Overview

This interdisciplinary degree is a collaborative effort supported by selected faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, and the Tickle College of Engineering, in addition to research staff of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 

These research and educational leaders are appointed as faculty members of the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education. Members of the Bredesen Center faculty determine the curriculum and serve as the primary resource for the teaching, research, and mentoring of the students admitted to the program. 

The Bredesen Center Graduate Admissions Committee makes decisions on admissions, transfer, evaluation, and continuation of graduate students in the program.

In order to be admitted to the PhD program in energy science and engineering, student applicants must fulfill the general admission criteria for the Graduate School of the University of Tennessee Knoxville. 

In addition, the student must have a Bachelor of Science degree in either engineering or a scientific field (physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, computational science, etc.), or the equivalent. Students with other undergraduate degrees may also be admitted on a case-by-case basis by the Bredesen Center Graduate Admissions Committee. Dependent on the student’s background, additional coursework may be required to satisfy co- and prerequisites.