MIT Sea Grant: Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Objectives:The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program has been part of MIT’s undergraduate education program since 1969. The Sea Grant/Undergraduate Opportunities Program (SG/UROP) was initiated in September 1980 in response to a faculty committee request for more undergraduate involvement in the Sea Grant Program. Our objectives are to >Make undergraduates aware of marine research opportunities >Encourage undergraduate students at MIT and institutions affiliated with MIT to work with Sea Grant faculty; >Provide student assistance to MIT faculty in ongoing marine-related research programs; >Publicize marine research needs and the Sea Grant College Program throughout the Institute’s undergraduate student body Methodology:UROP encourages and supports research-based, intellectual collaborations between MIT undergraduates and MIT faculty. Undergraduates may participate in any and all phases of research activity: proposal writing, developing a research plan, conducting actual research, analyzing data, and/or presenting results in oral and written form. A UROP project may be done at any time during the academic year and/or in the summer, and may take place in any academic department or interdisciplinary laboratory. Essential to all UROP projects are the following: >Research work worthy of academic credit (regardless of whether or not credit is requested) >Active communication between the student and the faculty supervisor, who is responsible for guiding the intellectual course of the student’s work >A student-written statement of purpose describing the planned research (called either a Proposal or a Letter of Intent) >Evaluations of the UROP experience and accomplishments, written by both the student and the faculty supervisor at the end of each term and/or summer period.Rationale:UROP supports the marine-related activities of undergraduates from MIT and other Massachusetts colleges and universities. It increases the number of undergraduates pursuing marine science or engineering careers, and offers them public service opportunities in accordance with the goals and mission of Sea Grant.