Research Impact Partners

The Center hosts a variety of education and outreach initiatives that can be leveraged in research proposals, e.g., the K-5 Research Experiences for Teachers program, Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, First Year Undergraduate Research Program: FUSE, Industrial Mentorship program for Graduate Students, Artist in Residence program, afterschool STEM clubs at local schools, and K-12 STEM outreach to the Texas School for the Deaf and Texas School for the Blind.

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 Engineering Student Success Center provides special programming through workshops, student leadership opportunities and welcoming spaces that help all students have a wonderful experience to aid in positive educational outcomes.

The Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) gives first-year students the opportunity to initiate and engage in real-world research experience with faculty and graduate students.

GeoFORCE Texas develops the next generation of STEM workforce through participation in traveling in-person and virtual field academies. Students travel throughout the U.S. for 1 week in the summer for 4 consecutive years learning about geologically relevant field sites from experts in Earth science. Student recruitment is focused on 8th grade students, application is required for selection into the program, and participation is free.

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!

The Lab for Immersive Media (LIM) is a high tech interactive and immersive media laboratory that enables novel research and entertainment experiences in virtual and physical space. A key goal of the LIM is to broaden research impact through partnerships, public engagement, and unique collaborations between art and science.

The Longhorn Impact Fellowship at Texas (LIFT) pairs student consultants with sustainable corporations, social enterprises, and non-profits to solve sustainability and impact-focused problems.

McNair Scholars is part of the federally funded TRIO programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education, and the only one primarily focused on students' postbaccalaureate success. McNair Scholars seek to increase the number of undergraduate students earning doctoral degrees who are low-income and first-generation. Participants must be serious and committed to enrolling in graduate programs with an end goal of completing a Ph.D. Students selected to participate in McNair Scholars work with both staff (on graduate school literacy) and a faculty mentor (on research and scholarship). Scholars define, develop, and deliver original, independent research projects.

The community engagement team in the Undergraduate College stewards sustainable relationships with local, regional, and statewide communities and organizations toward the goal of supporting mutual benefit for communities and the people of The University.