Office of the Provost

Responsible for the overall quality of teaching, scholarship, and research at WPI, the Office of the Provost is the nerve center for academic oversight, support, and resource operations.

In collaboration with the university’s deans and professional staff, the provost works to assure the continued excellence of WPI’s premier undergraduate program, the relevance of our graduate research enterprise, and to attract, recruit, and retain outstanding faculty.

A message from Bruce Bursten, PhD
Provost and Senior Vice President

On behalf of the academic enterprise at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, I am pleased to welcome you to our special institution—the third-oldest technology-centered university in the United States. Academics are at the heart of what we do at WPI. Our distinctive, world-class educational opportunities, passionate and brilliant faculty, and cutting-edge research programs provide superb preparation for our highly-motivated students and fuel a discovery engine that generates new ideas and solutions to serve our nation and the world.

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Sponsored by the Office of the President, the University Lecture Series provides a forum for speakers of national and international importance to enhance scholarly and scientific learning and to stimulate the intellectual climate of the university and surrounding communities.

University Lecture

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Both in and outside the classroom at WPI, students are immersed in projects that apply their growing knowledge to real-world challenges. In the process, they become better problems solvers, communicators, and leaders. WPI’s Global Projects Program immerses students in communities as close as our home city of Worcester and at more than 40 other locations worldwide. Students work in teams with a faculty advisor and are accountable to a project sponsor on a specific problem that connects science or technology with social issues and human needs.

Project-based Learning

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Graduate students at WPI are part of a large and thriving research community. The Graduate Research Innovation Exchange is a two-part annual research poster celebration highlighting the breadth, diversity, and quality of graduate research at WPI.