Writing Your UROP Proposal
The next deadline for UROP Proposals is Monday, October 5, 2009.
Format
The UROP Application/Proposal consists of three parts.
1. You should download the Application Form and fill in the blanks using Microsoft Word or another word processing program.
2. You should download the Faculty Mentor Recommendation Form and provide it to your Faculty Mentor. She or he should either fill in the blanks using Microsoft Word or another word processing program.
3. There is NO pre-made form for the Proposal. You should prepare your Proposal according to the instructions below, using a word processing or page layout program, such as Microsoft Word or Powerpoint. If you wish to include tables, diagrams or figures, they must all fit within the three page limit. The page margins must be at least one inch on the top and bottom and both sides. The type must be at least 12 points in size. You should use double line spacing and not have more than 3 lines per vertical inch.
Proposal Content
• Describe the intellectual merit of your proposed research or creative activity. What is the context for this project? Why is it important? What goals will it accomplish or what questions will it answer? For creative activities, what aesthetic are you addressing? Why is your proposed creative activity unique? For a science or technology proposal, you should describe a hypothesis that your research will test.
• Describe the broader impacts of your proposed research. Does this research have practical application or public policy implications? Will it contribute to better understanding of questions important to human knowledge or culture? Is your research particularly relevant to certain groups of people, such as K-12 school children or particular ethnic or cultural groups?
• Describe as specifically as possible what you will do (your methodology) during your UROP research or creative activity. What comes first? What is next? How do subsequent steps depend on earlier steps? Why is your plan relaistic and achievable? What contingency plans do you have if this does not work out as expected?
• Describe the outcome of your research or creative activity. For a science or technology proposal, at what level of confidence will your research test the hypothesis that you have described?. What will you and others know after your research that was not known before? What questions will be answered? What questions might arise for further study? How will you disseminate your new knowledge. For creative activity, what will you produce? How will you present the results of your creative activity?