WPI Student Projects: Submission Process: Step 3: Gather Descriptive Information

During your submission, you'll be asked for the following information.  Items with an * asterisk are required.

It may be helpful to you to gather this information using the PDF or Word worksheets available at the bottom of this page.

BASIC INFORMATION:

• Project Title* - This is your full project title.  Please use title case.   Example:  The Unbearable Lightness of Being:  Understanding the Impacts on Sleep of Light Pollution in Large Cities
• Project Transcript (Short) Title* - A short title that will appear on your transcript, limited to 60 characters including spaces.  This is the title that will be seen by graduate school admissions or potential employers to whom you may provide your future academic transcript.  Example: The Unbearable Lightness of Being: Light Pollution in Cities
• Student author / creator name(s)* - All student members of the project team will be associated with your project submission. However, even though students might be working on the same project, they may not be finishing at the same time. The submitting team may need to delete the students who will be submitting later from the author list on the on-line title page. The whole group may still be listed in the PDF report's title page.
• Project advisor name(s)* - All advisors should be associated with the project. If an advisor is not listed, choose their name from the drop-down menu of WPI faculty. 
• Project sponsor name(s)* - Enter the full name of the sponsoring organization(s); or if sponsor is an individual, their name. if no sponsor, choose "No Sponsor." If you're uncertain what form of the sponsor's name to use, you can search for the sponsor's name in DIgital WPI for examples of how their name has been referenced.
• Project Center:* Choose the appropriate WPI Project Center from the drop-down list.  For projects not completed at a Project Center, choose "No Project Center".  
• Transcript abstract of your project* - This is limited to 800 characters. You can use your full project abstract if it fits, or edit or truncate it to fit the 800 characters (roughly 120 words) limit. 
• Abstract of your project* - This may be the same as your transcript abstract, or you may copy the abstract text from your project PDF and paste it in the appropriate field. There is no character limit.

TAGS AND THEMES:

• WPI areas of application and impact (from drop-down lists)* – required for IQP, optional for MQP. Assigning one or more themes to your project will help others find WPI projects associated with broad themes or areas of impact. See the box below for a list of themes to choose from. 
• UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)* - required for IQP, optional for MQP. These 17 goals defined by the United Nations are being used by global information systems to identify information, projects, research, and other activities that address global sustainable development challenges.
• Keywords - these are optional. Your project will be full-text searchable. You can add keywords to help people discover your work.  You can provide up to six keywords that you think will be helpful to others. You may want to consider using keywords associated with WPI themes as these have been used by other projects.
• IQP Divisions* - required only for IQPs; these are categories that have been used to organize IQPs by broad area of application.  They will be required through the 20-21 academic year, and will be replaced in 2021 with WPI themes (above).

ACCESS AND RIGHTS:

• Copyright licensing terms:  You own the copyrights (either individually, or collectively, as a team) in your project. The default copyright license assigned to your work is "all rights reserved." This means others have to contact you for permission to reuse your work.  There are new licensing options you may want to assign to your works, including Creative Commons licenses, that encourage and support sharing with attribution or with other restrictions (such as not changing your work, or not using it for commercial purposes). Both your main report and each supplementary file can be assigned its own licensing terms from choices in a drop-down menu; or you can provide a link to other licensing terms such as GNU GPL.
• Embargo period (if appropriate): See Step 1 for more information. Embargo period options are 1, 2, or 3 years.
• Redaction (if appropriate): If your project is subject to sponsor-requested redaction, it will be embargoed for up to 6 months (preferred redaction embargo is 90 days). Once your advisor has received the redacted file and approved it, the redacted project will replace the original project in the public archive (your original submission will be retained for administrative purposes only).

Tagging your project with these WPI themes will associate your project with broad areas of application and impact.  If you don't see a tag that makes sense for your project, you can choose "other".  The scope of each theme is illustrated by the types of keywords that may describe a project.

