Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

With the generous support of the Office of the Vice President of Research, the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program offers financial assistance for scholarly and creative projects under the mentorship of a faculty member.  Dozens of research projects are funded each year so that undergraduates may undertake ambitious and exciting research endeavors. This competitive program is open to all University of Oklahoma main campus and Health Science Center students who compete for research grants of up to $1,000 each semester.  Students and faculty from across the University discover the benefits of these hands-on research opportunities in laboratories, studios, libraries, and field sites.  At the conclusion of their work, UROP recipients present the results of their research or accounts of their work in progress at the Honors College’s Undergraduate Research Day, a professional-like conference held in April of each year.   Learn more about the program here.

Check out the first hand accounts from our two students who received the UROP grant for the 2014-2015 academic year: Tucker Walton and Matt DeRuyter.

I recently received a grant from the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program given by the University of Oklahoma. My research will focus on conducting the first genetic study of species-level diversity across the genus Lygosoma, a diverse group of lizards from throughout Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, India, and Central Africa. Previous research has shown evidence of widespread cryptic diversity, indicating that current estimates of species diversity are highly underestimated. The goal of this study is to better understand the relationships and diversity of this rare group of lizards, leading to improved conservation efforts. I will be joined in this research by Siler Lab graduate student, Elyse Freitas. This grant entails presenting the results of his research at the Honors College’s Undergraduate Research Day in April of this year.  – Matt DeRuyter

I am excited to announce that my Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) grant proposal was recently accepted! This grant will be used to fund research on the genetic diversity within Oreophryne – a genus of tiny Philippine frogs. The project will be completed at the end of next semester, and in the process I will gain experience with a variety of molecular techniques. This research is the first of its kind on Philippine Oreophryne, and I’m so thankful for having the opportunity to be a part of it.  – Tucker Walton