Doctor of Philosophy in Energy Science and Engineering

The Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education offers a graduate program leading to the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Energy Science and Engineering (ESE). 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 (e.g., analytics, biology, chemistry, computational science, mathematics, physics, statistics, 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.

For admission to a graduate program, an international student must have an equivalent 4-year bachelor's degree with at least a 3.00 on a 4.00 scale on all previous coursework or a 3.30 on a 4.00 scale on all previous graduate work. Grading systems other than the 4.00 scale are evaluated, upon receipt of transcripts, in accordance with standard practice. Programs may require a higher average GPA for admission. Applicants with work experience or who are entering graduate study after a number of years away from an educational institution, usually five years, will be given consideration with greater flexibility relative to GPA.

Minimum score requirements for admission to the Graduate School are:
a total score of 80 on the internet-based TOEFL (iBT),
a total score of 550 or equivalent on the paper-based TOEFL (PBT), or
a 6.5 overall band score on the IELTS.