WPI THEMES:  Areas of Application

Theme 1: Community

• Suggested Keywords: Children, Community Development, Community Engagement, Discrimination, Ethnicity, Families, Gender, Government, Incarceration, Indigenous Peoples, Immigrants, Multiculturalism, Poverty, Race, Slavery, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Networks, Public Policy, Refugees, Wealth

Theme 2: Computing

• Suggested Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Automation, Application Software, Assistive Computing, Cloud Computing, Computing Hardware, Cybersecurity, Data Science, Digital Games, Human Computer Interface, Machine Learning, Mobile Apps, Mobile Devices, Networks, Sensor Networks, Systems, User Experience, Video Games, Virtual Reality, Robotics, Web Sites

Theme 3: Culture

• Suggested Keywords: Archives, Architecture, Art, Dance, Games, History, Libraries, Literature, Motion Pictures, Museums, Theater

Theme 3: Energy

• Suggested Keywords: Batteries, Biomass Energy, Energy Conservation, Energy Distribution, Energy Sources, Energy Storage, Energy Technologies, Energy Use, Fuel Cells, Geothermal Energy, Nuclear Power, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Wind Energy

Theme 4: Environment

• Suggested Keywords: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Ecotourism, Habitats, Light Pollution, Marine Pollution, Microplastics, National Parks and Reserves, Natural Resources Management, Noise Pollution, Plastics in Environment, Radioactive Polluion, Refuse, Sewage, Soil Conservation, Soil Pollution, Space Debris, Transgenic Animals, Waste, Weather, Wildlife,

Theme 5: Food

• Suggested Keywords: Agriculture, Aquaculture, Farms, Fisheries, Food Distribution, Food Industry, Food Policies and Regulation, Food Security, Food Sources, Genetically Modified Foods (for eating practices and nutrition use Health and well-being)

Theme 6: Health

• Suggested Keywords: Exercise, Food Habits, Human Cloning, Human Genetics, Medical Care, Medical Technologies, Medical Ethics, Medical Practices, Mental Health, Nutrition, Stem Cells, Pharmaceuticals, Pandemics, Public Health, Sports

Theme 7: Industry

• Suggested Keywords: Construction Industry, Economies, Engineering, Entrepreneurship, Factory Management, Finance, Gig Economy, Global Economics, Industries, Manufacturing Industry, Markets, Nanotechnology, Occupations, Organizational Effectiveness, Plastics, Product Design, Service Industries,Technological Innovations, Unions, Work, Workforce Training, Small Business, Stocks, Supply Chain, Product Design, Product Safety

Theme 8: Infrastructure

• Suggested Keywords: City Planning, Communications Systems, Internet, Local Transit, Open Spaces, Parks, Roads, Rural Development, Transportation

Theme 9: Learning

• Suggested Keywords: Computer-Assisted Learning, Early Childhood Education, Education, Educational Games, Elementary Education, Higher Education, Online Learning, Project-Based Learning, Service Learning, Teaching Methods, STEM Education, Teaching Technologies, Vocational Education

Theme 10: Security

• Suggested Keywords: Bioterrorism, Chemical Weapons, Cybersecurity, Disaster Recovery, Emergency Management, Fire Prevention, Fire Protection, Emergency Management, War, Terrorism, Nuclear Weapons, Public Safety, Risk Management, Terrorism, War

Theme 11: Water

• Suggested Keywords: Water Distribution, Water Pollution, Water Resources, Water Supply (for marine pollution see Environment)

 

WPI THEMES: Areas of Impact

Theme 1: Inclusion

• Suggested Keywords: Disabilities, Diversity, Equity, Ethnicity, Gender, Gender Identity, Multiculturalism, Nationality

Theme 2: Innovation

• Suggested Keywords: Design, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Invention, Social Entrepreneurship

Theme 3: Project-Based Learning

• Suggested Keywords: PBL Practices, PBL at WPI, PBL Impacts, Enhancing PBL, PBL in STEM, PBL in Higher Education, PBL in Secondary Education, PBL in Elementary Education

Theme 4: Sustainability

• Sustainable Technologies, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Policies

Theme 5: Well-being

• Civic Society, Freedom, Happiness, Human Rights, Justice, Privacy, Security, Values
   

NOTE: These themes were developed by an advisory group for use beginning in 2020, and by the end of 2021 they will be used to describe past projects as well as newly submitted projects.