Help shape the research agenda of Planet Texas 2050’s next phase!
Planet Texas 2050 seeks proposals from teams of two or more UT PIs from different departments or units. Up to $25,000 is available for one year grants to advance collaborative, interdisciplinary resilience research. Learn more about the opportunity below, and register for one of our in-person info sessions to ask questions and network with potential collaborators.
*PIs interested in networking with potential collaborators will be asked to provide a one-slide introduction to themselves and their research following the info session Q&A.
Planet Texas 2050 is a UT Austin research grand challenge focused on Texas’s resilience in the face of climate change and rapid growth. Our mission is to advance interdisciplinary research on resilience and to co-design adaptive strategies with frontline communities and other partners across Texas and beyond. PT2050 formed in 2017 as part of UT’s Bridging Barriers program, designed as ten-year, university-wide initiatives to leverage interdisciplinary expertise to address pressing societal challenges. Today, Planet Texas 2050’s network of collaborators includes more than 100 researchers across 40 departments at UT, working alongside two dozen external partners across a range of resilience-related topics.
PT2050 has established a highly collaborative network of researchers and partners and an interdisciplinary research agenda spanning a range of focal areas. This call is open to projects that build on prior and existing work of PT2050, as well as those that propose new lines of inquiry that produce, or support development of, new models and strategies for community and ecosystem resilience. Participating researchers will help shape PT2050’s next phase and future research agenda through their work.
Some of our current areas of focus include:
- Understanding the intersecting impacts of social vulnerability, hazard risk, and climate factors (heat, flood, air quality, etc.)
- Working directly with frontline communities and youth to identify priorities and strategies for climate mitigation and adaptation
- Learning from the ancient past to inform current and future strategies for adaptation and resilience
- Working with artists and supporting arts and humanities-based research and practice
- Downscaling climate projections to inform long-range community planning for resilience
- Development of autonomous sensing strategies and tools for biodiversity monitoring and ecosystem conservation
- Multi-hazard modeling to support emergency preparedness and response
- AI-enabled integration of large climate data sets and models to support real-time and long-term decision making
- Open-source mapping to help predict infectious disease spread as a function of changing climate conditions (heat, flooding)
- Partnering with K-12 schools + educators to create arts-integrated curriculum on climate challenges and solutions
- Integrated approaches to wicked problems in the state of Texas and research that provides accessible frameworks and tools
- Interactions between the built and natural environment
- Nature-based solutions and the intersection of design, engineering and ecology
- Intersection and impacts of climate change and human health (physical and mental)
- Cultural, psychological, and behavioral dimensions of climate adaptation
- Investigations of other places and times where human beings have faced similar challenges, to identify behaviors, values, and strategies that promote personal and collective resilience
- Methods that engage multiple ways of knowing, analysis, and expression of data and outputs, including arts, arts-based, humanities-focused and design approaches
- Projects that seek to create different imaginative spaces to communicate and make meaning across gulfs (political, educational, cultural)
- Integration of heterogeneous data sources (e.g. remote sensing, sensors, community observations)
- Comparisons of preparedness factors across urban and rural areas and the unique challenges posed to rural communities (particularly in Texas)
- Governance, policy, and legal frameworks for adaptation (e.g. multi-level governance models for climate adaptation; comparative studies of adaptation policy effectiveness across jurisdictions)
- Food-water-energy systems resilience
- Economic resilience, insurance, and finance for adaptation (e.g. valuing natural and cultural capital in economic systems; climate risk insurance and microfinance for vulnerable households)
- Technological innovation for adaptive capacity
PT2050 will provide up to $25,000 per award to interdisciplinary teams of two or more principal investigators. The number of proposals funded will depend on the quality of proposals received. Project funding is limited to one year. Funding will start on Sept 1, 2026, and the funds will expire on August 31, 2027. No-cost extensions will not be granted, and unexpended funds will be reclaimed by sponsors after the award expires.
- Seed fund proposals must include at least two UT faculty or research staff with principal investigator (PI) status;
- The two PIs must have principal appointments in two different departments, colleges, or academic units;
- Co-Investigators on PT2050’s core projects are not eligible to receive seed funding. These researchers can serve as additional team members or project advisors;
- If you are unsure about your eligibility please reach out to PT2050 director: heidi.schmalbach@austin.utexas.edu
- Researchers who have not previously received funding through one of PT2050’s core projects;
- PT2050’s core values include the co-design of research, strategies, and solutions with impacted communities and other external (non-academic) partners. Projects that have an established or proposed connection with an external partner, and which include that partner in the development of the proposed research will be given priority consideration. *Interested PIs can reach out to jonathan.lowell@austin.utexas.edu for advice and assistance connecting with existing PT2050 external partners
- Proposals that advance one or more of Planet Texas 2050’s desired outcomes (see end of page for reference)
- Proposals from junior faculty or teams that include multiple PI ranks
- Projects that propose utilization of UT-specific labs and resources
- Share research plans, progress, and findings in PT2050 forums, including seed funding kickoff celebration in Fall 2026 and annual symposium in spring 2027
- Engage with the network of PT2050 leaders and researchers by attending PT2050 events and participating in invited meetings or workshops. At minimum this will include: fall 2026 kickoff celebration, mid-point status update/sharing workshop (winter 2027), annual symposium in spring 2027, progress presentations in Fall 2027 (after the end of the funding period)
- Engage in a community of practice with other teams funded through this call, including sharing ongoing research findings, comparing approaches, and seeking guidance in relation to any challenges encountered.
