Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP)

Introduction

Eligibility

Course Details

Assessment

Project Selection and Allocation

Report and presentation

Important Dates

Frequently Asked Questions

 
Introduction:

UROP stands for Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme. Its aim is to encourage more undergraduates to consider R&D as a career choice. UROP is administered as a general elective subject, carrying 3 Academic Units. Students are expected to conduct an independent in-depth study of a particular topic under the supervision of an academic staff in full-time for over six weeks. At the end of the programme, they are expected to hand in a research report or a conference-style research paper.

Purpose:

1. To expose undergraduates to the challenges and excitements of research so that later they can make an intelligent decision regarding their career

2. To meet the increasing demand of R&D manpower in Singapore through early training

Scope:

The UROP aims to expose Undergraduate students to the exciting world of engineering research through appropriate levels of research investigations. The work can take the form of one or more of: search, review and analysis of literature; collection, classification and analysis of data; set-up, measurement and analysis through experiments; theoretical and computational analysis; computer modeling; and software development.

• This program is offered by some of the Engineering Schools
• Each school offers a free elective called RESEARCH EXERCISE in which students can take up such research projects
• The work done during the project and its results etc. may be presented at the NATIONAL UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY (NUROP) CONGRESS.
  

 
 
Top

Eligibility:

Year 2 and Year 3 students who satisfy the following requirements:

1)      Academic standing must be among top 30%.

2)      The student will not do DDP/CID/IA, or be involved in National Service during the same period.

3)      If a student registers for UROP, (s)he cannot register for any other inter-semestral subject during the same period.

4)      A student is only allowed to take UROP once.

Top

Course details:

Top

Assessment:

All students must prepare a research report or a conferfence-stype research paper, which will be assessed by the supervisor and the examiner. 
 
 Top

Project Selection and Allocation:  

• Students will first view the list of proposed projects via an online system at http://www.ntu.edu.sg/sce/intranet/urop/projectlist.asp
• Interested students must bring the invitation letter and the selection form (downloadable from the online system) and talk to the supervisors to explore mutual interest. If a match is made, the selection form must be signed by both the supervisor and the student and then returned to the UROP coordinator.
• The supervisor may select a particular student for a given project based on any criteria he thinks fit (not necessarily first-come-first-served). In case of contention, the supervisor has to make the final decision.
• After the project selection and allocation period is over, students have a drop period. After the drop period, no students are allowed to drop from their UROP but have to complete the project. If a student does not complete the UROP project, (s)he will be awarded a "F" grade.
• Students will be registered for the UROP programme by the UROP coordinator (not by the students themselves).

Top

Report and Presentation:

• A Report or a conference paper must be written describing the work done and the results/conclusions obtained. 
• Subsequently, the work could be presented in the NUROP congress, if accepted.
• A Certificate of Participation will be awarded if your paper is accepted for publication in the proceedings of the NUROP congress.
• If the report/project is selected for publication in the NUROP proceedings, a conference paper must be written from the report. 

Top

Important Dates:

Call for proposals………………………….....................21 March - 4 April 2008
Project selection and registration…..…....7– 18 April 2008
Drop period………………………………............................19 – 25 April 2008
Execution of UROP………………………....................5 May - 13 June 2008 or 16 June – 25 July 2008
Report due………………………………….........................8 August 2008

 

If you want to withdraw from UROP, you must inform the SCE UROP coordinator Dr. Shen Haifeng (email: ashfshen@ntu.edu.sg) through your supervisor by 5pm at 25April 2008.  After the drop period, you are not allowed to withdraw from UROP. If you fail to complete your UROP project, you will be given an "F" grade which is un-erasable in your student record as UROP can be taken only once.

 

Top

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q1: How can I know whether I am eligible for UROP?

Answer: Eligible students will receive an invitation email.

Q2: Can I take UROP at the same time with DDP/CID/IA?

Answer: As both UROP and DDP/CID/IA require full-time work, it is not allowed to take them both at the same time.

Q3: Can I take an inter-semestral GE subject while I am doing UROP?

Answer: No, once you have registered UROP, you are not allowed to take an inter-semestral GE subject during the same period, given the very short period for UROP (6 weeks).

Top

 

---

SCE UROP Coordinator:  Dr. Shen Haifeng

Last updated on 20 March 2008.

Top