The EPIC lab is a new group and we are currently recruiting at all career stages: undergraduate students, graduate students (Ph.D. / Master's), and postdoctoral fellows. We seek passionate, creative, hard-working, curious, and self-driven people to join our team.
We are committed to fostering an diverse, equitable and inclusive research group, representative of the communities (from local to international) who support our work and benefit from our research.
Opportunities
Our work is highly interdisciplinary. We are individuals with varying backgrounds, including but not limited to Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Design, Architecture, Materials, Manufacturing, Civil Engineering, etc. We often form a team with other members on projects to work collaboratively. We believe that some of the most "wicked" problems we face, including climate change, resilient infrastructure, etc., require expertise, knowledge, and perspectives from multiple areas. Therefore we strive to build a creative team from diverse backgrounds.
PhD Students
📢 We're currently looking for two Ph.D. students to join our lab starting in Spring, Summer or Fall 2023.
Graduate Programs
I can accept students through the EECS's graduate program. I encourage students to reach out to me through email (sai@utk.edu) with CV/Resume before applying and learning more about the options, and afterwards I'm happy to share my perspectives on various opportunities. If you're interested in joining EPIC lab, you should explicitly state your interest in working the area of Human-Computer Interaction. Applications are due in late-January.
Applications should be submitted via the University of Tennessee's Graduate School. General information about EECS's graduate programs can be found here.
PhD Student Support
I am fully committed to ensuring support and financial security to my students while in graduate program. I take my job as your mentor and sponsor very seriously. Your tuition and full-time stipend throughout your time at UT will be supported by a variety of sources such as department funds, my grants and start-up funds, your independent fellowships, and teaching assistantships.
Masters Students
We welcome Masters students, but often priortize funding and Research Assistantship (RA) opportunities to PhD students. From time to time, when funding permits, we may offer an TA/RA to Masters students. However, we typically first ask Masters students to work on a small project in the lab for course credit to establish fit and confirm the student’s interest in the topic area.
Undergraduate Research
Undergraduates at UT are a core part of my lab's research program and we have a very active group of undergraduates working in the group. There are opportunities to gain both valuable skills and credit from working in our lab! Summer undergraduate research opportunities are available as well to exceptional students. We encourage undergraduate students to start early and consider senior honors thesis option. We offer Undergraduate Research Assistants (URAs), and assist students interested in securing an Undergraduate Teaching Assistantships (UTA).
I personally mentor undergraduate students for nationally compettive fellowships such as Barry Goldwater Fellowship , CRA undergraduate awards , etc. While engaging with EPIC lab, undergraduate research responsibilities vary between projects and can range from aiding an existing project to engineering novel interactive systems. Interested undergraduates at UT, please reach out to sai@utk.edu
Post-Doctoral Researchers
The EPIC Lab does not currently have funding to support postdoctoral researchers. However, there are several funding options that external visitors may consider or pursue to fund them in joining the research group:
- Various DOE/DOD Postdoctoral Opportunities are possible through University of Tennessee (UT). There is an extensive list of funding opportunities that fund postdoctoral research across various timelines and capacities. Each application also varies in its due date and application requirements. Please contact us if you are interested in pursuing an externally-funded fellowship.
- CRA/CCC Computing Innovation Fellowship (CIFellows) program is a postdoctoral research program jointly funded by the CRA and the NSF that provides two years of funding to awardees. A CI Fellows application is the collaborative product of both by a mentor and an applicatn. If you are a graduating PhD student and have an interest in working in the PAIRS laboratory as a postdoctoral researcher, please reach out immediately.
High School Students
The Epic Lab invites a select number of high school students from the Knoxville area to conduct an intense 8-week long research project during the summer. Applications for the Summer 2023 program will open in Spring 2023.
Why Knoxville?
There are many reasons to consider knoxville, the article here and the poster below should help :-)
