Funding UROP Students
Academic year and summer hourly wage support for UROP students can be provided through supervisor funding or direct funding from the UAAP. Students are also eligible to participate in UROP for academic credit or as volunteers. See the Participation Modes section under Basic Information for complete details.
Supervisor Funding
Many faculty supervisors pay UROP students from their own sources. Students who are being paid through your funding sources will need to indicate on their online applications the hourly wage rate, stipend amount (i.e. term or summer maximum), and corresponding account number. While the appropriate hourly rate for UROP students paid against faculty-managed accounts is at the discretion of you and your department, it may not be lower than the UROP minimum of $9.75 (fall 2011). Students applying for UROP with supervisor funding support must still adhere to deadlines.
If you have concerns regarding MIT overhead charges on UROP wages charged against sponsored research funds, you should consult with your department’s Administrative Officer or appropriate financial administrator.
UROP Direct Funding
When you do not have the funds to offer financial support to your students, the Office of Undergraduate Advising and Academic Programming (UAAP) has a limited amount of funding available to support research during the academic year and over the summer (IAP is not a UROP funding period). This Direct Funding process is competitive; deadlines must be met for full consideration.
When students apply for Direct Funding, they may request stipends of up to $1,360 for an academic term and $4,625 for a summer, both paid at $9.75/hr (for summer 2012. Students and your department's UROP payroll coordinator are expected to monitor the expenditure of UROP-awarded funds.
Students are not expected to put in overtime hours on UROP. Work beyond 40 hours is automatically paid as overtime; because UROP funds are limited and cannot support overtime charges, summer UROP students should not work beyond 40 hours per week.
A limited amount of money is available for lab supplies, conference fees, small equipment, photocopying, and other items used solely for UROP research. To request funding for such items, students must submit a UROP Direct Funding application that includes a detailed list of requested materials and services by the applicable Direct Funding deadline to be eligible for consideration. (See the UROP for Pay section for additional details).
NOTE: Wellesley College students are not eligible to receive Direct UROP Funding. Please contact UROP staff at urop@mit.edu with any questions regarding alternate funding sources for these students.
