Tenure-Track Faculty Position in Geotechnical Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and the Cocoziello Institute of Real Estate Innovation

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POSITION SPECIFICS

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and the Cocoziello Institute of Real Estate Innovation at The Pennsylvania State University invite applications for a new faculty position in geotechnical engineering. This tenure-track position will be filled at the Assistant Professor or Associate Professor level on a 36-week academic year appointment. We seek an exceptional faculty member who can envision the future of civil engineering research and education and integrate engineering and science to address critical civil infrastructure challenges.

Areas of interest include:

• AI, digital twins, and data-driven geotechnics for the built environment;
• sensing, IoT, remote sensing, and smart monitoring of foundations, underground assets, and geotechnical/civil infrastructure;
• climate resilience and adaptation of built and natural infrastructure under extreme events;
• geo-energy systems for building and infrastructure decarbonization, including geothermal energy, subsurface thermal storage, and carbon management;
• coastal, offshore, and waterfront geotechnics; and
• sustainable, sensor-enabled, and low-carbon geotechnical materials and construction.

The new faculty member will assume a key role in interdisciplinary research collaborations. We seek a collaborative leader who will promote excellence and innovation while developing an internationally recognized, externally funded research program. Additionally, the faculty member is expected to teach courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and contribute to the operation and promotion of the department, college, university, and profession through service.

The position is housed within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, a vibrant unit with 37 faculty members and annual research expenditures exceeding $27 million. The Civil Engineering program is highly ranked by U.S. News & World Report (#13 at undergraduate level and #17 at graduate level), and faculty achievements include seven NSF CAREER Awards and membership in the National Academy of Engineering. In 2024, the department relocated to the new, LEED-certified Engineering Collaborative Research and Education (ECoRE) Building, featuring state-of-the-art laboratories, active-learning classrooms, and 51,000 square feet dedicated to research. Additional laboratory facilities are available at Aramco High Bay Structural Testing Laboratory, Civil Infrastructure Testing and Evaluation Lab, and shared user facilities managed by Penn State's Interdisciplinary Research Institutes.

Penn State's Cocoziello Institute of Real Estate Innovation is a university-wide research institute within the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research focused on advancing innovation across the built environment. The Institute brings together over 150 interdisciplinary experts in engineering, artificial intelligence, construction, energy, materials, health, and public policy to address complex challenges in how buildings and infrastructure are designed, built, operated, and experienced. Institute faculty gain access to interdisciplinary collaborators across Penn State, industry and government partners, grant and proposal-development support, opportunities for industry-sponsored and applied research, Living Laboratory projects and testbeds, and competitive seed funding. Further information on the Cocoziello Institute can be found at https://cocoziello.psu.edu/.

Penn State's flagship University Park campus is located in State College, PA, which has been repeatedly voted one of the most desirable and safest places to live in the United States. State College fosters a vibrant and diverse community with outstanding public schools, reasonable housing costs, and abundant outdoor recreation opportunities.

Qualifications:

At the rank of Assistant Professor or Associate Professor, applicants should hold a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering or other closely related fields in engineering by the start of the appointment. Candidates at the Assistant Professor level must have demonstrated ability as a researcher and must have shown definite evidence of growth in scholarly or professional achievement. Candidates for Associate Professor must possess the same qualifications as the Assistant Professor, but must also provide evidence of an established reputation in teaching as well as scholarly and professional achievement.

Application Information:

Applications must be submitted directly on the Penn State site. Application materials should be uploaded as two PDFs: one PDF containing all application materials in the order listed below, without journal publications, and a second PDF only containing the two selected journal publications. Because of submission system limitations, each PDF document cannot exceed 5MB.

• A cover letter addressed to the Geotechnical Faculty Search Committee (2 pages)
• A curriculum vitae (no page limit)
• A statement of research interests and plan (3 pages)
• A statement of teaching interests and philosophy, including existing courses you would like to teach and new courses or programs you would like to develop (2 pages)
• An impact statement emphasizing how your work supports critical solutions for the benefit of society and the environment through any or all aspects of your appointment (1 page)
• The names, email addresses, and physical addresses of four references
• Two publications in PDF format (preprints with DOI are acceptable)

For full consideration, applications should be received by December 31, 2026. Review of applications will start in January 2027.

Inquiries about the position may be directed to Dr. Ming Xiao, Search Committee Chair, Email: mxiao@engr.psu.edu.

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