Naming Opportunities
Development Programs > Naming Opportunities
Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP)
In its quest to provide an unexcelled undergraduate education, Notre Dame is promoting independent research among undergraduate students. Empirical and anecdotal evidence suggest such opportunities encourage a more profound intellectual awakening and inspire in students a greater passion for their discipline—while providing a distinct competitive advantage as students apply to graduate programs.
The recently launched Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) permits students to engage in self-directed research projects under the guidance of a faculty mentor by furnishing small grants to underwrite research and related travel expenses. UROP also offers summer fellowships, which allow students to forego the typical summer job in favor of furthering a research project.
UROP endowments may be established at the following levels:
- Premier: $5,000,000
- Presidential: $1,000,000
- Distinguished: $500,000
- Prize: $250,000
- Named: $100,000
Expendable gifts of any amount are also appreciated.
UROP endowments will be named at the donor’s behest: for example, the Lucille and Paul O’Brien Endowment for Undergraduate Research in the Department of Sociology.
With the consent of the donor, appropriate recognition will be offered, which may include the display of the benefactor’s name on a campus recognition wall, annual reports, invitations to special recognition events, and correspondence with the UROP grant recipient.
To learn more about UROP endowments, please contact us.
Undergraduate Research Opens Doors
Senior theology major Cassie Herman has long been interested in the intersection of faith and medicine. Last year, she applied for a UROP grant in order to explore this complex area in greater depth and further define her own academic leanings.
Her proposal? To explore the role of faith and holistic care in facilities charged with the rehabilitation and re-integration of people with disabilities.
With a UROP summer fellowship, she visited a number of secular and religious care facilities in South Bend, Chicago, and New York; attended a conference on faith- and health-based research; and participated in a UN session on the rights of the disabled.
Cassie’s project provided a wealth of insights that will fuel her senior thesis and independent study project. “All through the summer,” she says, “I was subconsciously discerning my vocation. This project has changed me.”
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