Other Resources
The following additional resources may prove helpful in your UROP experiences, and in your undergraduate career in general.
- The Edgerton Center
- The International Students Office
- The MIT Writing and Communication Center
- Student Financial Services
- Helpful websites
Edgerton Center
The Edgerton Center , located in "Strobe Alley" (Room 4-405, x3-4629, strobe@mit.edu ), provides opportunities for undergraduates to pursue hands-on education and research projects. The Center offers spring and fall subjects for credit, contest sponsorship, access to workshops and training, as well as provides materials, advice and limited funding for the pursuit of your own ideas. The Center also sponsors 2-4 UROP students on its own projects each term. Check the Edgerton Center's homepage for new activities and research opportunities.
If you want to pursue your own project but are uncertain how to get started, the Center offers a spring seminar, SP.704, that will help you get organized and underway. Past student-initiated projects included ideas for an aircraft collision avoidance system, a project in ultraviolet dosimetry, and one involving musical virtual reality.
The Edgerton Center offers an active outreach program for undergraduates to perform hands-on science activities at MIT with students in grades 4-7 in Cambridge Public Schools.
The Edgerton Center is also home of the Robotics and Electronics Cooperative - a student-run club for electronics hackers who want to pursue their own projects in digital and analog electronics. Contact them at rec-members@mit.edu .
The Center operates a fully equipped Student Shop , which provides access to machine tools and training in their use. Students with UROPs or independent projects requiring shop support are welcome.
International Students Office (ISO)
The International Students Office (ISO) provides services, which meet the needs of MIT international students, and coordinates support programs, which help them fulfill their personal and academic goals. The ISO provides individual advising and group seminars on immigration regulations and the office also provides services to students and their dependents (including assistance with forms to travel outside the US, personal counseling and advising related to emergencies or unexpected immigration problems). In addition, the ISO processes the required legal documents for the admission of all international students -- graduate, undergraduate, special, exchange and visiting students. They also prepare required legal documents which enable the students to gain work experience through a period of practical training in the United States.
ISO is located in Room 5-133 and can be reached at: (617) 253-3795 or via fax at: (617) 258-5483 or via email to: iso-help@mit.edu. The ISO site is available at: http://web.mit.edu/iso and contains a wealth of important information for international students.
The Writing and Communication Center
The Writing and Communication Center offers free services to all members of the MIT community (undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, and spouses) during the academic year. The Center offers individual consultations about any writing difficulty, from questions about grammar to matters of style. The Center’s staff of professional writing consultants can offer advice about any type of writing, including papers for any class, lab reports, resumes, CVs, letters, etc. It also offers advice about all aspects oral presentations as well as pronunciation practice.
Visit the Writing Center when developing your research proposals or articles that you intend to publish.
The Center is located in 12-132, and its staff can be reached at: 617.253.3090 or writing-center@mit.edu Tips, advice and guidelines can also be found on the Writing and Communication Center's website at: http://web.mit.edu/writing/.
Student Financial Services
Student Financial Services is responsible for financial aid, loans, student accounts and student employment. SFS staff members bill and collect your tuition, fees and other Institute charges; award need-based financial aid; process student and parent loans; provide counseling on payment options and financial management; and list term-time and summer student employment opportunities including paid community service jobs.
For more information on SFS services and whom to contact, see our web site at http://web.mit.edu/sfs/, call the main SFS number at (617) 253-4971 or send email to finaid@mit.edu.
Helpful Websites
The following sites contain useful information that may help you in your UROP pursuits.
- Office of the Dean for Undergraduate Education: Provides support for students and faculty in a wide range of educational activities. This support includes offices which provide vital infrastructure for undergraduate students at MIT, as well as support for and encouragement of faculty initiatives in education. The Office has a special role in coordinating the educational program for first-year students. The Office of the Dean for Undergraduate Education works closely with the Division of Student Life on a variety of student life and learning initiatives and opportunities.
- Division of Student Life: Leads campus efforts to set new standards for excellence in integrating living and learning at the Institute. It works to foster a safe, healthy and supportive environment for the MIT community that maximizes well-being and the development of skills for a balanced life.
- Academic Departments: A resource for links to research, faculty, staff, alumni, undergraduates, graduate students. news, events, etc. Information about the departments and activities offered by each department are found on each departmental website.
- MIT Career Development Center: Provides counseling, workshops, lectures and panels, employer recruiting, job development, preprofessional advising, alumni relations, internships and other opportunities for experiential learning, self-assessment and career research. We engage faculty, alumni and employers, so students may benefit from many informed perspectives. We are a primary source of two key elements of their education: constructive, personalized advice, and internships and other experiential learning which provide some of their most important lessons and greatest challenges.
- Independent Activities Period: MIT's special 4-week term that runs from the first week of January until the end of the month. IAP provides a welcome break from the academic routine of the fall and spring semesters and offers hundreds of opportunities for creativity in teaching and learning. All members of the MIT community can join the hundreds of non-credit activities found in the on-line version of the IAP Guide.
