Research Impact Partners

Connecting Research and Education At TExas (CREATE) was founded in 2017 through a partnership established between Dr. Sean T. Roberts at The University of Texas at Austin (UT) and Dr. Shawn M. Amorde at Austin Community College (ACC) with support from the National Science Foundation. CREATE’s initial goal was to improve community college student retention in the physical sciences by fostering mentorship relationships between ACC students and UT faculty through research projects tied to green energy. Over time, CREATE’s managing team has been broadened to include Dr. Emily Que (UT), Dr. Samantha Soebbing (ACC), Dr. Purna Murthy (ACC), and Dr. Huilang (Evan) Wang (UT) which has allowed its scope to expand into a range of areas in chemistry, molecular biosciences, physics, materials science, and engineering.

The Environmental Science Institute (ESI) was founded as a multi-disciplinary institute for basic scientific research in environmental studies. The Institute serves as a focal point on campus for a wide scope of interdisciplinary research and teaching. ESI coordinates cross-departmental environmental science instruction; facilitates education and outreach in STEM fields; and disseminates advances in the area of enviromental science that are important locally and globally. ESI coordinates innovative educational outreach programs that work together to support awareness of science, technology, engineering and math, promost better communication of scientific research, and ultimately spark an interest in science and learning. Host Science - Cool Talks provides a front row seat to world-class research. Presented by ESI, this nationally recognized series allows leading researchers from UT and other prominent universities to share their passion about science, technology, engineering and math with the general public. Events are held six times a year (on-campus or virtually).

Girls Who Code is an international non-profit organization working to close the gender gap in technology, and leading the movement to inspire, educate and equip young women with the computing skills needed to pursue 21st-century opportunities. The Girls Who Code College Loops are committed to reaching gender parity in tech by creating an inclusive community on campus and offers monthly challenges focused on honing computer science skills and engaging women to take action, collaborate, and create with one another.

Horns Helping Horns is a program that provides students with financial support, professional development, mentorship, resource navigation, community, and one-on-one support/intervention with program coordinators as needed.

This nationally recognized series allows leading researchers from The University of Texas and other prominent universities to share their passion for science, technology, engineering and math with the general public. Events are held six times a year. Visit our website for the latest talk!

Longhorn TIES (Transition, Illuminate, Empower, Success) Neurodiversity Support within the Office of New Student Services coordinates and facilitates autism and neurodiversity initiatives at UT Austin. Longhorn TIES seeks to enhance the student experience for students who identify as autistic or neurodivergent through advocacy, connections and training throughout their tenure at the university.

The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) connect PIs with undergraduate research assistants through our student advising and our online database of faculty research interests and projects (https://eureka.utexas.edu). OUR hosts Summer Research Scholars programming to support the professional development of undergraduate researchers taking part in summer research programs (e.g., NSF REUs), and offers a variety of student research funding opportunities and research presentation events to further the work and development of student researchers.

Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) is a collaboration of universities and colleges committed to developing curricula, research agendas, and experiential learning programs in public interest technology (PIT). PIT-UN helps advance the field of PIT and bring positive impact to communities around the globe by providing programming and funding for members to grow PIT on their campuses and communities.

The Education and Outreach Directorate at the Texas Advanced Computing Center provides K-20 programming to address 21st-century workforce development needs. This includes STEM summer camps for middle school and high school students, research experiences for undergraduate students and educators, fellowships, internships, and public outreach.