2025 Summer Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Student Application

Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) will take place in the summer of 2025. UROP is a program designed to cultivate and support research partnerships between University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign undergraduates and faculty members. All projects focus on NASA-related science and/or engineering research. We want to invite highly motivated undergraduates to apply to participate in UROP.


We envision this program to involve about 15 University of Illinois undergraduate students who will:


  • Contribute actively to an intensive research project for 10 weeks (~40 hours per week);
  • Participate in the weekly seminar series (presentations on research ethics, technical writing, and preparing presentations) organized by the Summer REU committee throughout this summer;
  • Present your research and fully participate in a one-day symposium



We believe this program provides a unique opportunity for students to become involved in NASA-related STEM research activities.


The selected students will participate in research activities for 10 weeks between May 19 and August 1, 2025, under the supervision of a faculty member and their graduate student(s). Your faculty mentor sets the start and end dates, but we expect you to commit to 10 weeks of intensive research. The program is supported by the NASA Space Grant and faculty contributions. Students will each receive a total maximum of $7,000 in support. Students are expected to participate in the program approximately 40 hours per week.


All selected students will be required to participate in the ILSGC longitudinal tracking for NASA, our sponsor.

 

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

  • Current student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Highly-motivated undergraduate student
  • Provide a statement of interest
  • Provide a current transcript
  • Provide a current resume or CV
  • Complete the online application


Contact Heidi if you have any questions about this.

 
 
 
 
 

You must register on NASA's STEM Gateway. We recommend using a personal email address because some school emails change or expire.


Here is the link - https://stemgateway.nasa.gov/s/


You will find additional instructions HERE


Please provide the email that you used to register with NASA STEM Gateway.


This will be verified before final placements are made. You will be ineligible for Illinois Space Grant funding if you do not set up a NASA STEM Gateway account.

 

(use your credit hours completed to determine this)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Demographics

NASA asks that we report consolidated demographic data on our program applicants and participants to show the impact of our programs. Please take a few minutes to fill out the following questions as completely as you can.

 
 
 

You may select more than one response.

 

Hispanic or Latinx means a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

 

Do you have a disability, based on the National Center of Educational Statistics' list of disabilities categories? (including difficulty hearing, seeing, or speaking, mobility limitations/orthopedic impairments, traumatic brain injury, specific learning disabilities, ADD or ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, cognitive difficulties or intellectual disability, mental illness or psychiatric conditions).

 

Have you served in the United States Military?

 

Are you a first generation student? (A first generation student is defined as someone who's parents or legal guardians did not earn a bachelor's degree or higher.)

 

Personal Information

 
 
 
 
 
Phone
 
 

Project Selection

We have multiple projects available, please read the descriptions carefully and select the top 3 projects that most interest you. It important that you rank them as we track this data. Do NOT select the same project for all 3 of your choices. Your application will ONLY be sent to the 3 projects you select.


Project Mentors will be sent your information and may decide to hold interviews for their positions. Your ranking will not be shared.


Project Mentors make the decision who participates in their projects. You can see the project descriptions here -

https://isgc.aerospace.illinois.edu/students/undergraduate-research-opportunities-program/

 

If you were asked to apply for a specific project, you will not need to complete the project selection and will not see those options.

 

Application Materials

Please provide the following with your application.

This program will accept multiple file uploads.

  • Statement of Interest
  • Resume
  • Transcript - Upload a copy of your most recent transcript. It does not need to be an official copy.


Incomplete applications will not be selected.

 
Drop your files here
 
 
 
 

We are collecting data to improve the reach of Illinois Space Grant programs.