- Fall Picnic/A>
- Fall Seminars
- Research Profile Format
- Middle School Science Enrichment Project 1994
The Dean's Scholars Honors Program offers exceptional science and
mathematics majors a unique opportunity to enrich their undergraduate
education in the College of Natural Sciences at the
University of Texas at Austin.
Since 1983, the Program has challenged talented and
highly motivated undergraduates by introducing them to cutting-edge
research and placing them into contact with superior students with
similar aptitudes and interests. Dean’s Scholars experience the dual
advantage of involving themselves in a smaller group of select students
while enjoying the opportunities of a large institution.
Participation in the Dean's Scholars Program, which
continues throughout an undergraduate's career at UT, offers a number of
important advantages. Specifically, students
-
work directly with faculty involved at the forefront of
scientific research. Students pursue their own research
projects under the direction of distinguished faculty members;
-
pursue any of the more than thirty majors offered by
departments within the College of Natural Sciences. Some
students are also enrolled in the Plan II Honors Program;
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gain an important research perspective. Dean's Scholars
view science as dynamic — the living, changing exploration
of nature.
The Dean's Scholars Program is highly selective, admitting
about thirty freshmen each year, as well as a small number of
upper-class students. Dean's Scholars seek the intellectual challenge and
stimulation of an interdisciplinary program emphasizing scientific
research. Although Dean's Scholars typically achieve high SAT scores and
class ranking, admission is not based solely on these criteria, but more
importantly, on evidence of a student's interest in science, research, and
individual discovery. As Dean's Scholars, students are oriented toward
research, encouraged through their work to perceive the world as
presenting questions that can be answered through experimentation.
Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the program is the
opportunity for superior students representing diverse majors to
interact with each other through academic pursuits and frequent informal
social activities. In weekly seminars, Dean's Scholars explore
contemporary issues and ideas in science and are introduced to the research
activities of the faculty. These seminars are supplemented by weekly,
informal lunches attended by faculty members from throughout the
University community. Weekend field trips traditionally include visits
to the McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains and to the
Marine Science Institute at Port Aransas. Through these and other special
activities, Dean's Scholars gain an appreciation for the research of their
fellow students and more fully recognize how their own individual
research fits into the entire scientific enterprise.
Recent graduates of the Dean's Scholars Program have entered
Ph.D. programs in scientific disciplines at leading institutions
world-wide. Some have entered M.D./Ph.D. programs. Additionally, Dean's
Scholars have won some of the most prestigious and competitive
graduate fellowships, including Marshall Scholarships for study at
Cambridge University and National Science Foundation Fellowships.
The Dean's Scholars program is founded on the
principle that the challenge of education is to understand nature and
humanity's part in it. As such, the investigation of nature must be the
common quest for students and faculty alike. Science is one of the most
important intellectual achievements of human history: it is also a
central determiner of human development. The Dean's Scholars
Program desires students interested in individual discovery and in
acquiring a broad view of how science fits into the community -— the
broad view necessary for assuming important scientific careers and,
eventually, leadership positions in the scientific community.
For more information, contact:
Alan Kaylor Cline
David Bruton, Jr, Professor of
Computer Sciences
and Professor of
Mathematics
Director, the Dean's Scholars Program
cline@cs.utexas.edu