News: Undergraduate Research

Read the latest news from the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin

Research

Undergraduate Research Aims to Harness the Power of Mealworms to Degrade Plastic

Undergraduates at the UT Austin Inventors Program are exploring how mealworms, and the microbes in their guts, can naturally degrade household plastics.

Meal worms and plastic

Features

Longhorn Students, Researchers in the Pandemic Fight

Graduate and undergraduate students are jumping into research fighting the pandemic.

Zoom gallery image of six UT Austin students displaying Hook 'Em hand signal

Research

A UT Austin Spin-Out Beats the Odds, Turning Data into Knowledge

Juan Sequeda and his advisor, professor Daniel Miranker, invented a new way to transform key data into a form that is easier to analyze.

Juan Sequeda and Daniel Miranker launched Capsenta, a start-up based on their research at the University of Texas at Austin which was recently acquired by data.world.

Research

5 Tips to Get the Most Out of Four Years of Undergrad Research

We asked graduating seniors from across the college to share their best tips for research success.

Three students in blue lab coats and goggles gather around a computer screen

Research

Undergraduate-Led Team Discovers Two New Planets Using Artificial Intelligence

Undergraduate astronomy student Anne Dattilo and colleagues used artificial intelligence to discover two exoplanets in data collected by the Kepler space telescope.

Artist’s rendition of the Kepler Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, Wendy Stenzel, Daniel Rutter.

The Texas Scientist

The Mating Game

Across the animal kingdom, males and females of the same species are often locked in an evolutionary battle of the sexes.

Illustration of fish by Jenna Luecke.

Features

Undergraduate Experiences in Freshman Research Initiative Deliver Lasting Benefits

A new study finds that the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) experience translates to higher earnings for participants later on.

FRI researchers in a lab wearing goggles point to a finding

Features

Alumnus Helped Usher in Age of Personal Computing and Guide Lunar Astronauts Home

Bob O'Rear said his time in graduate school on the Forty Acres made a huge mark on his career for introducing him to astrophysics and...

A man stands with arms crossed in front of a wall that says "The University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences"

The Texas Scientist

Unlocking the Mind’s Mysteries

The brain is the most complicated object in the known universe, but as scientists are learning, it offers five important clues for understanding its wonders.

Illustration of brain by Jenna Luecke.