The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) is happy to announce its call for pre-proposals for students conducting water resources research. The TWRI Graduate Student Research Program has funds available for graduate students at Texas universities through two programs, the TWRI Mills Scholarship Program (available to Texas A&M College Station, Galveston and Qatar only) and the U.S. Geological Survey Graduate Research Program (available to all Texas universities).
TWRI anticipates funding six to eight graduate research projects of up to $5,000 each in the area of water resources and hydrology that have the potential to help Texas solve future water problems. The funds are expected to become available to graduate students in spring 2021. Additionally, those students selected for the Mills Scholarship will also be eligible for an out-of-state tuition waiver.
Applications from graduate students doing water resources-related research in Texas are encouraged. This program can support either ongoing or new studies.
TWRI Research Priorities:
Proposed research can deal with a wide range of water resources topics, but priority will be given to research addressing the science, technology, policy or socio-economics of:
- developing innovative water management strategies to aid in implementing the Texas State Water Plan that address agricultural and urban water conservation, identifying new surface water and groundwater sources, desalination, reuse (potable and non-potable), and aquifer storage and recovery;
- evaluating and understanding the implications of water availability and quality on human health outcomes;
- addressing major water quality impairments in Texas, which include bacteria, dissolved oxygen, mercury and other hazardous contaminants;
- understanding the vulnerability of groundwater resources (both quantity and quality) from both a management and policy perspective;
- impacts of climate variability, climate change and drought on Texas water resources along with measures to adapt and mitigate these impacts; and
- understanding the long-term effects of catastrophic flooding events on surface water and groundwater resources, along with measures to adapt to or mitigate these effects.
See the request for pre-proposals for additional details on eligibility, research priorities, timeline, budget, evaluation and ranking criteria, and application specifications.
Pre-proposals are due to Danielle Kalisek by November 23, 2020 by 11:59 p.m.
