Who We Are
Raise your horns! Give now to Texas Science.
College of Natural Sciences alumni helped to land the Apollo 11 crew on the moon and guide their safe return to Earth. They have commanded nuclear submarines to protect the United States and founded successful technology ventures. The College of Natural Sciences is proud to count Nobel Laureates, MacArthur “genius” Fellows and members of the National Academy of Sciences among our faculty and alumni. These Longhorns represent the power of a science, mathematics and computing education from UT Austin, and the resources and talent we benefit from across the Forty Acres.
What we’re fundraising for
Transformative Summer Experiences
In today’s world, students need an array of experiences outside the classroom, like research, internships and study abroad trips, to compete for graduate school admission or top jobs after graduation. These formative experiences that help build a student’s skills, network and resume come at a cost and are typically unpaid—access can be limited by income.
There are thousands of CNS students who need support, and pre-pandemic (Summer 2018), we were only able to provide partial summer fellowships to 37 students. Your gift will help create experiences for Longhorns like Serena, a former computer science major who recently had a summer internship on the Design and Engineering Robotics Team at Disney. “I was able to sharpen my software skills, and also learn new skills, like working with hardware and robotics,” she said. “I had the opportunity to network with Disney engineers, which will help me greatly since I want to work there in the future!”
Your impact
The summer months, when students are not typically enrolled in classes full-time, provide a great chance for students to dedicate time and energy to these experiential learning opportunities. Based on student need and interest, summer experiences vary widely.
• Internships: internships enable students to acquire skills not learned in the classroom and create professional networks that are vital to post-baccalaureate careers.
• Research: collaborating with professors and graduate students on research provides opportunities to study on a wider range of topics. The College of Natural Sciences offers several unique research experiences for undergraduates, including the Freshman Research Initiative and the Inventor’s Program. Students also have the opportunity to co-author research articles, which translates into higher graduate school acceptance rates.
• Entrepreneurship: entrepreneurship has a solid home in Austin, a city ranked by Forbes as one of the best in the United States for young entrepreneurs. A summer fellowship could provide students the time to expand their ideas and secure seed funding.
• Study Abroad: studying abroad offers students an opportunity to become global leaders, gain confidence to try new things and have experiences vital to working in today’s global economies. College of Natural Sciences students have the opportunity to study in countries around the world, including France, Singapore and Australia.
• Conferences: presenting at and attending conferences provides rich networking and professional learning experiences for students, as well as the opportunity to build valuable communication skills.
