Faculty Position in Biomechanics and Biorobotics

Approval of remote and hybrid work is not guaranteed regardless of work location. For additional information on remote work at Penn State, see Notice to Out of State Applicants.

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.

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.

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 offers an exceptional environment for interdisciplinary research at the intersection of biomechanics, biorobotics, life sciences, engineering, and…