Vertically Integrated Project

Vertically Integrated Projects are long-term, faculty-led teams where students from different academic years and disciplines work together on research, creative, technical, and community-based challenges. The VIP Consortium describes VIP teams as engaging students in long-term, large-scale, multidisciplinary research alongside faculty and graduate students to solve real-world challenges.

Unlike a one-semester course project, VIP teams are designed for continuity. Students may participate across multiple semesters, allowing them to grow from new team members into experienced contributors and peer leaders. The VIP model emphasizes faculty-led projects, collaboration, mentorship, active participation, and long-term student development.

Utah Tech’s VIP program expands access to high-impact learning by giving students opportunities to participate in meaningful research and innovation earlier in their academic journey. Students do not simply observe research; they help shape it, contribute to it, and communicate its impact.

Through VIP, students can:

· Join a faculty-led research or innovation team

· Work with peers from multiple majors and class years

· Build technical, creative, analytical, and communication skills

· Contribute to long-term projects connected to real-world challenges

· Develop leadership experience through mentoring and team roles

· Strengthen preparation for careers, graduate school, and professional opportunities

VIP also supports faculty by helping build sustainable student teams around long-term scholarly, creative, applied, or community-engaged work. Georgia Tech describes the VIP model as embedding multidisciplinary student teams in large-scale, long-term faculty projects, with returning students mentoring new students.

Each VIP team is led by a faculty mentor and organized around a central research, innovation, design, creative, or community challenge. Teams may include students from multiple majors, depending on the needs of the project.

Students participate as active team members. Depending on the project, they may help with literature reviews, data collection, design, coding, analysis, field work, prototyping, communication, outreach, presentations, or other discipline-specific tasks.

As students continue with a team over multiple semesters, they may take on greater responsibility, mentor newer students, coordinate sub-teams, or help present the team’s work at campus, regional, or national venues.