What is UROP?
The intent of the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP) is to formally involve undergraduate students in research activities under the supervision of faculty members in their respective fields of study. UROP aims to enhance undergraduate students’ knowledge of, and acquire the skills required for, the intellectual process of inquiry. Undergraduate students who are enrolled in UROP are awarded course credits for their work on their research projects. UROP is offered in the Colleges, Faculties and Schools found in the table below. Details for course registration and assessment can be found in their respective UROP pages.
In Science
The Faculty introduced USRP (Undergraduate Science Research Programme) in AY1994/95. It was later renamed as UROPS in 1998. The aim of this programme is to provide you with an unique opportunity to work with our Faculty staff and experience the challenges and benefits that come from pursuing an independent research project. It is also one of the most important means for undergraduate students to foster mentoring relationships with faculty and research staff while working in a specific area of study.
This programme allows you to engage actively in research, discussions, intellectual communications and other creative activities. By complementing the conventional classroom learning, UROPS places students at the frontiers of scientific research. Through the typical phases of doing research, you are able to enhance your knowledge in the latest development of science and technology; acquire special communication and presentation skills; experience creative thinking; interact and forge closer ties with the established scientists and members of their groups. We believe that the experience you can gain upon completion of the project will assist you in the preparation for future careers and postgraduate training.
In CDE
EG2605 Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP), offered by College of Design and Engineering (CDE), gives you a taste of research through apprenticeship under the guidance of a faculty member while earning units (4 units) towards the Unrestricted Elective (UE) requirement of your Bachelor’s degree.
Note: Students from AY2021/22 intake can take UROP to fulfil 4 units (out of 10 units) of the major internship requirement.
In FASS
A UROP is an opportunity for an undergraduate student to take part in an existing research project. The student does not propose a project but joins one, works on it, and reflects on it. The student works with a supervisor and sometimes as a member of a larger team. The student can expect to undertake some of the following:
- discussion of research proposals
- research team / international collaborator meetings
- discussion of research directions and contributions / problems / challenges
- data collection
- data analysis
- writing of research findings
- bibliographical search
- attendance and/or presentation at local and/or international seminars and conferences
A student can only work on one UROP per declared major during his/her candidature in NUS.
In SoC
UROP provides a unique opportunity for bright undergraduates to undertake research work under the supervision of experienced researchers. Through this apprenticeship in research, students learn to formulate questions, to evaluate claims and to do in-depth study in a topic in order to solve a problem whose solution is not previously known. Students will conduct research under the supervision of SoC faculty members. Typically, the research involves these activities: problem formulation, literature survey, attending research seminars, proposal and implementation of solution, evaluation, and documentation and presentation of results. The relative importance of each of these research activities may vary widely depending on the chosen research topic (ranging from basic research to applied research to innovative application development).