The Center for Planetary Systems Habitability grew out of a UT Vice President for Research initiative to support interdisciplinary studies of planetary habitability.

The UT Pop-Up Institute: Planetary Habitability ran for six weeks, from June 12 to July 26, 2018, and was hosted at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG). The Pop-Up Institute united scientists and researchers for a campus-wide research focus on planetary habitability, and to collaborate on developing long-range plans for a coordinated campus-wide research effort in planetary habitability.

The result of that plan was the Center for Planetary Systems Habitability.

All materials, resources and presentations remain available at the UT Pop-Up Institute: Planetary Habitability website.