Postdoctoral Research Fellow Cohort - Integrated Assessment of Data Centers

University of Notre Dame: Office of the Provost: Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative

Location

Notre Dame, IN

Open Date

Mar 04, 2026

Description

The University of Notre Dame invites applications for a cohort of up to three outstanding Postdoctoral Research Fellows to join a dynamic, interdisciplinary team undertaking a spatially explicit, contextually informed, and justice-centered assessment of the strategies and  resources – including power, water, land, health, and workforce infrastructure – needed to inform current decision-making about data centers in Indiana and the Midwest in the near term and design the data centers of the future. This will start with the development of a framework for capturing the multidimensional and complex potential impacts (both positive and negative) that are unique to each community in the region. This assessment will also assess the local, state, and national level policies and strategies that can drive the sustainability of the changing landscape of data center growth in the region by integrating their social, technical, economic, and environmental implications for communities in the region and for the region itself.

Notre Dame seeks to build a research cohort with diverse and complementary areas of expertise. In close collaboration with Notre Dame faculty and partners, the cohort will lead a series of research activities intended to create a strong foundation for long-term work. We particularly encourage applicants who can articulate how their unique combination of perspective, methods, and/or substantive focus will expand the collective capacity of the postdoctoral cohort and strengthen the project’s ability to support resilient and equitable community responses to data center design and growth in the Midwest and beyond. Early activities will likely include, but are not limited to:

• Use of large language models and AI techniques to support data collection, synthesis, analysis, and construction of a modeling platform for key resource current and potential future demands, including electricity, water, land, and physical infrastructure;
• Data collection, analysis, and modeling for capturing social, economic, workforce, and health considerations, with particular emphasis on distributional effects, justice, and participatory methods;
• Policy analysis at the local, state, and federal levels

Key Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with faculty to design and carry out interdisciplinary research central to the envisioned integrated assessment of hyperscale data center development in the Midwest.
• Develop analytical frameworks of evaluation for the environmental, technical, economic, social, and policy dimensions of data centers.
• Develop accessible models and other decision-support tools that support holistic understanding of tradeoffs across sectors for future scenario planning.
• Co-author and support high-impact, interdisciplinary research publications in leading sustainability and environmental science journals.
• Engage in collaborative grant writing and proposal development to sustain and expand the cohort’s research initiatives.

This search is conducted with leadership from Notre Dame’s Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative and Notre Dame Energy. The Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative is Notre Dame’s University-wide effort to build a sustainable future where people and nature flourish together. Notre Dame Energy is a research center that seeks to mobilize transformative energy research for the common good.

These are full-time positions available with an initial appointment of one-year, renewable for an additional year based on satisfactory performance and availability of funding.

Qualifications

Required Qualifcations:

• Ph.D. (in hand by the starting date) in a relevant field, including, but not limited to, engineering, environmental science, hydrology, geography, economics, public policy, and data science. Applicants with an interdisciplinary degree are welcome.
• Demonstrated ability to lead research in at least one critical domain of the larger research effort.
• Strong analytical and methodological expertise, appropriate to the applicant’s discipline, with a record of applying those methods to complex, real-world problems.
• A strong publication record in a field directly relevant to the envisioned program.
• Excellent communication skills and an ability to work collaboratively with researchers from a wide range of disciplines.

Application Instructions

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis starting on March 25, 2026, and will continue until the positions are filled.

Interested applicants should submit the following materials at their earliest convenience.

1. A cover letter that describes in detail their research background and qualifications, the aspect(s) of the envisioned program they are best positioned to lead, and why their areas of expertise should be prioritized during the program’s launch phase.
2. A detailed curriculum vitae.
3. A recent publication or dissertation chapter.
4. Contact information for at least three references.