UT Austin is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity."[83] For the 2014–2015 cycle, the university was awarded over $580 million in sponsored projects,[103][104] and has earned more than 300 patents since 2003.[105] The University of Texas at Austin houses the Office of Technology Commercialization, a technology transfer center which serves as the bridge between laboratory research and commercial development. In 2009, the university created nine new start-up companies to commercialize technology developed at the university and has created 46 start-ups in the past seven years. License agreements generated $10.9 million in revenue for the university in 2009.[105]


Research at UT Austin is largely focused in the engineering and physical sciences,[106] and the university is a world-leading research institution in fields such as computer science.[107] Energy is a major research thrust, with federally funded projects on biofuels,[108] battery and solar cell technology, and geological carbon dioxide storage,[109] water purification membranes, among others. In 2009, the University of Texas founded the Energy Institute, led by former Under Secretary for Science Raymond L. Orbach, to organize and advance multi-disciplinary energy research.[110] In addition to its own medical school, it houses medical programs associated with other campuses and allied health professional programs, as well as major research programs in pharmacy, biomedical engineering, materials, structures, transit, environmental impacts, driver behavior, land use, geometric design, accessibility, and pavements.[122]

In 2013, the University of Texas at Austin announced the naming of the O'Donnell Building for Applied Computational Engineering and Sciences. The O'Donnell Foundation of Dallas, headed by Peter O'Donnell and his wife, Edith Jones O'Donnell, has given more than $135 million to the university between 1983 and 2013. University president William C. Powers declared the O'Donnells "among the greatest supporters of the University of Texas in its 130-year history. Their transformative generosity is based on the belief in our power to change society for the better."[123] In 2008, O'Donnell pledged $18 million to finance the hiring of university faculty members undertaking research in mathematics, computers, and multiple scientific disciplines; his pledge was matched by W. A. "Tex" Moncrief Jr., an oilman and philanthropist from Fort Worth.[124]

The University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute is located on the Gulf coast in Port Aransas. Established in 1941, UTMSI was the first permanent marine research facility in the state of Texas and has since contributed significantly to our understanding of marine ecosystems. Research at the Marine Science Institute ranges from locally-important work on mariculture and estuarine ecosystems to the investigation of global issues in marine science, from the Arctic to the tropics.