EECS Undergraduate Programs
6.UAP: UG Advanced Project
The UAP Requirement:
All Course VI undergraduates must complete 6.UAP, a six-unit one term capstone supervised independent project, which is usually done in the senior year, for which the MEng thesis proposal can be used. The only prerequisite is 6.UAT, the six-unit professional technical communications class required of all Course VI majors. Students are encouraged to take 6.UAT earlier than senior year, because it precedes 6.UAP, and 6.UAP may also be completed in the junior or senior year, after 6.UAT. Both of these subjects are graded on a letter-grade, not a Pass/Fail, basis.
The UAP provides an exciting opportunity for students to build on and reinforce their classroom and laboratory learning. It gives students the chance to work both more independently and more directly with a research supervisor on a project demanding intellectual rigor, design and quantitative skills, as well as interpersonal and communication skills.
Substituting a Third Lab for the UAP Requirement:
Course VI students who have satisfied the Institute Lab (typically with 6.01 and 6.02) plus the Department Lab and third-year CI-M requirements (with the same subject, if applicable), may use another department CI-M Lab subject to satisfy the UAP requirement. The student's academic advisor approves this substitution for the UAP requirement by emailing approval to Vera Sayew, vera@mit.edu. The student must also petition SOCR to be allowed to use a different CI-M subject in place of 6.UAP.
MEng Students and 6.UAP:
Students who have been admitted to the MEng Program must still register for and complete 6.UAP to receive the S.B. degree and are strongly encouraged to submit for 6.UAP their formal MEng Thesis Proposal instead of a final project report. This is meant to encourage MEng students to find and begin the MEng Thesis early in their senior year, as all the preliminary and background work for the thesis must be completed in order to submit a graded thesis proposal. By starting the MEng Thesis in the senior year students do a more substantial thesis, enhance their likelihood of being funded as Research Assistants, and and of graduating by the end of the fifth year.
MEng students who plan to take more than five years to receive the Bachelors and MEng degrees simultaneously may choose to take 6.UAT as late as the spring term of the senior year and take 6.UAP during the Fall of the first graduate year.