Assistant Professor – Geotechnical Engineering
About The Position
The Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Virginia Tech invites applications for a tenured/tenure-track faculty position at the rank of Assistant Professor in Geotechnical Engineering, effective August 2026. We are seeking candidates motivated to contribute to a collegial, interdisciplinary community with a strong tradition of both fundamental and applied research. The CEE Department has 53 tenured/tenure-track faculty and 7 professors of practice. Eight faculty are recent early investigator recipients, and numerous other faculty are recognized nationally and internationally. The department is home to 673 undergraduate students and 330 full-time graduate students. The civil and environmental engineering graduate programs are currently ranked 9th and 4th, respectively, and the civil and environmental engineering undergraduate programs are ranked 9th and 7th, respectively, by U.S. News & World Report (USN&WR). The successful candidate will have a research focus in computational geomechanics, emphasizing numerical investigation of soil behavior under coupled mechanical, hydraulic, and thermal conditions, particularly for unsaturated and multiphase systems. We seek candidates with grain- and pore-scale modeling expertise with a focus on fundamental mechanisms governing complex soil responses, enabled by recent advances in high-performance computing to make such simulations feasible at realistic scales. This expertise is essential for addressing problems that are difficult to investigate through experimental approaches, thereby complementing the department’s established strengths in laboratory and field-based geomechanics. Candidates will leverage advanced computing resources and foster interdisciplinary collaborations to tackle grand challenges in infrastructure resilience, geohazard mitigation, and environmental sustainability, and to advance emerging applications in energy geotechnics.
Requirements
- Ph.D. in civil engineering
- A strong record of academic accomplishments commensurate with rank and in a research area consistent with the job description
- A proven ability to work collaboratively
- A commitment to interdisciplinary research and instruction
- An ability to teach subjects germane to the field and develop courses in emerging areas
Nice To Haves
- Registration as a Professional Engineer (PE) is preferred but successful candidates should demonstrate the capacity to obtain PE registration.
Responsibilities
- Developing a strong externally sponsored research program
- Teaching courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels
- Mentoring students
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
Number of Employees
5,001-10,000 employees
