Department of Microbiology
The Department of Microbiology at UT Knoxville is dedicated to providing the quality education, through both teaching and research, necessary to meet the needs of this growing field. Our faculty members aggressively pursue research in many areas of the science: immunology; virology; microbial ecology and pathology; microbial genetics; and others. Research projects are continuously conducted through collaboration with and support from various prominent sources, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the United States Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Science Foundation (NSF), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and NASA, among others.
Undergraduate students gain valuable experience in the lab by working under one of the professors; faculty also work extensively with post-graduate level students, often publishing numerous articles on their collaborative experimentation and study. Focus may be on such notable areas as herpes virus or coronavirus research, on studying the impact of viruses on marine and freshwater food webs, or on sequencing genes in pathogenic fungi.

Microbiology in the News
- Fall 2023: We are Hiring!Multiple Track and Rank Faculty Positions in Microbiology, Immunology, Plant-Microbe Interactions and Microbial Physiology!! The Department of Microbiology at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville is seeking candidates for three … Read more
- Parker Named 2020 Pew Scholar in Biomedical SciencesBenjamin Parker, an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology, is a member of the 2020 Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences. Parker was selected from among 191 nominations … Read more
- Wilhelm Receives John H. Martin Award for ResearchThe Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) presents the John H. Martin Award to one paper each year that has led to fundamental shifts in research focus … Read more