Faculty Position in Biomechanics and Biorobotics

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POSITION SPECIFICS

The Department of Kinesiology and the Department of Mechanical Engineering, in partnership with the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, invite applications for a tenure-line faculty position at the rank of Associate or Full Professor in Biomechanics and Biorobotics . The successful candidate will also serve as the Director of the Center for Movement Science and Technology (C-MOST) within the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. The anticipated start date is Fall 2027.

This is a strategic leadership opportunity for an internationally recognized scholar to help shape the future of biomechanics and biorobotics at Penn State. The successful candidate will lead the continued development of C-MOST while establishing a broader interdisciplinary Biorobotics Research Cluster that connects and facilitates world-class research across Penn State's colleges, institutes, and campuses.

The Opportunity

Penn State has longstanding strengths in biomechanics, movement science, engineering, the life sciences, neuroscience, materials, computation, medicine, and human health. C-MOST provides a foundation for bringing these complementary strengths together around fundamental questions of movement and the development of transformative technologies.

We seek an accomplished scientist, engineer, or physician-scientist with an outstanding record of scholarly achievement, external research funding, interdisciplinary collaboration, and scientific leadership. The successful candidate will develop and advance a compelling vision for C-MOST and create new opportunities for collaboration among researchers, engineers, clinicians, and external partners.

The Director will be expected to build C-MOST as a platform for interdisciplinary discovery and technology development while advancing a broader vision for Biorobotics at Penn State . This effort will bring together expertise spanning biomechanics and neuromechanics, robotics and control, biological systems, materials, computation, medicine, rehabilitation, and human performance.

The position provides an opportunity for a senior scholar to help define a field at the intersection of biology, movement, engineering, and robotics and to build research programs that extend from fundamental discovery to technologies with meaningful applications in health, medicine, performance, and beyond.

The Director will also contribute to the strategic activities and administration of C-MOST, including personnel, budgetary resources, research infrastructure, development activities, education and outreach, and engagement with internal and external partners.

Importantly, this is a faculty leadership position . The successful candidate will maintain an independent, externally funded research program and will contribute to undergraduate and graduate education and mentorship.

Areas of Research

We seek candidates whose scholarship contributes to the broad and rapidly evolving field of biomechanics and biorobotics. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• •Human and biological movement biomechanics
• •Neuromechanics and sensorimotor control
• •Biorobotics and bio-inspired robotics
• •Human-robot interaction
• •Assistive and rehabilitative robotics
• •Wearable and robotic technologies
• •Computational biomechanics and movement science
• •Robotics for health, medicine, and rehabilitation
• •Musculoskeletal and neuromuscular systems
• •Mechanobiology and biological materials
• •Robotics, sensing, and control of biological movement
• •Translational technologies for human performance, health, and rehabilitation

We particularly encourage applications from candidates whose research crosses disciplinary boundaries and who have demonstrated the ability to build collaborative programs involving scientists, engineers, clinicians, and/or external partners.

Penn State's Interdisciplinary Research Environment

Penn State offers an exceptional environment for interdisciplinary research at the intersection of biomechanics, biorobotics, life sciences, engineering, and human health. C-MOST was established in 2015 to advance interdisciplinary research and training in basic and applied movement sciences. The center includes faculty from across 14 Departments and 6 colleges, bringing together expertise in biomechanics and neuromechanics, physiology, cognition, biorobotics, computational modelling and clinical science. The center is housed within the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences . The Huck Institutes serve as a hub for life sciences research at Penn State, bringing together scientists from across the University to address fundamental questions and societal challenges. The Huck Institutes supports Centers and Institutes, including C-MOST and the Neuroscience Institute; graduate programs, including the Interdisciplinary Graduate Degree Programs in Integrative and Biomedical Physiology and in Neuroscience; and manages shared and core facilities with instrumentation and expertise in genomics, metabolomics, imaging, and other technologies.

The Department of Kinesiology is home to over 50 faculty and 900 students. Faculty have funded research in the areas of biomechanics, motor neuroscience, women’s health, cardiovascular physiology, environmental physiology, clinical rehabilitation, and behavior change to increase physical activity. The Department offers separate B.S., M.S., M.A.T., and Ph.D. degrees. There are also options for dual Ph.D. degrees in Clinical and Translational Sciences and in Neuroscience. The Department of Mechanical Engineering is home to more than 65 faculty, 350 graduate students, and 1110 undergraduate students. The Department offers separate B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degree programs in mechanical engineering including online graduate programs in mechanical engineering and in additive manufacturing and design. Together, the faculty across the departments conduct in excess of $60M per year of funded research across a broad spectrum of traditional and emerging areas.

The successful candidate will have opportunities to collaborate broadly across Penn State, including with the College of Health and Human Development, College of Engineering, College of Medicine, Materials Research Institute, Department of Computer Science and Engineering , and other interdisciplinary institutes, centers, and programs.

The position is designed to capitalize on these complementary strengths and create new intellectual and technological connections across the University. The Director will have an opportunity to help define the next generation of interdisciplinary research in biomechanics and biorobotics and to establish Penn State as a leading destination for researchers working at the interface of movement, biology, engineering, and robotics .

Qualifications

Candidates must have an earned doctorate or equivalent terminal degree in biomechanics, kinesiology, mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, robotics, neuroscience, medicine, or a closely related discipline.

Successful candidates will have:

• •An outstanding record of research excellence and scholarly productivity appropriate to the rank of Associate or Full Professor;
• •A sustained record of peer-reviewed ext