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Undergraduate Research Opportunities (UROP) in Materials Science and Engineering
What is a UROP?
The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) is a 30-year-old program, the first and largest undergraduate research program in the nation. It encourages and supports research-based intellectual collaborations of MIT undergraduates with Institute faculty members. It is administered by the UROP Office, part of the Office of Academic Services, and is located in 7-103 (x3-7306).
Consult the UROP Office web pages for guidance and procedures for setting up a UROP.
Every undergraduate is welcome to participate in every phase of research activity: proposal writing, establishing research protocol, conducting actual research work, analyzing data, and presenting results in oral and written forms. Participation means taking on a research project either for academic credit or for pay, or as a volunteer. A paid project may be directly funded by the UROP office, or your faculty advisor may support it from research funds. The project may last the equivalent of one semester, but most continue a year or more. When you have found a faculty advisor and decided on the project on which you will work, how many hours per week you will work, and whether it will be for pay, for credit, or as a volunteer, contact the Departmental UROP Officer, Professor Bernhardt Wuensch (13-4037, x3-6889).
Our department requires all lab workers to complete the
Institute Environmental Health and Safety Training on Chemical
Hygiene and Handling Hazardous Waste, along with any additional
training that is provided by the laboratory in which the
student will be working. For information, contact Prof.
David K. Roylance, DMSE EHS Officer, at x3-3309 or Mr.
Joseph A. Glogowski, Jr., EHS Coordinator at x3-5386.
Finding UROP Positions
The best way to find a UROP is to look at the research interests of the faculty on the Departmental web page, and contact them directly. If you are enthusiastic and motivated, you should be able to find a UROP position by asking several faculty. Some faculty advertise on their web pages, but most do not, so the best approach is to contact them.
Students' suggestions for finding a UROP
"If you are an undergrad looking for a course 3 UROP, simply write email or a note attached to your resume. I had sent resumes out to about five DMSE professors. All responded. Some simply could not hire me, but all responded. … I think that's pretty indicative of the DMSE, they are EXTREMELY HELPFUL and FRIENDLY….To sum up, it's been my experience that bulk of the faculty in DMSE would all be helpful to one seeking a UROP. All one has to do is make the first move."—Kevin Agatstein
"Start looking early, just to get your name into the professor's head. Even if they don't need a UROP at that moment, you can ask them to keep you in mind later down the road. And don't be intimidated! I was, but found that you don't need to be. It's not the end of the world to be rejected by a professor for a UROP, therefore you shouldn't need to stress out about it."—Ben Yu
"Undergraduates should go straight up to a professor and very politely (not arrogantly) ask if there is a project for the student. Working with a grad student the first time around is always very good."—Erin Lavik
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