Social Science & Policy Studies

The Major Qualifying Project (MQP) is a high-level research capstone project undertaken in the student's major field during senior year. It involves problems like those a student will typically find in a career setting.

Generally undertaken in teams, the MQP is an integral element of WPI's project-based learning, which offers exceptional preparation for successful and rewarding lives and careers.

MQPs give WPI students advanced experience in their field so when they enter the job market or apply to grad school, that work history is valuable in many ways. The individual projects are ambitious and require a substantial time commitment. The MQP culminates with the presentation of a project report and poster on the campus-wide Project Presentation Day in April.

Recent MQPs in the Social Science & Policy Studies Department:

  • Green space design for Ågadeparken: a pilot project for daylighting Ladegårdsåen
  • Physical learning through technology: Cyberhoodies
  • Research on barriers preventing the expansion of the organic agro-industry in the northeast of Brazil
  • Investing in durable technologies for producing public goods
Project-Based Learning at WPI

What Is the Interactive Qualifying Project?

WPI’s other innovative required project is the Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP) which students complete in their junior year. The IQP requires students to work in teams to address a problem that lies at the intersection of science or technology with social issues and human needs. It is done under the direct guidance of one or more faculty advisors, usually in teams of 2 to 4 students.

The IQP helps students understand, as citizens and as professionals, how their careers will impact the larger society of which they are part. Generally, these projects involve some analysis of how technology affects, and is affected by, individuals and communities.

About 60 percent of all IQPs are completed through the Global Projects Program at one of WPI's Project Centers.

Previous MQPs in Social Science & Policy Studies

Browse through our project database to find out about MQPs in the Social Science & Policy Studies Department.