Who We Are

Texas - given its historical association with the energy industry, its large and economically important continental shelf and slope, and its direct access to the world's oceans through the Gulf of Mexico - is a natural location for an Earth sciences research institute of global scope with emphases in geophysics and marine geology.

The University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) is known internationally as a leading academic research group in geology and geophysics. Founded in 1972, it is an Organized Research Unit within The University of Texas at Austin, operating under the auspices of the flagship Jackson School of Geosciences in Austin. UTIG works with the UT Department of Geological Sciences and Bureau of Economic Geology to provide basic and applied geophysical research opportunities for graduate students at the MA and PhD level through its worldwide programs in solid earth geophysics, marine geology/geophysics, and multi-channel reflection seismology. Some of our scientists also participate in the UT Environmental Science Institute.

UTIG research activities are carried out all over the world and include large-scale, multi-investigator, multi-institutional field programs. The importance of geophysical measurements and their mathematical interpretation in the exploration for petroleum and economically useful minerals has also led to valuable partnerships between UTIG and industry. UTIG plays a role in K-12 education through formal teacher-training programs and informal outreach efforts.

Set apart within The University of Texas at Austin as a unique center for research, UTIG's talented scientific staff provides UTIG the flexibility to fulfill its commitment to carry out pioneering research in Earth science at the highest academic standards.

What We Do

UTIG strives to conduct research that expands the frontiers of knowledge in Earth science, has societal and economic relevance, and is of human interest. Dedicated to basic and applied research alike, the Institute aims to enhance humanity's fundamental understanding of the dynamic geophysical processes that have influenced and continue to influence Earth's structure and climate. Geographically, UTIG's scope includes the ocean basins, continental margins, Antarctica, and all sites of seismic activity. Chronologically, its scope is no less vast: from the development of tectonic evolution models that reconstruct continental arrangements as much as a billion years ago to predicting how future climatic scenarios would impact sea-level changes and thus the habitability of densely populated coastal regions. The Institute's research has been and will continue to be highly relevant to natural resource exploration, the assessment of geologic hazards, and the mitigation of environmental damage. The development of new mathematical models, data processing and imaging techniques, and geophysical instrumentation is also an integral part of UTIG's ongoing research and future goals.