MIT Sea Grant: Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Objectives:The objectives of the UROP are to support marine-related activities of the MIT Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) to increase the number of undergraduate pursuing marine science or engineering careers, and to offer some public service opportunities by:>Making undergraduates aware of marine research opportunities>Encouraging undergraduate students at MIT and institutions affiliated with MIT to work with Sea Grant faculty>Providing student assistance to MIT faculty in ongoing marine-related research projects>Publicizing marine research needs and the Sea Grant College Program throughout the Institute’s undergraduate student bodyMethodology: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 that 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: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.