Dr. Dean is recruiting 1-2 highly motivated students for fall 2025 to conduct innovative, high-quality research on sustainable transportation and energy systems, like shared autonomous vehicles, electric mobility systems, charging stations, and vehicle-grid integration. The student will be part of the Sustainable Transportation & Evolving Energy Research (STEER) lab at the University of California, Irvine. Based on the student’s background and interests, the PhD projects may focus on behaviorally informed optimization or policy analysis through simulation-based studies.
The ideal candidate should have a BS or MS in engineering, applied math, operations research, data science, computer science, or a related field. They should have a strong background in statistical learning (statistics/econometrics and/or machine learning/AI, and some optimization) and demonstrated abilities in programming or data analysis (Python/R/C++). Applicants should have strong written and oral English scores. A commitment to conducting high-quality work is expected and can be demonstrated through reference letters, writing examples, or past published papers. Finally, you must meet all entrance requirements for graduate students seeking admission into UCI’s CEE MS/PhD program. Please note that applications are viewed holistically, so please mention any unique strengths or weaknesses in your statements.
The position offers a competitive and fully funded salary with benefits for four years for candidates with an MS degree (five years for those with a BS wishing to receive a PhD). Funding will be available through multiple pathways, including opportunities for a research assistantship and teaching assistantship. Funding is not available for those ending with an MS.
If you would like to provide writing samples or evidence of your research interests and plans while at UCI, writing samples, math qualifications (if you have weak scores), and the like, please email me, matthew.dean@uci.edu, with the subject line “STEER Lab Fall 2025 Interest: Additional Materials”
To be considered, you must apply online to UCI Grad Admissions and meet ALL requirements. The soft deadline is 12/15/2024 and the hard deadline is 1/15/2025.