UROP

Welcome to the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme

** Summer 2012 UROP Projects are listed in the Placements section **

PLACEMENTS ARE OPEN TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WHO WILL BE ENTERING THEIR       FINAL YEAR OF STUDY IN OCTOBER 2012, GRADUATING IN 2013.

Information sessions for those students considering a UROP Placement will be held on Wednesday 15th February and on Thursday 1st March (1.00-1.50pm) in the Carrington Building. Places are limited and should be booked on-line through Target Connect (you can book a maximum of 14 days in advance of the session).

If you have specific questions on the UROP scheme or would like help with making a UROP placement application then individual 15 minute appointments are available at UROP Drop-in sessions on Thursday afternoons (1-2 pm) or by appointment at other times on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday throughout Spring Term. To make an appointment call in at the Careers Service in Carrington Building. All enquiries relating to specific placements should be directed to the appropriate Project Supervisor.

UROP placements provide exciting opportunities for undergraduates to work with academic staff on University research projects, contributing directly to the creation of knowledge and strengthening the link between teaching and research. Placements last six weeks over the summer break, or can be part-time into the autumn term. The scheme is only open to University of Reading students in their penultimate year of study.

As a student, a UROP placement makes a significant contribution to your transferable skills, employability and understanding of the research environment and you will also receive a bursary of £1,200. UROPs may encourage you to pursue a research career, but also provide skills and experience for other employment. Placements are undertaken in the summer before final year projects, boosting research skills and subject knowledge prior to dissertation writing.

As a member of academic staff, a UROP placement could make a significant contribution to your research and help develop your undergraduate students. 

After four years of funding and development by the Centre for Applied Undergraduate Research Skills the Reading University's UROP scheme is now being managed by the Centre for the Development of Teaching and Learning (CDoTL).

Photo: Placement student Charlotte Williams found that collecting behavioural data on ring-tailed lemurs in their new Madagascar enclosure at CotswoldWildlifePark gave her a new level of respect for the animals and an appreciation of their endangered status."I have always wanted to study animal behaviour but never fully appreciated how beneficial it can be to the animals."