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Two undergraduate students at the University of Texas at Austin and their faculty co-authors have won a best paper award from the Association for Computing Machinery. They presented their paper, which focuses on making 3D printing more efficient, at the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference on July 18. Their paper was one of two nominated in the Real World Applications category.

In the summer of 1980, Microsoft was a scrappy little company with about 40 employees known mostly for producing computer languages like BASIC and FORTRAN. Annual revenues were just a few million dollars a year. That was all about to change when they got a call from global computer giant IBM. Could they help with a top-secret project to build, in less than a year, an affordable personal computer for ordinary people?

Juan Lozano is a second-year math student at The University of Texas at Austin who participates in the Directed Reading Program, an experiential learning program that matches undergraduate and graduate students in mathematics for projects that deepen students' understanding of high-level mathematical concepts. UT Austin's is the nation's largest and most diverse Directed Reading Program in the country.

Because the College of Natural Sciences is where the groundbreaking Freshman Research Initiative began, we speak to students about their experiences in the program from time to time.

The College of Natural Sciences' Freshman Research Initiative at the University of Texas at Austin received the Gold Award for STEM education and the Silver Award winner for "Presence Learning" in a worldwide competition billed as "the Oscars of Higher Education."

We're exactly half a year away from the College's biggest undergraduate research showcase event. On April 12, 2017, bright student scientists from across Natural Sciences will present original research at the 2017 Undergraduate Research Forum. The best and most innovative of these scientific explorations will be recognized with awards sponsored by the university, faculty, alumni and industry.

In a positive sign for efforts to boost U.S. competitiveness in science and technology, a new study finds that courses that engage college students in conducting scientific research early on can dramatically increase students' odds of completing a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) degree.

​Rachel Graubard and Vatsal Shah, both alumni of the Freshman Research Initiative's DIY Diagnostics stream, have created two apps which could help patients detect skin cancer at home. 

As the College of Natural Sciences' Freshman Research Initiative celebrates its 10th anniversary, we speak to students and scientists about how doing research as freshmen and sophomores impacted them.

​In honor of the Freshman Research Initiative's 10th Anniversary, we take a closer look at the innovative program in this article from the latest issue of The Texas Scientist.