VIP - STUDENTS

VIP creates long-term, large-scale projects that unite undergraduate education and faculty research, innovation, design, and entrepreneurship through multidisciplinary teams.

Prospective VIP Students

ABOUT VIP

The Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program is a transformative approach to enhancing higher education by engaging undergraduate and graduate 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.

The VIP Model

In VIP, teams of undergraduate students—from various years, disciplines, and backgrounds—work with faculty and graduate students in their areas of scholarship and exploration. Undergraduate students earn academic credit for their work and have direct experience with the innovation process, while faculty and graduate students benefit from the extended efforts of their teams.

Creates Long-Term Experiences with the Innovation Process

VIP extends project-based learning beyond a single semester. Students participate in VIP Teams for up to three years, which allow them to gain deeper insights into their field of study, learn and practice professional skills, make substantial contributions to real-world projects, and experience different roles on large, multidisciplinary teams.

Cultivates Leadership & Mentoring

The long-term nature of VIP creates an environment of mentorship, with faculty and graduate students mentoring teams, experienced students mentoring new members, and students moving into leadership roles as others graduate.

Supports Faculty Scholarship and Exploration

VIP attracts students from many disciplines and enables the completion of ambitious projects, which strengthens and expands faculty scholarship and exploration. Faculty members create projects around their own interests, so they bring both expertise and enthusiasm to each team.

Why Join a VIP Team?

VIP provides sophomore, junior, and senior UMD students from any major the opportunity to engage in hands-on, real-world research, problem solving, and innovation.

How is VIP different from other research programs at UMD?

Unlike programs like FIRE and Gemstone, students need not be invited to VIP when they arrive at UMD. Any and all UMD students may apply to join a VIP team at any time during their sophomore-senior year.

What Do VIP Students Say?

"This semester, I loved my experience in a VIP program. It was great learning from my peers and getting to teach as well. It was particularly rewarding the days that I could see us all functioning as a unit. . . I think anyone interested in a VIP program should do it because I have learned so much about our project, the people in our group, and different majors." - Anna Dyson (Mechanical Engineering)

Current VIP Teams

Biosensors

Apply for a VIP Team

Apply for a Team

Applications to join a team during the Fall 2025 semester have closed.
Applications to join a team during the Spring 2026 semester will open in the middle of the Fall 2025 semester. To be notified when VIP applications are live, join OUR's student mailing list.

Application Overview

The VIP Application will ask a few short questions about you, your skills, and your interest in the VIP Team you are applying for. The VIP@Maryland application intentionally does not ask you about your grades, GPA, or prior academic accomplishments. Rather, it asks you to describe your interests and motivation to join the team you are applying for, and asks that you share any skills you may bring to the team. You do not need prior research experience to apply for a VIP team.

Application Review Process

Prior to being reviewed by the VIP Team Leader, applications are anonymized, meaning the VIP Team Leader cannot see what courses you've taken or your GPA. When reviewing VIP Applications, Team Leaders can see students' year in school, major, and written responses to application questions - that's it!
New students are primarily selected based on motivation, interest, and commitment toward the project expressed through the application. If you're really interested in a team, make it clear why you are interested in the work the team does, and what you might bring to the team!
Contact the VIP team faculty mentor directly, or vipmaryland@umd.edu, to follow-up regarding an application.
Students must have completed at least two semesters of higher education and be in good standing at the University of Maryland at the time of submitting an application to join VIP.
Students will be enrolled in the VIP course (VIPS 208, 308, or 408) based on their level within their degree program

Application Timeline

All Maryland students can apply to a VIP team using the button above. When a student is accepted to a VIP team, they will receive enrollment instructions sent via email from the VIP team.

Students may apply to join a VIP for the following semester. Applications to join a VIP team in the Fall semester typically become available mid-Spring semester, prior to course registration. Applications to join teams in the Spring semester often become available in the early-mid Fall semester.

How much time does it take to participate in VIP?

VIP involves a 1-hour team meeting (class) each week, plus time on the project outside of team meetings, and sub-team meetings. Time spent outside of class varies by the number of credit hours students register for, which is similar to the ratio for traditional courses.

Students who register for 1 credit hour can expect to spend about 2-3 hours outside of class working on their projects each week.
Students who register for 2 credit hours can expect to spend 4-6 hours outside of class working on their projects each week.
Students who register for 0 credit hours are paid by their instructor or another funding source to participate. They should see their instructors/sponsors for guidelines.

What does "vertically integrated" mean?

"Vertically Integrated" refers to VIP team compositions, which include sophomores, juniors, seniors, graduate students, post-docs and faculty. For our pilot, we are focusing on recruiting undergraduate students and we hope to expand to recruiting graduate and post-doctoral students in the coming years.

Who can participate?

As we work to develop VIP at Maryland, we invite any sophomores, juniors, and seniors to join! In the future we will expand to graduate students and post-docs. Students can apply while they are freshmen (i.e. spring of freshman year) to participate when they are sophomores (i.e. fall of sophomore year). Students with substantial AP credit should think about whether they are taking sophomore-level courses within their major. If they are taking freshman-level courses, but have a lot of AP credit in other disciplines, they should wait until they are at a sophomore level within their own discipline.

Is experience required?

Previous experience is not required, but willingness to learn and to work with others are musts.

Can I be on a VIP team led by a professor from another college or department?

Yes! All teams are multidisciplinary. A team led by a professor from Journalism may also include Aerospace Engineering and Business students. Further, teams are not restricted to "majors of interest" listed on the team information pages, so students can apply to any team in which they are interested. Be sure to understand any restrictions set by your department.

What do the approvers consider when reviewing applications?

The review process includes consideration of eligibility and a diverse range of academic majors, year of study, student interests, and specific skills when relevant. You can check the specific VIP team's page to see if there are recommended skills. The quality of essays, ideas for this type of work, ability to work on a team, and enthusiasm for the subject is taken into consideration.

Overall, the goal is to create a team filled with a diverse range of majors, backgrounds, and skills all working towards a shared VIP goal.

VIP Courses

VIP operates as a course. All VIP students enroll in a course affiliated with their team. VIP Teams have designated weekly meeting days and times (typically 1-2 hours one time a week). To see current listings of VIP courses, see VIPS courses listed on Testudo, or review the team's webpage for course meeting times.

Time Conflicts

New students cannot have a time conflict with their team meeting. Please review the team page for course and lab meeting times.

Variable Credit Structure

The VIP Program operates on a variable credit structure in which all new students and most returning students enroll for one (1) credit per semester. Students who grow into positions of leadership and specialization may enroll for two (2) credits per semester. First-time participants will generally enroll in the 1-credit course option.