- Submit a brief progress update on research activities in Jan 2027 and be prepared to share updates at a cohort workshop in Jan/Feb 2027
- Submit a final report on research results, scholarly outputs, and progress in applying for external funding by Aug 31, 2027 and be prepared for a final presentation in Fall 2027
- Pursue external funding for collaborative effort within 12 months of receiving seed funding. OVPR offers proposal and skill building support, including trainings, workshops, and educational tools.
- Convergent interdisciplinary research: The convergence of interdisciplinary perspectives should provide a new approach to the proposed research problem or question that would not be possible without each team member’s contribution. Teams must include at least two principal investigators with primary appointments in at least two different departments or units.
- Significance and scholarly impact: Proposal has clear application to the development of models, tools, actionable strategies, policies, etc. that can improve community and ecosystem resilience. The project has the potential to produce quality scholarly products or publications for a range of academic and general publics.
- Feasibility: Sound merit and rationale of the proposed project, and the scope of the proposal is feasible for the one-year performance period.
- Use of seed funding: The proposal describes clear, tangible, and feasible plans for pursuing external funding and exhibits potential to enhance UT Austin’s competitiveness in securing external funding.
Short research proposal (using provided template). The template will be available beginning March 24.
- List of project team members, description of interdisciplinary approach and why it is important to the proposal
- Problem statement/research question/rationale
- Project description: detailed description of the research project and how the team will carry it out
- Proposed project timeline of activities
- Significance and intended impact(s)Two-page CV for each team member
Budget template and short (< one-page) budget narrative/justification*
*should include: description of budget line items and how costs support research objectives
PI summer salary will be considered allowable if no other sources of summer salary or start-up funds are available (PT2050 seed funds can not be used to supplant funds that are otherwise available to the PI for summer salary). The proposed project timeline should clearly align with justification for summer salary as part of the budget.
Course buyout will be considered if the proposal is submitted with evidence of approval from the submitting PI’s leadership (email from department chair or dean’s office). In such cases, the cost of the buyout should be documented in the budget and rationale provided for why the buyout is essential for the research proposal.
A. Processes and models developed for deep interdisciplinary collaboration across the physical sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities
B. Robust and lasting partnerships, connections, and new networks between research institutions, municipal/state agencies, policymakers, and communities; Greater capacity in the academic/scientific sectors to deliver relevant, actionable, and community-driven research
C. Enhanced knowledge of critical human/non-human/environment interactions in the past and present, and the application of that knowledge to the prediction of such interactions and their future impacts
D. Impacted communities and decision-makers are empowered with meaningful information about climate risks and human-environment interactions, and increased skill of users to apply tools
E. Strategies developed that foster healing-centered engagement and the resilience of communities and ecosystems
F. Deeper understanding of “resilience” and how communities and societies experience and aspire to being resilient in the face of adverse climate impacts; Creation of different imaginative spaces to communicate and make meaning across (political, educational, cultural, and methodological) gulfs
G. Current and future generations have deeper understanding of these challenges and complexities, the urgency to act, and pathways to do so
Luis Sentis is a Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also a General Dynamics Endowed Faculty Fellow, and a member of UT Austin's Good Systems. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. He was a La Caixa Foundation Fellow while at Stanford. He holds a B.S. degree in Telecommunications and Electronics Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. Before Stanford, he worked in Silicon Valley as a Control Systems Engineer for clean room automation.
In Austin, he leads the Human Centered Robotics Laboratory, a laboratory focusing on control, task and motion planning, human factors, and experimentation with humanoid robots, mobile manipulation robots, exoskeletons and autonomous systems. He is also a founding member of the UT Robotics Portfolio Program and the UT Ethics of AI Portfolio Program. He was the UT Austin's Lead for DARPA's Robotics Challenge with NASA Johnson Space Center where he helped to design and test the Valkyrie humanoid robot. His research has been funded by ONR, NASA, NSF, ARL, AFC, DARPA and private companies.
He has been awarded the NASA Elite Team Award for his contributions to NASA’s Johnson Space Center Software Robotics and Simulation Division. He is also a founding member and innovation advisor for Apptronik Systems, a company focusing on human-centered robotic products.