The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)
Since 2008 RWTH Aachen has offered Bachelor's students a structured research program: UROP, the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, promotes students in developing research competencies early on in their studies and thus helps to open up future opportunities for a career in science and research. Participation in a UROP project has often been the springboard for a research career.
In order to integrate teaching and research more closely, RWTH involves students in RWTH and JARA (Jülich Aachen Research Alliance) research projects and encourages its academic staff to introduce their research activities in teaching and learning.
Using a database, students can browse and select research projects conducted by the RWTH departments. These projects are led by RWTH and JARA professors and scientists, who are willing to act as mentors and advisors for students participating in the projects.
UROP International: North America as Research Partner
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Team UROP
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programm
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A characteristic of the program is its international outlook: As part of the Mobilizing People initiative, RWTH not only supports student research projects at the University, but also those conducted at prestigious partner institutions in Canada and the US. Stays abroad are supported with scholarships. Thus, UROP provides interesting opportunities in research and for the completion of research papers and final theses — particularly in the USA and Canada, popular countries of focus.
Each year UROP offers students from North American universities a ten-week research summer school. This program component, titled UROP International, has been met with great popularity. In addition to numerous new and attractive university partnerships with North American universities, this component has significantly contributed to increasing RWTH's international visibility in North America.
Research-Oriented Teaching and Internationalization
UROP has contributed to introducing research activities into the curriculum of RWTH Bachelor's students.
Through its international outlook, the program is actively promoting the internationalization of the University. Research teams receive support through the participation of young researchers, and the international exchange of research and ideas receives a significant boost. The program helps to develop the intercultural competencies as well as the team skills of all those involved.
Three Program Branches
- RWTH UROP offers RWTH students the chance to be part of a research team at one of the University's/ JARA institutes. Since 2021, this program line has included a focus on sustainability and projects in alignment with the 17 SDGs, and a new filter has been created in the database to identify such projects.
- UROP Abroad makes it possible for RWTH students to conduct research projects at high-profile universities and research institutions in the US and Canada
- UROP International is targeted at students from recognized North American universities who want to come to Germany for a ten-week period to conduct a research project at RWTH Aachen.