Cluster Hiring Initiatives

Two researchers in lab coats and protective eyewear, working on a piece of equipment

It takes a Volunteer:
Cluster hiring initiatives

Disciplines converge. Knowledge grows. Communities benefit.  

At the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, we conduct research that makes life and lives better.

As a land-grant institution, we work to address the complex problems that affect our communities. We are investing in faculty who share a passion for working together to tackle grand challenges facing Tennessee and beyond. Our cluster hiring initiatives connect faculty talent to world-class research facilities and strong partnerships to accelerate our research impact and prepare our students for compelling, rewarding careers.

Join Our Academic Community

Joining a cluster enables faculty to pursue research and scholarship goals that are impossible to realize alone. You’ll become part of a vibrant community of researchers working across disciplines and focused on a shared mission to address the nation’s greatest challenges. Together you’ll build boundary-breaking research programs and develop innovative curricula to prepare students for emerging careers. You’ll leverage shared momentum, cutting-edge facilities, and unique partnerships to create real-world impact.

cluster Initiatives

Viewed from above, graduate students Bryson Gullett and Charles Rizzo prepare a small autonomous car for testing on a temporary track in the Zeanah Engineering Complex
Graduate students Bryson Gullett and Charles Rizzo prepare an autonomous car for testing on a temporary track in the Zeanah Engineering Complex on July 17, 2023. Photo by Jennie Andrews/Freelance Photographer/University of Tennessee.

Foundational Artificial Intelligence

Yeole Pritesh works with a Wabash, a 150-ton capacity large press, that makes panels from sheet molding compound in the Fibers and Composites Manufacturing Facility (FCMF) lab
Yeole Pritesh, works with a Wabash, a 150-ton capacity large press, that makes panels from sheet molding compound in the Fibers and Composites Manufacturing Facility (FCMF) lab on December 08, 2022. Photo by Steven Bridges/University of Tennessee.

Science-Informed Artificial Intelligence

Two graduate students outdoors, working with an agrovoltaic solar panel system
Jonathan Yoder, 3rd year biosystems engineering grad student, and Ahmad Amirirojdanr, 3rd year biosystems engineering grad student, work with an agrovoltaic system outside the Smart Agriculture Lab in the Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science building on July 09, 2024. Photo by Steven Bridges/University of Tennessee.

Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry

A hands-only view of Alhagie K. Cham, Post Doc, using a pipette to prepares a sample for electrophoresis
Alhagie K. Cham, Post Doc, prepares a sample for electrophoresis in the Pathogen and Pest Lab inside the Agriculture and Natural Resources Building on July 09, 2024. Photo by Steven Bridges/University of Tennessee.

Bioinformatics, Genomic, and Quantitative-Based Solutions for Food Security Under a Changing Climate

Inside the Agriculture Lab, with tomato plants growing in a bed that houses a farm bot, which is being controlled via laptop by Assistant Professor Hao Gan and PhD student McKensie Nelms
Assistant Professor Hao Gan and PhD student McKensie Nelms works with a farm bot in the Smart Agriculture Lab in the Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science building on July 09, 2024. Photo by Steven Bridges/University of Tennessee.

Food and Nutrition Security

College of Nursing student working with a dummy, preparing it for an injection
College of Nursing students work on their maternal/child skills inside the HITS lab on June 04, 2019. Photo by Steven Bridges

Precision Health and Environment

Professor Lee Han and two students in front of a bank of monitors, explaining the application of his research involving crowdsourced traffic and road condition data
Professor Lee Han explains the application of his research involving crowdsourced traffic and road condition data to graduate students Yangsong Gu and Diyi Liu in a lab in the John D. Tickle Engineering Building on July 26, 2023. Photo by Jennie Andrews/Freelance Photographer/University of Tennessee.

Future Mobility

These seven clusters represent UT’s Volunteer ideals to create knowledge and opportunities that benefit communities in our state, in our nation, and around the world. Cluster faculty hires will foster translational research that makes life and lives better and will prepare UT graduates to lead in the communities and workplaces of tomorrow.”

Chancellor Donde Plowman