Online UROP Application Instructions
MIT and CME exchange students complete the UROP application process online. Note: online applications must be initiated and submitted to your faculty supervisor for his/her review no later than 5 PM on the posted UROP deadline (the application system will lock after 5 pm and will not allow you to start new applicawtions).
Comprehensive application instructions to help you throughout the online UROP application process, can be found below, including:
- Eligibility
- Accessing the Online Proposal System for Students
- Viewing Current and Past Records
- Providing UROP Evaluations
- Beginning a new UROP application
- To Withdraw/Cancel an Application
- Understanding UROP Status Codes
- How to Report System Issues, Concerns, and/or Suggestions
Eligibility
Since UROP is an academic program, you must be a registered, UROP-eligible undergraduate in order to participate and use the on-line proposal system.
- The online application system requires the use of MIT web certificates, so only MIT undergraduates and Cambridge/MIT Exchange students are able to apply for UROP online. NOTE: online applications still include a research proposal detailing your research plan for the given semester.
- Wellesley College students interested in participating in UROP, should see the Wellesley Students page in the UROP Guidelines section as well as the Wellesley College Student Coversheets page in this section for information and instructions.
Accessing the Online Proposal System
Use of this system requires authentication using MIT web certificates. Once you have certificates installed, you can access your UROP student homepage via the following link: https://sisapp.mit.edu/uropweb/home.mit. We recommend that you bookmark this link for future reference.
Your UROP Home Page displays options to view your current and past UROP applications or to initiate a new UROP application.
Viewing Current and Past Records
- If you have one or more applications on file, you will see a message below the "View your UROP applications " link indicating the number of UROP application(s) that you have in the system along with a counts of any evaluations that you have yet to submit for completed UROPs.
- If you have never done a UROP, clicking the "View your current and past UROP applications" link will result in the following message: "You currently have no current or past UROP applications in the system."
- Clicking the "View your UROP applications " link, will produce a list of your UROPs. From this list, you can choose to click on a faculty member's name to view your detailed proposal record or click on the Provide Evaluation link to submit your end of term UROP feedback.
- If you are not eligible to register for the given term, but have projects from earlier terms, you can still view your old projects, but you will also see a message noting that you are not currently eligible to enter new UROP applications.
Providing UROP Evaluations
Before beginning a new UROP application, please be sure to submit any outstanding evaluations from your prior UROPs. Note: Evaluations are due at the end of each term of UROP collaboration, and must be submitted before subsequent UROP's are approved.
- If the counts indicate that you have evaluations to enter, click the View your UROP applications link.
- Then, click the Provide Evaluation link in the Evaluation Needed column and complete all required questions.
- Once you have provided your evaluations, you may return to your UROP homepage and begin a new UROP application.
Beginning a new UROP application
If no applications are currently being accepted, you will see the following message: "No UROP applications can be accepted at this time. Recent and upcoming deadlines are shown below." Otherwise, you will be able to submit any of the various application types that will be accepted at that time.
Deadlines for which applications are being accepted appear in black text.
- To start a new application, the type of UROP application that you wish to enter from the list in the left navigation bar and use the New Application" button to begin your application.
- Select the term of your UROP, then identify your faculty supervisor by typing his/her last name OR email address into the applicable fields and use the Lookup button to find their information. Your search will return a list of your faculty member's authorized UROP departments with radio buttons next to them for you to select. Pick the correct radio button for your UROP department, then click the Lookup button again to be direct to the rest of the application form.
- On the application form, please provide the following: the location of UROP (e.g. Bldg & Room #), the name and email address for your direct supervisor, if other than your faculty supervisor, your pay and or credit information (if known) and your project title. NOTE: all required fields marked with a *.
- Then, either upload a PDF version of your proposal or copy and paste the text of your proposal into the text box provided.
- Be sure to also note whether you plan to travel beyond the local are for this UROP, e.g. to present at a conference, etc. or to conduct fieldwork.
- Once all required fields are completed, save your application and proof it to be sure that all provided information is correct. NOTE: If you are unsure about your pay or credit information, it may be left blank, but your faculty member will need to provide it before it is submitted to UROP staff.
- If all information is correct, you may either:
- Submit your application for online faculty review, or
- Print a copy of your application for hard-copy signatures, by using the appropriate buttons and links at the end of the form.
