Undergraduate Student Researchers Program (USRP)

Vision

• Provide opportunities for ECE undergraduate students to enhance their research skills, critical thinking, and communication skills by working closely with ECE faculty in their research programs

Mission

• Attract promising ECE undergraduates into our graduate degree program
• Mentor students in the planning and conduct of independent as well as collaborative research
• Increase the number of Virginia/US residents pursuing advanced study in critical engineering areas
• Prepare the students to compete successfully for state and federal undergraduate and graduate fellowships (viz. VMEC, VSGC, NASA GSRP, NSF, DoD, etc)

Eligibility

• Applicant must preferably be in Junior status
• QPA >3.2/4.0
• Open to US and International Students
• The applicant must be sponsored by an ECE faculty

Fellowship

• $1000 per semester for two semesters
• USRP Fellows are expected to conduct research for 10 weeks in a semester for 100 hours
• Second semester renewal is based on exemplary performance in the first semester
• Up to 10 Fellowships may be awarded in a year

Application Deadlines

• Fall Semester- August 15
• Spring Semester-January 10

Application

• Submit the Application for USRP Fellowship to Dr. Sacharia Albin, the Graduate Program Director

Faculty & Research Areas/Topics

• USRP Research at Vision Laboratory
• USRP Research at Wireless Communications and Networking Laboratory
• USRP Research at Center for Bioelectrics

Guidelines for USRP Fellowship

Undergraduate Students

The GPD will contact all fulltime rising Junior students who have QPA>3.2/4.0 for information session on USRP. Research area/topic and faculty interest will be communicated to them. The list of prospective students will be provided to the faculty who may contact the students prior to sponsoring them for the award.

Award Selection Committee

The ECE Graduate Committee will serve as the Award Selection Committee. The committee decision is needed only if the number of applicants exceeds the number of USRP Fellowships.

Faculty Sponsor & Matching Fund

The ECE department will provide up to $10K towards USRP. The sponsoring faculty is expected to match USRP funding with $500 for each student per semester. The faculty sponsor is required to accomplish the USRP mission of recruiting our own undergraduate students to the graduate program.

Fellowship Renewal

The USRP Fellowship will be renewed only at the recommendation of the faculty sponsor.

Tracking

The GPD shall maintain the data on USRP fellows so that the program can be assessed for its success in increasing the graduate degree production and research output.