Skip Navigation
External Candidates

Working at MIT offers opportunities that just aren’t found anywhere else, including generous and unique benefits that help to ensure that MIT employees are healthy, supported, and enjoy a fulfilling work/life balance. Discover more about what it's like to work at MIT.

We welcome people from all walks of life to bring their talent, ideas, and experience to our community. We value diversity and strongly encourage applications from individuals from all identities and backgrounds – like yours. If you want to be part of our exceptional, multicultural, collaborative, and inclusive community, then take a look at this opportunity.

MIT provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of what the Institute reasonably expects to pay for a full time position at the time of posting (if you are applying for a part time salaried job, you will need to prorate the posted pay range). The pay offered to a selected candidate during hiring will be based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate's work experience and education/training, internal peer equity, and applicable legal requirements. This pay range represents base pay only and does not include any other benefits or compensation.

Postdoctoral Associate
  • Job Number: 25362
  • Functional Area: Research - Engineering
  • Department: Mechanical Engineering
  • School Area: Engineering
  • Pay Range Minimum: $71,000
  • Pay Range Maximum: $90,000
  • Employment Type: Full-Time
  • Employment Category: Exempt
  • Visa Sponsorship Available: Yes
  • Schedule:
  • Pay Grade: No Grade


Posting Description

POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATE, Mechanical Engineering, to join MIT Global Engineering and Research (GEAR) Center and MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium (MCSC) to research integrated systems design of data centers. The candidate will be responsible for preparing in-depth techno-economic analyses of global data center systems to identify innovative cost reduction strategies. Strategies may be directed at component redesign, improved system integration, or unique operation strategies to minimize energy and water usage. The aim of the research is to generate parametric engineering design theory that facilitates multi-objective, multi-disciplinary optimization of data center design considering location, building operations, materials, energy use, water use, cooling system design, and co-located renewable power systems design. The candidate will regularly present research results at meetings and workshops, prepare progress reports for sponsors, collaborate with GEAR Center and MCSC researchers, and publish papers at conferences and in peer-reviewed journals. As a member of GEAR Center, the postdoctoral associate will be considered a Yang Tan Fellow.

Job Requirements

REQUIRED: Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, or other related engineering field; expertise in power systems research, technoeconomic analysis, the proliferation of data centers and technoeconomic considerations behind them, numerical modeling, building materials and HVAC systems, and complex systems design; excellent project management and communication skills; ability to work with minimal supervision and prioritize work to meet deadlines; and fluency in spoken and written English. PREFERRED: Experience coordinating research projects with industry partners and/or across different disciplines; or project management and/or research leadership experience.

12/12/2025