- In addition, should you wish to simply save your application for future edits, then do not hit the Submit to Faculty button. This will leave your application in draft status. However, please be sure to submit your proposal for review online or in hard-copy form before the UROP deadline has passed.
NOTE: Your application must be signed (electronically or as a paper form) by your faculty supervisor and his/her department's UROP coordinator before it can be submitted to the UROP staff
To Withdraw/Cancel an Application
If you have to cancel an application that you have previously submitted, click on the "View your UROP applications. " Then, select the application that you wish to cancel, by clicking the link on your faculty supervisor's name.
At the bottom of your application detail, you will see a Withdraw Application section complete with a text box in which you can supply the reason for canceling the UROP. Clicking the Withdraw Application button will cancel the UROP and alert UROP staff of the cancellation.
Understanding UROP Status Codes
Below you will find a list of the common status codes that you will encounter in the UROP system, along with their equivalent meaning.
- Faculty Review: You have submitted an online proposal for your faculty supervisor to review, but s/he is still reviewing the application and still needs to submit it to the Department UROP Coordinator for review.
- Department Review: You have submitted an online proposal and your faculty supervisor has approved it, but the Department UROP Coordinator is still reviewing it and needs to submit it to UROP staff for final review/approval.
- Admin Review: You have submitted an online proposal, your faculty supervisor and Department UROP Coordinator have approved it, so it is now being reviewed by UROP staff. There are also a number of sub-statuses that may appear for applications that are under UROP admin review; examples include:
- Review: signature missing: You submitted a paper application or a combination of an online and paper application that is missing a required approval signature.
- Review: info missing: Your application is missing required information (e.g. proposal detail, payroll/credit information, etc) Your application cannot be approved until this information is supplied.
- Review: need off-campus form: You indicated that you are working off-campus, so we require that they complete an off-campus form with our staff in Room 7-104. Your application cannot be approved until this form is on file.
- Review: travel forms missing: You indicated that you are traveling within the US or abroad for this UROP project and the required travel forms are not yet on file. Your UROP cannot be approved until all required travel forms are submitted.
- Review: evaluation missing: You have yet to submit a required end of term UROP evaluation from a prior UROP, thus your application cannot be approved until it is received.
- Review: holding: Reasons for your proposal being in 'holding' can vary (e.g. UROP staff read your Direct Funding proposal, but are making funding decisions and are not yet ready to issue a decision, etc.).
- Approved: Your proposal has been approved for the term by your faculty supervisor, Department UROP Coordinator, and UROP staff.
- Returned/Rejected: Reasons for returning or rejecting projects can vary (e.g. denied UROP funding, you failed to correct required missing or incomplete application information, etc.), thus a number of sub-statuses will appear to explain the return/rejection in more detail. Example sub-statuses include:
- Returned: denied funding: Your request for UROP Direct Funding was not approved (an explanation is also provided to clarify).
- Returned: info missing: You never responded to requests to clarify missing required information, thus the application was returned.
- Returned: evaluation missing: You never responded to requests to submit a required end of term UROP evaluation, thus the application was returned.
NOTE: When applications are returned, you must initiate a new application and resubmit it to change the funding type or correct errors/omissions.
- Rejected: Your application was rejected for one of two reasons; it was received late or the proposed research was deemed inappropriate for a UROP. The rejection reason will appear as a sub-status (e.g. Rejected: received late or Rejected: inappropriate, etc.).
- Cancelled: you submitted a UROP application for the term, but it has been cancelled for some reason (e.g. you notified UROP staff that you lack the time to complete the UROP, you have decided to switch to pay or credit, etc.). If a project is cancelled a sub-status will appear in parentheses to indicate the status of the application prior to cancellation; these will include:
- Cancelled (Approved): Application was cancelled after UROP staff had already approved it.
- Cancelled (Admin Review): Application was cancelled while still under review by UROP staff.
- Cancelled (Draft): You cancelled your application before submission for faculty and department review.
- Expired: You created an application that never reached a final status (e.g. approved or cancelled) by the end of the term.
How to Report System Issues, Concerns, and/or Suggestions
Please note: the system is NOT available between the hours of 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. EDT due to regularly scheduled server maintenance.
Should you encounter any error messages when using the online system, please copy and paste the text of the message into an email to UROP staff at: urop@mit.edu, so that we can troubleshoot the issue and get you back online as quickly as possible.
In addition, should you have any other system concerns or usability suggestions that you wish to share with our staff, do let us know.
