Science, Industry & Society

Strong ties to industry and government funding agencies have always been a distinction of the geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin, ensuring the relevance of the curriculum, enhancing career prospects for students, and contributing to a tradition of high-impact research.

Strength in applied research is most visible at the Bureau of Economic Geology, a research unit that also functions as the State Geological Survey. The Bureau’s team of about 83 scientists and engineers and 50 support staff conduct a wide variety of impact research from single-researcher projects to integrated, long-term, multidisciplinary programs like the Applied Geodynamics Laboratory working in salt tectonics or FracCity, “the site dedicated to conquering fractured-reservoir problems by 2010.” Funders include federal and state agencies and global private sector sources, which award the Bureau more than 100 active competitive grants and contracts each year. The Bureau conducts projects around the world. And Bureau projects often have the potential for major economic impact—like the Bureau’s leadership of FutureGen Texas, the bid by the State of Texas to build the Department of Energy’s next-generation prototype of a near-zero-emissions power plant.

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