Learning Through Experience
At UMass Lowell, we engage students early in their college career to participate in meaningful, practical experiences that enrich learning; to prepare students for future work, life and world experiences.
Research co-operative education is a strong component of a student’s experience and offers undergraduate, master's and doctoral students the chance to work side-by-side with leading research professors and professionals in all areas of research.
There are various types of Research and Community Co-ops that offer both research lab and research with faculty (non-laboratory) opportunities. Examples include
- working in a campus research laboratory,
- helping a community organization,
- conducting reviews of program-related scholarship, or
- working on a business or marketing plan for a local start-up.
And the many benefits of co-op include facilitating the faculty-student interaction that is uniquely and richly supported at UMass Lowell, helping students learn new skills from hands-on experience that build on the knowledge acquired in the classroom, and providing an awareness of what takes place in a research lab that is working towards a product.
For our undergraduate juniors and seniors who usually round out their undergraduate experience with some of these types of opportunities, co-op helps students to explore their professional and higher education goals while making a valuable contribution in the workplace and community.
The university also has an exciting research opportunities and community initiatives - the Immersive Scholars Program (formerly known as Co-op Scholars) - that allows undergraduate freshman and sophomore students to participate in exciting paid experiential learning opportunities working directly with outstanding faculty across the campus and academic departments or with community partners.