Learning Abroad Center

International Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (I-UROP) Scholarship

About the Scholarship

The International Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (I-UROP) Scholarship is designed to promote learning abroad opportunities to UMTC undergraduate students by providing critical funding to students enrolled in select credit-bearing learning abroad programs involving a research project. The learning abroad program must include a minimum of 100 hours dedicated to onsite research.

What is an I-UROP Research Project?

  • Visit our Undergraduate Research Abroad web page for more information about research projects and considerations that apply to research abroad.
  • You will enroll in a course while abroad from the eligible Learning Abroad Center program list in which a faculty member oversees your project and provides guidance on content and methodology, issues a grade for your completed research paper, and ensures that at least 100 hours are dedicated to research.
  • Generally, research that involves engagement with human subjects requires IRB (Institutional Review Board) approval. Given the short duration of a study abroad program, students should select research topics that do not require IRB approval.

Eligibility & Funding Information

  • You must be enrolled as a degree-seeking undergraduate student on the Twin Cities or Rochester campus in good academic standing during the term abroad
  • You must maintain the minimum program credit enrollment determined by your study abroad program

Application Process

  1. Make sure your program is on the list of eligible Learning Abroad Center programs involving a research project.
  2. Watch the required video and complete the online quiz for Research Basics for Study Abroad.
  3. Meet with your program adviser to discuss the research project. They will confirm that the overseas site will agree to the project prior to submitting the international I-UROP application. Your adviser is listed on the 'Contact' tab on the program web page.
  4. Your adviser will add the I-UROP scholarship application to your program application checklist. The essay questions include:
    • How do you anticipate that study abroad will impact your personal, academic, and career goals?
    • What is your proposed research project or area of interest? What approach would you take to attain your research goals? What knowledge do you hope to produce? Research topics should be broad enough to accommodate modifications based on on-site circumstances and available opportunities.
  5. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on the application deadline date, no exceptions.

Deadlines & Award Amounts

The award amount for each term is up to $2,000.

TermDeadlines
Spring 2024November 1, 2023
Summer 2024March 15, 2024
Fall 2024May 1, 2024
Academic year 2024-25May 1, 2024

Steps for Scholarship Recipients

If selected for an I-UROP award, the scholarship will be posted directly to your UofM account at the beginning of the term in which the project is being conducted. The I-UROP team will contact you with instructions to submit your proposal and final report. In order to retain funding, all following steps must be completed and approved by I-UROP.

Within one month of your study abroad program start date, submit:

  • I-UROP application form
  • I-UROP proposal (3 pages long)
  • I-UROP onsite mentor recommendation

At the end of your study abroad program, submit:

  • I-UROP final report
  • I-UROP evaluation
  • Information to the University's Digital Conservancy (UDC). The UDC provides a permanent and searchable copy of research papers.

Failure to complete the above steps will result in having your scholarship rescinded.

Sample Research Project Titles

The following project summaries provide an insight into the range of possible research topics that can be pursued.

  • Similarities and differences between prominent Western views of health in the US and the views of health in India
  • Analyze the role of international organizations in protecting the sexual and reproductive rights of women in Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Ethnology of food, emphasis on how food underlies health
  • Tiritiri Matangi Wildlife Sanctuary tourism and preservation
  • Auckland's food system in an urban setting
  • Industralizing in relation to art in France
  • Coral reef ecology, conservation and response to climate change
  • Discrepancies in the distribution of free primary education funds in Kenya: lessons from Nairobi, Kilifi, Kitui and Kisumu Counties
  • Teenage health in rural Ecuador

Contact

For further information and assistance, contact Jessica Hartnett.

Funding is provided by the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), Learning Abroad Center (LAC), and the Office of Undergraduate Education.