment, metagenomics, metatranscritomics, bioinformatics, statistics, and mathematical process modeling.

  • Effective interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to work in a team environment with a diverse group of scientific and technical personnel.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Demonstrated experience with Python, R, and other applications

  • Communication skills, in person or over ZOOM/TEAMS, with sponsors and students

  • Strong background in preparing/delivering impromptu project presentations

  • Demonstrated experience in publishing journal papers

Work Location

  • Location: Knoxville, TN

  • Onsite

Compensation and Benefits

  • Anticipated hiring range: $75,024

  • Find more information on UT Benefits here

Application Instructions

To express interest, please submit an application with the noted below attachments:

  • Resume

  • Cover Letter

About The Department

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) has 30 tenure-line faculty members and five non-tenured full-time teaching faculty and offers baccalaureate, masters, and PhD degrees in all areas of Civil and Environmental Engineering. CEE faculty collaborate through a number of interdisciplinary centers including the Center for Transportation Research and the Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing. The department also has excellent experimental facilities to support structural engineering research, including a full-scale platform for 3-D concrete printing and a 2000 square-foot structural engineering high bay laboratory with strong floor, reaction wall, and distributed hydraulic power. High performance computing resources are available from the UTK ISAAC facility (Infrastructure for Scientific Applications and Advanced Computing). As the leading university partner in UT-Battelle, the management company for Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), UTK offers extraordinary opportunities for cutting-edge research in science and engineering with the UT-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute (UT-ORII). The department ranks in the top 5% of all US Civil and Environmental Engineering programs in per faculty scholarly publications and citations according to Academic Analytics.

  • Conduct Research, perform various tasks associated with contracted research as well as new research initiatives, and disseminate the results via publications.

  • Assist the Principal Investigator in preparing presentations, reports, interacting with sponsors in person or via emails, and prepare proposals

  • Ensure safe laboratory and work space environment, host tours, mentor students, upkeep equipment, assist in training new users as needed, and keep up with documentation of laboratory activities and related data as records

Apply now
See more open positions at University of Tennessee Athletic Marketing Department