The
Fracture Research and Application Consortium
supports students in the Department of Geological Sciences
and Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering as
well as occasional students having other affiliations. For
more information contact a faculty or staff member from
your department who is associated with FRAC. Prospective students
should consult the web sites of the Department of Geological
Sciences and Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering.
Graduate
and undergraduate students are at the heart of the Jackson
School of Geosciences and have been a very important
element of the Bureau for nearly 30 years. Students work under
the title of Graduate Research Assistants or GRA's, and are
an essential part of many research projects at the Bureau.
Bureau researchers are engaged with working with graduate
students in a variety of ways: through the School's Graduate
Studies Committees--which enables them to be the primary supervisor
of graduate students--including Bureau Director Scott Tinker,
who is also a faculty member; co-supervising students with
faculty members of the Department of Geological Sciences;
serving on department graduate student committees; and adding
their expertise to the Department's curriculum through the
co-teaching of classes.
The
interplay of experienced researchers with these scientists-in-training
is stimulating and productive, enabling students to gain experience
that is not commonly part of a graduate school program. They
bring skills and experiences that augment the technical capability
of our research teams as well as enthusiasm and a fresh curiosity
that is energizing to our staff.
GRA's
may either work on a project that is distinct from their thesis
or dissertation, thus broadening their graduate school experience,
or their thesis or dissertation may be intimately related
to a particular project. Many graduates tell us that the experience
they gained at the Bureau not only helped them get their first
job after leaving UT, but the research assistantship taught
them many skills that made the transition to the workplace
an easy one. |
