Undergraduate Research Incentive Program
SMAST Undergraduate Research Incentive Program
The Undergraduate Research Incentive Program (URIP) is an opportunity for undergraduate students to participate in research with a faculty member.
The program's objectives are to:
- stimulate awareness of advanced research
- generate interest in graduate study
Faculty research activities provide unique opportunities for individualized instruction and exposure to cutting-edge, emerging technologies. URIP is open to outstanding, full-time undergraduate students who are available for an average of 10 hours per week. Students work on campus under the guidance of an SMAST professor on a specific research topic. The program is funded on a matching basis by the faculty sponsor and the college.
Students in this incentive program will:
- be exposed to research early in their academic careers
- gain first-hand experience working with research faculty and/or graduate students
Faculty participants will be able to:
- engage and recruit top undergraduate students to their research program
- extend their research funding and productivity
Faculty/departments will be responsible for recruiting qualified students for the program and submitting the URIP Faculty Application (PDF) with a brief project description to AskSMAST@umassd.edu.
Student responsibilities
Students must:
- maintain a minimum GPA of 3.00 and satisfactory laboratory performance
- meet with the faculty mentor during the first week of the semester to define a research plan and schedule, and be put on the payroll
- fulfill weekly hours agreed upon at the time of hire
- submit a thorough Undergraduate Research Incentive Program Report Form (PDF) along with a 500-word abstract
The responsible faculty member fosters a meaningful research experience and evaluates performance at the end of each semester. To the extent possible, URIP funds will be deployed to maximize the distribution of student/faculty participants.