News: Announcements
Read the latest news from the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin
CDC Taps UT for National Disease Outbreak Response Network
Lauren Ancel Meyers and colleagues will help scale up decision-support tools that were successful in earlier outbreaks for use across jurisdictions.
![A scientist points to a pandemic model visualization in front of a standing audience](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/war-room_1200x800.jpg)
Department of Energy Advances Research and Education at Wootton Center for Astrophysical Plasma Properties
Grant will help center led by Don Winget continue its research and train the next generation of scientists.
![Room full of scientific equipment glowing blue and purple](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/zmachine.jpg)
Biodiversity Center
Meet the 2023 Stengl-Wyer Scholars, Fellows and Grant Awardees
Three postdoctoral fellows, four graduate students and numerous labs at UT and the Wildflower Center received awards this year.
![A scientist kneels in a tree-lined area with marked gardens near equipment as he measures the rate of calcium carbonate precipitation in the soil.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/3x2-cns-field-station-network_5.jpg)
UT News
UT Mourns Pioneer of Computational Mechanics and Founder of Oden Institute
J. Tinsley Oden, the founder of computational mechanics and first director of UT’s related institute, has died.
![A man in a cowboy hat and collared black shirt smiles with trees and hills in the background](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/oden_staff_retreat_-_cowboy_hat_photo_copy.png)
McDonald Observatory Invites Ecological Research as a Texas Field Station
The observatory joins a network of six University of Texas sites dedicated to scientific research, environmental monitoring and conservation efforts.
![Two telescope domes sit atop a mountain with more peaks in the distance](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/mcdonald_observatory-141_0-1200x800.jpg)
Philanthropic Gift Establishes Historic UT Commitment to Monitoring Texas’ Natural Resources
A transformative donation allows for the expansion of a Texas Field Station Network to study biodiversity and sustainability.
![A young man in a hat holding equipment leads a group of students down a creek at a Hill Country-based field station](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/3x2-cns-field-station-network_3.jpg)
College Announces Newest Inductees to Hall of Honor
The Hall of Honor recognizes Distinguished Alumni, Distinguished Service and Emerging Leader award winners.
![Amir Husain, Christina Reed and Wayne Alexander](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/2023_hall_of_honor_2.png)
With New Grant, Physicist Explores Using Sound to Transmit Data in Quantum Computers
UT Austin’s Keji Lai has received a Moore Foundation award reserved for the country’s top experimental physicists.
![Portrait of a scientist](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/keji_lai-1200x800.jpg)
UT News
UT and U.S. Army Researchers Replicate Real-life Tech Lab for Summer Camp Students
A STEM enrichment camp at UT Austin recently connected middle school students with tech mentors.
![Young students watch a demonstration](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/dsc01132-scaled-2400x1600.jpeg)
New “Essentials of AI” Course Launches This Fall
The Department of Computer Science and the Good Systems program present a one semester-credit-hour course titled “Essentials of AI for Life and Society.”
![White letters spell AI with bands of color surrounding](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/3-2-ai-course-2023-option1.jpg)