WPI’s hallmark projects program gives undergraduates opportunities to engage in research throughout their four years. Working with faculty members on campus in WPI's state-of-the-art laboratories, they are often valued participants in graduate research projects at leading research institutions and with organizations around the globe.
Here our undergraduates have the chance to dive deep and explore what it means to engage in high-level research. That’s why employers and graduate schools are eager to accept WPI graduates into the workforce and leading graduate programs. They have the knowledge and the interdisciplinary skills needed to attack a problem from all angles, with research experience on issues that affect us all.
According to the National Council on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), the definition of undergraduate research is "an inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline." At WPI, undergraduate students are exploring research opportunities with both faculty and graduate students. This makes them a valuable contributor to the Research enterprise.
The Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP) is a combined curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular program designed to prepare students to address today’s grand challenges. The program supports and recognizes undergraduates who wish to combine any major with a passion to address significant issues facing society. Through GCSP, first-year students and sophomores have multiple opportunities to develop their research abilities, interdisciplinary and global perspectives, and entrepreneurial mindset, all in the service of society. Learn more.
The Henry Luce Foundation has awarded the university a Clare Boothe Luce Research Scholar Award. The grant will support research by undergraduate women in math, computer science, physics, and robotics engineering and will fund up to eight research scholars annually over a three-year period. Learn more.
The university each year celebrates undergraduate research through special awards and events, including Project Presentation Day—a campus-wide symposium that gives every undergraduate the opportunity to share their Major Qualifying Project (MQP) with faculty advisors, sponsors, and the campus community. Project presentation day is a unique WPI tradition that dates back many years and celebrates the best of the WPI Plan.
