Fully Funded PhD Opportunities in Human-Infrastructure Systems, Resilience, and Civil/Environmental Engineering at University of Illinois Chicago University of Illinois Chicago in United States

Fully funded PhD opportunities are available at the University of Illinois Chicago in the newly established Human-Infrastructure Systems Lab (Hi Lab) within the Department of Civil, Materials, and Environmental Engineering.

The lab is recruiting PhD students for Fall 2026 and Spring 2027 under a new tenure-track Assistant Professor. Research interests include human-infrastructure systems, resilience, mobility technologies, natural hazards, disasters, cascading failures, and adaptive governance with a strong emphasis on equity and justice-oriented research.

Example topics mentioned include equitable evacuation during wildfires and floods, lived experience of infrastructure disruption, cascading failures across transportation/energy/water/communication systems, immigrant mobility under institutional stress, adaptive infrastructure governance during hazards, and equitable emerging mobility systems such as electric and autonomous vehicles.

Applicants should be motivated by justice-focused questions and have skills in statistical modeling (R, Python, or STATA), geographic mapping and spatial analysis (ArcGIS, Python, and/or R), and independent research. Preferred experience includes qualitative methods, stakeholder engagement, strong writing, and causal/predictive modeling.

Due to visa uncertainties, priority is being given to US-based students and international students already in the US with valid visas. Interested candidates should email a brief statement of research interests and a CV to the recruiter.