The University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute’s (UT-ORII) Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education welcomed its largest incoming cohort this fall with 63 students. The new class brings the center’s total enrollment to 210 – marking another record.
Established in 2011, the Bredesen Center was created to address workforce needs in the emerging field of energy science. Today, through its three doctoral programs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, campus – Data Science and Engineering (DSE), Energy Science and Engineering (ESE), and Genome Science and Technology (GST) – the Bredesen Center is building a national workforce in science and engineering by preparing the next generation of scientists to tackle our nation’s most pressing challenges.
“We have a unique opportunity to train students in truly interdisciplinary research, drawing on the breadth of scientists, expertise, and world-class facilities at both ORNL and UT,” said Brynn Voy, education director for UT-ORII and the Bredesen Center. “Through the Bredesen Center’s Ph.D. programs, students learn to harness the power of multiple disciplines, developing the skills to tackle the complex and pressing challenges that society faces today and in the future.”
UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) combine their resources and expertise to provide Bredesen Center Ph.D. students with opportunities for interdisciplinary research and coursework in an environment that fosters innovation, creativity and collaboration. Through this partnership, students develop their research skills and earn their degrees while using the facilities and resources of UT and one of the nation’s largest national laboratories, working alongside top scientists in their fields.
“I was drawn to the way faculty and mentors emphasized collaboration, innovation and leadership development rather than focusing solely on traditional disciplinary boundaries,” says Raymond Kojo Kyei, a graduate student in the ESE 2025 cohort. “The program’s culture of empowering scholars to become agents of change in the energy sector resonated deeply with me.”
This year’s largest incoming cohort follows a record 358 applications received last year. The increases in both applications and acceptances reflect significant progress in refining the Bredesen Center’s recruitment process in recent years.
Each spring, accepted students are invited to a two-day recruitment visit, where they spend a day at UTK and ORNL, interacting with current students, researchers and faculty members.
The recruitment process focuses on several key areas:
- Targeting students with previous ORNL experience. Many of the students who were admitted to the 2025 cohort had interned at ORNL through programs such as UT-ORII’s Student Mentoring and Research Training program.
- Intentional recruiting at universities that partner with ORNL and UT peer institutions. This helps identify students with the research background the Bredesen Center seeks.
- Expanded communications around Bredesen Center-hosted informational webinars. These sessions provide prospective students with program information, application guidance and next steps. Attendance has doubled compared with previous years.
“Recruits frequently emphasized their prior experiences with UTK and ORNL as key motivators for applying to our programs,” said Timothy Guthrie, Bredesen Center’s student recruiter. “They want to continue doing impactful work in a positive research environment, and it is meaningful that they see the Bredesen Center as the natural pathway forward.”
The Bredesen Center has already turned its attention to recruiting the 2026 cohort, hosting two informational webinars this past summer ahead of applications opening Aug. 1, with more planned for the fall. The team has begun preparations for its spring 2026 recruitment visit, where it aims to show admitted students all the benefits of the University of Tennessee and what their future could look like after receiving a Bredesen Center degree.
