The Opportunity
The Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering (CECE) at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, Florida, invites applicants for multiple full-time, 9-month, tenure-earning assistant professor positions with an anticipated start date of August 8, 2026. CECE is looking for candidates that will strengthen the department’s research and teaching portfolio across the subdisciplines in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Focus areas of research interest to the department are listed below. Successful candidates may work within or at the interface of these focus areas, or in other basic or applied research areas with external funding potential. Candidates with experimental, field, analytical, or computational strengths will be considered.
Focus areas for research include:
1. Systems engineering at the scale of cities and beyond: distributed systems, mathematical and computational modeling of systems, control of interconnected urban systems, integration of design, technology, and operation of civil and environmental systems, human-infrastructure-AI integration, cyber security for smart city data, privacy-preserving data collection and model development.
2. Smart buildings and structures: multi-scale modeling for extreme events and climate adaptability, hybrid and substructure simulation beyond seismic, offshore and on-shore wind and wave energy structures, soil-foundation-structure interaction under geoenvironmental hazards.
3. Materials for sustainable infrastructure: low-carbon circular concrete or geomaterials, bio-inspired and adaptive material design.
4. Systems design for autonomous, adaptive, and resilient urban infrastructure: operations, monitoring, maintenance and life cycle-management for enhanced national security considering climate, disaster preparedness, emergency risk management and community resilience to extreme events.
5. Quantum-AI-enhanced decision frameworks: decision-making in uncertain, complex, interconnected civil engineering systems, structural uncertainty quantification, physics-informed learning, data fusion, real-time sensing and control, simulation of cascading failures in interconnected networks, edge intelligence and AI-augmented decision science, human-AI collaboration.
Faculty hired for these positions are expected to develop strong nationally and internationally recognized research activities aligned with the vision of the department, develop new and participate in existing multidisciplinary activities and projects, train postdoctoral scholars, serve as the primary advisor for graduate students, and teach graduate and undergraduate courses in Civil or Environmental Engineering. Salary and start-up package will be commensurate with the candidate’s qualifications.
Minimum Qualifications:
• A doctorate from an accredited institution in Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, or a closely related area at the time of the appointment.
• Demonstrated record of research and scholarly output.
• Evidence of the ability to develop a sustainable, externally funded research program and national/international recognition.
Preferred Qualifications:
• Exceptional record of scholarly research, highly recognized for technical contributions and leadership in area of expertise.
• Demonstrated teaching skills, and ability to effectively communicate with and mentor students and/or postdoctoral scholars.
• Existing research relationships with local, state, or federal government agencies and municipalities or other stakeholders.
• Professional engineering license or other credentials relevant to the agencies and stakeholders in previous bullet, or ability to obtain them.
• Postdoctoral experience in academic research, government lab, industry or as assistant professor.
Additional Application Materials Required:
UCF requires all applications and supporting documents be submitted electronically through the Human Resources employment opportunities website, https://www.ucf.edu/jobs/. In addition to the online application, interested candidates should upload the following:
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A curriculum vitae.
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A letter of interest describing qualifications for the position, such as research agenda and teaching experience/interest.
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A maximum two-page research statement summarizing past research accomplishments and detailed research plan, a teaching vision and interest statement,
NOTE: Please have all documents ready when applying so they can be attached at that time. Once the online submission process is finalized, the system does not allow applicants to submit additional documents later.
The selected candidate will be required to submit official transcripts (and, as applicable, U.S. degree equivalency evaluations) documenting the conferral of their qualifying academic credentials.
Questions regarding this search should be directed to CECESearch@ucf.edu.
Special Instructions to the Applicants:
Review of applications will start on December 6, 2025, but applications will be considered on a rolling basis until all positions are filled.
Job Close Date:
Open Until Filled
Note to applicants: Please keep in mind that a job posted as ‘Open until filled’ may close at any time without notice. As such, we encourage you to submit your application and all required documentation as quickly as possible to ensure consideration for the posted position.
Are you ready to unleash YOUR potential?
As a next-generation public research university and Forbes-ranked top employer in Florida, we are a community of thinkers, doers, creators, innovators, healers, and leaders striving to create broader prosperity and help shape a better future. No matter what your role is, when you join Knight Nation, you’ll play an integral role at one of the most impactful universities in the country. You’ll be met with opportunities to connect and collaborate with talented faculty, staff, and students across 13 colleges and multiple campuses, engaging in impactful work that makes a positive difference. Your time at UCF will provide you with many meaningful opportunities to grow, you’ll work alongside talented colleagues on complex projects that will challenge you and help you gain new skills and you’ll have countless rewarding experiences that go well beyond a paycheck.
Working at UCF has its perks! UCF offers:
- Benefit packages, including Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, Flexible Spending, and Employee Assistance Program.
- Paid time off, including annual (12-month faculty) and sick time off and paid holidays.
- Retirement savings options.
- Employee discounts, including tickets to many Orlando attractions.
- Education assistance.
- Flexible work environment.
- And more…For more benefits information, view the UCF Employee Benefits Guide click here.
Unless explicitly stated on the job posting, it is UCF’s expectation that an employee of UCF will reside in Florida as of the date the employment begins.
Additional Requirements related to Research Positions:
Pursuant to Florida State Statute 1010.35, prior to offering employment to certain individuals in research-related positions, UCF is required to conduct additional screening. Applicants subject to additional screening include any citizen of a foreign country who is not a permanent resident of the U.S., or who is a citizen or permanent resident but is affiliated with or has had at least 1 year of education, employment, or training in China, Cuba, Iran, Russia, North Korea, Syria, or Venezuela.
The additional screening requirements only apply to research-related positions, including, but not limited to faculty, graduate positions, individuals compensated by research grants or contract funds, post-doctoral positions, undergraduate positions, visiting assistant professors, and visiting research associates.
Department
College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) - Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering - Operations
Work Schedule
Varies
Type of Appointment
Regular
Expected Salary
Negotiable
As a Florida public university, the University of Central Florida makes all application materials and selection procedures available to the public upon request.
UCF is proud to be a smoke-free campus and an E-Verify employer.
If an accommodation due to a disability is needed to apply for this position, please call 407-823-1336 or email onac@ucf.edu.
For general application or posting questions, please email talent@ucf.edu.