Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education (UTK-ORNL)

The Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education unites extensive and complementary resources at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to advance science, technology, engineering, and mathematics research related to energy. Seeking to explore the breadth and depth of twenty-first century scientific challenges by bringing together the best and brightest minds, the Bredesen Center offers competitive doctoral fellowships to exceptional graduate students through two interdisciplinary graduate programs.

The Energy Science and Engineering (ESE) Ph.D. program engages graduate students in extensive interdisciplinary research and coursework focused on science and engineering challenges related to the production, distribution, and consumption of energy, in addition to fostering the skills required for public policymaking and entrepreneurship. Topical areas of the ESE Ph.D have been chosen to resonate with Department of Energy priorities and industry needs, with a tailored integration of graduate courses across disciplines that provides deep expertise in a chosen specialty. Current areas of energy-related research include nuclear energy, bioenergy and biofuels, renewable energy, energy conversion and storage, distributed energy and grid management, as well as environmental and climate sciences related to energy usage. Graduate students are able to join research teams at both ORNL and UT, engaging students in problem-oriented research and encouraging them to develop solutions to these problems using multiple perspectives.

The Bredesen Center is also home to the highly competitive Distinguished Graduate Fellowship (DGF) Ph.D. program, designed to create future leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Distinguished Graduate Fellows are heavily involved in research at ORNL while simultaneously taking specialty courses and seminars to complete their Ph.D. in the fields of nuclear, computational, and materials science and engineering at the University of Tennessee. The fellowship leads to a degree awarded by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, research supervision by both UTK and ORNL personnel, strong involvement in research projects at ORNL, and access to interdisciplinary seminars and specialty courses that draw on both UTK and ORNL personnel.

Locations

Because the Bredesen Center is committed to establishing collaborative graduate research between the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, locations have been set up at both campuses to fulfill the educational and research requirements of our students, faculty, and staff. At the University of Tennessee, Knoxville campus, the Bredesen Center is located on the fourth floor of Greve Hall. This location serves as the educational hub for the graduate program, complete with a modern classroom, a conference room, study rooms, and office for both students and staff. At the Oak Ridge National Laboratory campus, the Bredesen Center is located on the first floor of the Joint Institute for Computational Sciences building 5100 in room 140. This multipurpose room offers graduate students a space to work, as well as to host seminars and lectures in a room with videoconferencing capabilities.

Legacy

Gov. Phil Bredesen The Bredesen Center is named in honor of Governor Phil Bredesen, who served Tennessee from 2003 to 2011, in recognition of his leadership in education and economic development for the state. In addition his commitment to the Bredesen Center, Governor Bredesen’s vision for capitalizing on the great potential of the UT-ORNL partnership resulted in the UT-ORNL Governor’s Chairs program, the UT Biofuels Initiative, the Volunteer State Solar Initiative, and the UT-ORNL Joint Institutes for Computational Sciences, Biological Sciences, and Neutron Sciences.

Linkages

Given the dynamic and interdisciplinary nature of modern scientific research, creating linkages between public, private, and non-profit institutions is crucial to the mission of the Bredesen Center. In order to achieve this goal, the Bredesen Center has partnered with TN-SCORE, Tennessee Solar Conversion and Storage using Outreach, Research and Education, a research award program initialized by Tennessee EPSCoR Committee. The mission of TN-SCORE is to identify and focus investments on specific research areas to improve research competitiveness, to increase collaboration between universities and the state, to improve educational science and technology, and to increase educational opportunities of underrepresented groups across the State of Tennessee. In addition to providing research awards to enterprising graduate student researchers, TN-SCORE will also advise researchers on entrepreneurial opportunities and activities related to solar energy in Tennessee.

Learn more about TN-SCORE:

Questions?

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to contact us at bredesencenter@utk.edu and we will address your concerns as quickly as possible. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for up to date news and events.