Openings

Postdoctoral Positions

We are currently looking for multiple postdoctoral associates on research topics related to our research. Applicants with independent financial support or third-party funding are strongly encouraged to inquire about possible openings. We sponsor candidates with suitable background and strong publication records to compete for prestigious postdoctoral positions, including Cornell Atkinson Postdoctoral Fellowship, Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Program, and Ezra Postdoctoral Associate Program. These postdoctoral openings offer competitive salaries, in addition to the full Cornell-employee benefit plans.

Prospective Ph.D. Students

Self-motivated and adaptable students interested in pursuing Ph.D. studies with full financial aid at PEESE are encouraged to apply to one of the following Cornell graduate programs:

It is worth noting that most admitted Ph.D. students have prior first-authored research publications. We are particularly interested in applicants who have experience and interests in two key areas:

    • Energy/Climate Analytics for Decarbonization: This includes life cycle analysis/optimization, industrial ecology, integrated assessment models, and related fields of AI for Sustainability;
    • AI for Science: AI for sustainability, AI for materials informatics, and quantum AI.

Our research projects are fundamental and practically significant. We frequently collaborate with industries and NGOs on various research projects. PEESE Ph.D. students did summer internships with our industrial partners/collaborators, such as JP Morgan, Amazon, Microsoft, Intel, Meta/Facebook, ExxonMobil, Dow Chemical, among many others.  

Prospective M.S. Students

PEESE always welcomes self-funded M.S. students committed to quality thesis research. Our M.S. students generally advance to one of the above-mentioned Ph.D. programs after completing their M.S. studies with us. Although we understand that some may choose different career paths, such as entering the industry, we expect their research progress to align with that of students in concurrent Ph.D. programs at a similar academic stage. Here is the list of PEESE M.S. alumni, excluding those continuing for Ph.D. Financial aid opportunities are also present; MS students demonstrating significant research progress within a semester or a year may qualify for partial to full financial aid from our research grants. Notably, some exceptional MS students have received stipends that significantly exceed the Ph.D. assistantship rate due to their outstanding research progress. Applicants are encouraged to consider the following M.S. programs.

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of our research, PEESE Ph.D. and M.S. students typically take a few graduate courses on artificial intelligence, operations research, and/or computer science. In particular, our Ph.D. and M.S. students may take CS 6703 AI for Science or CS 6780: Advanced Machine Learning, in addition to SysEn/ChemE 6800 Computational Optimization and SysEn 6888: Deep Learning. Other courses offered by PEESE, SysEn 5860: Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence and SysEn/ChemE 6880: Industrial Big Data Analytics & Machine Learning, are also encouraged.

Ph.D. and M.S. are research degree programs and require performing original and innovative research. Students interested in earning a master’s degree focusing on coursework only (i.e., non-thesis option) should pursue a professional degree instead, such as CBE M.Eng. or ECE M.Eng. See below for further details.

Prospective M.Eng. Students

We are excited to offer design project opportunities to CBE M.Eng. and ECE M.Eng. students at Cornell. Our M.Eng. projects covers a variety of topics, including data science, AI, software engineering, app/web development, sustainability, energy systems, computational modeling, manufacturing, process/product design, and bio-/pharmaceutical engineering. CBE and ECE M.Eng. students interested in PEESE are very welcome to contact Prof. You for M.Eng. projects through CHEME 5650 or ECE 6930/6931. We are particularly proud of the M.Eng. awards won by former PEESE students.