Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) provides UMD students of all backgrounds, disciplines, and levels of experience with the opportunity to engage in scaffolded, multidisciplinary team-based projects.
VIP Student Applications are currently open.
Learn more about VIP Student Applications and apply using the "Applications" tab on the VIP for Students webpage.
Why Join a VIP Team?
Students
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Earn academic credit while gaining hands-on experience on a scaffolded, multidisciplinary, faculty-led research team.
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Participate and grow for multiple semesters.
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Develop discipline-based skills and broad professional competencies, including enhanced abilities to communicate, think critically, lead, and operate as a professional within a team-based environment.
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As your VIP experience grows semester to semester, develop as a leader.
Why Start a VIP Team?
Campus Partners
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Advance your research & innovation with long-term student support.
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Lead a multidisciplinary, scalable team with sustained peer mentoring.
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Launch, grow, and succeed through the support we provide for student recruitment, team selection, course creation and scheduling, and other related materials.
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Be a part of a community of VIP Faculty Mentors who meet, discuss, and grow together.
Current VIP Teams
3D-Printed Video Game-Playing Soft Robots
Dr. Ryan Sochol
Mechanical Engineering
Belonging for Immigrants and Refugees with Disabilities (BIRD)
Dr. Veronica Kang
Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education
Biodiversity in 3D
Dr. Evan Economo
Department of Entomology
Budgets for Equity in Latin America
Dr. Juan Pablo Martinez Guzman
School of Public Policy
Electric Boats - From Competition to Cleaner Harbors
Mr. Brian Palmer
Engineering Information Technology
Food, Integrated Environmental, Animal & Laboratory Detection Systems
Dr. Magaly Toro
Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Integrated Media for Policy, Agriculture, Climate & Technology
Dr. Rebecca Epanchin-Niell
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Mini-Breadboard Data Center
Dr. Lingnan Lin
Mechanical Engineering
Research/Research
Dr. Cari Ferguson
Office of Undergraduate Research
SHORE Robot
Dr. Miao Yu
Mechanical Engineering
Sodium Fire Safety in Nuclear Power Plants
Dr. Peter Sunderland
Fire Protection Engineering
The Immersive Realities in Digital Humanities Workgroup
Dr. Marisa Parham
Department of English & Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities
Wood Vault
Dr. Ning Zeng
Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
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Dr. Raffaele Viglianti
Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities
Beyond Co-Intelligence
Mr. Kevin Calabro
Keystone Program
Biosensors
Dr. Catherine Spirito
Office of Undergraduate Research
Community Learning Garden
Meredith Epstein
Institute of Applied Agriculture
Engineering on the Edge of Space
Dr. Mary Bowden
Aerospace Engineering
Go with the Flow!
Dr. Ken Kiger
Mechanical Engineering
Integrating Sociology in Technology, Engineering, and Policy (INSTEP)
Dr. Timothy Reedy
Science, Technology, and Society
Open-Source Optimization Algorithms
Dr. John Silberholz
Decision, Operations & Information Technologies Area
Researching Innovative Tools for Meaningful Digital Engagement
Dr. Ronald Yaros
Philip Merrill College of Journalism
Security, Democracy, and the US in Latin America
Dr. Joshua Shifrinson
School of Public Policy
TestuGo: A Bluetooth Navigation & Exploration App
Mr. Bryan Quinn
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Water Quality, Outreach, and Wellness - WOW, What a Team!
Dr. Brienna Anderson
Department of Global, Environmental, and Occupational Health
Baby Brains
Dr. Tracy Riggins
Department of Psychology
Beyond-Lithium Battery Materials
Dr. David Stewart
Materials Science and Engineering
Brain Data Explorers
Dr. Ana Navarro-Cebrian
Department of Psychology
Creative Technology & Digital Storytelling with LiteraryDJ
Dr. Andrew Smith
Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities
Exoskeleton Explorers: Arthropod-Inspired 3D Printed Robots
Dr. Molly Carton
Mechanical Engineering
Gut Healing Smart Pill
Dr. Younggeon Jin
Department of Animal and Avian Sciences
Low-Cost Robot Scientists
Dr. Gilad Kusne
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Quantum Machine Learning
Dr. Shabnam Jabeen
Office of Undergraduate Research
RetroComp
Dr. Jeffrey Moro
Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities
Slavery, Law, & Power
Professor Holly Brewer
Department of History
The Creative Experiment: Science, Imagination and Design
Dr. Michael Kleiss
School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Wind TERPines
Dr. James Baeder
Aerospace Engineering
The VIP Movement & UMD
Originally created at Georgia Tech and Purdue University, Vertically Integrated Projects has been making an impact for over 20 years at universities across the globe.
Vertically Integrated Projects is a transformative approach to enhancing higher education by engaging undergraduate students in ambitious, long-term, large-scale, multidisciplinary project teams that are led by faculty. The program has been rigorously evaluated and refined over more than two decades.
UMD's initial investment in Vertically Integrated Projects was led by the A. James Clark School of Engineering. Engineering and the Office of Undergraduate Research are now moving forward as collaborative partners to support a broader range and number of students and ensure campus partners from all UMD disciplines have the opportunity to benefit from this opportunity.