CREATE

Connecting Research and Education At TExas

Providing research opportunities and experience for Austin Community College students since 2017

Although invaluable, the ability for community college students to gain research and laboratory experience is often limited at their institutions.

CREATE seeks to address this issue by:

Providing competitive paid summer internships exclusively for Austin Community College (ACC) students with The University of Texas at Austin (UT)
Hosting research seminars given by UT faculty on an ACC campus
Offering an honors organic chemistry II laboratory course in which students develop new materials for application in UT research labs

Winner of the 2024 American Chemical Society Southwest Regional Meeting Partners in Progress & Prosperity (P3) Award

The Partners in Progress & Prosperity (P3) Award celebrates successful partnerships between two (or more) organizations with a presence in the Southwestern Region (industry, academia, government, small business, and other domestic or overseas entities, e.g., local sections, international ACS chapters, ACS divisions, other chemical or other professional societies) that have had an impactful outcome, within the Southwestern Region, in one of the following categories: Improving the public perception and appreciation for chemistry Promoting career advancement opportunities and/or supporting entrepreneurship in the chemistry enterprise Advancing advocacy efforts with government and/or other thought leaders Supporting STEM education and/or research

"CREATE was my first introduction to research and it made a huge difference in my trajectory. Not only did I learn a lot about chemistry, coding, and presenting that Summer, I also got an insider’s look into how to prepare for graduate school. This helped me transfer to a four-year institution, expand my research experience, and win my spot in the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP) and the PhD program of my choice. My first year at ACC was sort of a test to see if I could leave my existing career behind and pursue a career in the sciences. CREATE had the tremendous effect of putting me on that career path early, which has paid off over and over again."

Lacie L.

Summer 2021 Intern
NSF-GRFP awardee
Current graduate student at The University of Washington,
School of Oceanography