INTRODUCTION
The Palestinian Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (PalUROP) is a new venture designed to foster the formation of collaborative research projects involving faculty and students from Palestinian universities and abroad.
This program is modeled on a system used at MIT and many other US institutions. In its current form, the program is funded by small grants from MIT’s Jameel World Education Lab https://www.jwel.mit.edu and the McMillan-Stewart Foundation https://mcmillanstewart.org.
Some Details
- Each project must involve a faculty member and at least one student (undergraduate, selected by the Palestinian faculty lead) from a Palestinian university.
- It is recommended to engage a faculty member and students from elsewhere (not necessarily MIT or US). Priority is given to projects involving faculty members and students from abroad.
- Application is open to all specializations; all required is an idea to be researched and worked on.
- Student participants will be compensated for their work on the project at a rate of $6 per hour, with a maximum payment of $1,000 per project per semester. Students will submit timesheets and a brief report outlining the tasks completed and outcomes achieved, which will be processed through an agreement with Birzeit University.
- Projects will be approved by the PalUROP committee, with membership specified below. They will be approved on a semester basis but may be extended as appropriate.
- Scientists for Palestine has generously offered to host the website https://www.scientists4palestine.com/students-research-program for this program which will be the place to look for proposals seeking partners, a form for submitting proposals, and reports on accomplishments of past projects (the website is still under construction and will be updated soon).
- See a list of available projects (you can communicate with others to engage with the in-progress projects) https://www.scientists4palestine.com/project-list-for-palestinian-student-research-project
Success Story:
The following link contains what Mohammad Damaj, the first BZU math student to join this project, had to say about his experience working with Professor Miller alongside the other students in the project at the time: https://www.birzeit.edu/en/news/math-alumna-takes-part-mit-project-explore-challenging-math-cases
How to apply
For now, and until the website is ready and fully functioning, please fill out the online application
https://forms.gle/MM4C3QvdUNAgD7zr8
For further clarifications, please feel free to contact:
Dr. Nidal Farhat
E-mail: [email protected]
PalUROP Coordinator
PSRP Committee:
Marco Baity-Jesi, Eawag and S4P
Lorenzo Bianchi, Torino and S4P
Nidal Farhat, Birzeit
Franz-Joseph Ulm, MIT
Haynes Miller, MIT
Ahmed Bassalat, ANU
Yousef Najajreh, Al-Quds
Reham Nazal, AAU
Rana Samara, PTUK and PalAST
