Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships

With the goal of encouraging and advancing women in the sciences, summer undergraduate fellowship funding of $4,500 per student in the College of Arts & Sciences will be provided for 8-10 week summer research projects under the guidance of faculty mentors in the sciences. Faculty mentors will receive $1,000 to support the associated research program. In addition, the program plans to engage Velay Fellows in enrichment activities to prepare them for graduate study and careers in scientific fields.

At its best, higher education prepares students for living productive and fulfilling personal, professional, and civic lives. One of the most important roles of a university is to encourage open dialogue, the free exchange of ideas, and civil and robust expression of divergent views, on campus and around the world. This mission has never been more important than it is today, when social, cultural, economic and political divides—and the inability to talk across them in constructive ways—strain the very fabric of civil society and democracy.

The initiative in Humanities, Urbanism, and Design (H+U+D) at the University of Pennsylvania is a ten-year project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to foster critical and integrative consideration of the relationship between the humanities and the design professions in the analysis and shaping of the built environment. Under the renewed grant (beginning in 2108), the initiative takes “The Inclusive City” as its theme, focusing on issues of inclusivity and diversity.

The University of Pennsylvania Summer Undergraduate Internship Program (SUIP) provides an intense research experience to students interested in graduate study in the biomedical and biological sciences. The program has been in existence since 1993. Approximately 30 college students from across the US participate each year; most are rising juniors and seniors, but occasionally we admit a rising sophomore.

Perry World House is seeking applications from rising Penn sophomores, juniors and seniors for its 2021-2022 class of World House Student Fellows. This competitive program is intended for undergraduate students from any school or department who have demonstrated a serious interest in exploring global affairs in depth during their time at Penn. World House Student Fellows will participate in a series of seminars, projects, and activities oriented around critical global inquiry.

ASAM is an interdisciplinary program that considers the historical and contemporary experiences of Asian immigrants and persons of Asian ancestry in North America. Through the Fellows Program, ASAM aims to involve more undergraduates in original research, increase student engagement with ASAM faculty, and allow students to expand upon work in prior classes.

Founded in 2014, the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities (PPEH) fosters interdisciplinary environmental collaboration and scholarship at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, and beyond. 

PPEH's four core commitments include:

Program summary: The Water Center at Penn encourages Penn undergraduate students from any discipline to apply for this competitive student grant program to promote research in water science, policy and sustainability. The grant also aims to recognize academic excellence and prepare students towards leadership by encouraging applied research and community engagement.

Awarded annually for the best undergraduate essay on any topic related to South Asia. The award will be for $300 and competition is open to all students of the University of Pennsylvania. There is no set number of pages or format for submissions. Writings may be prose, poetry, research, or scientific papers as long as the subject involves South Asia. Papers should be submitted by April 23, 2021 by pdf via email to Rachael Hickson at rhickson@upenn.edu. 

The Project on Borders and Boundaries in World Politics has openings for up to six paid undergraduate researchers. This project is concerned with how and why humans demarcate the international space between “us” and “them.” It contextualizes international border architecture, infrastructure and institutions as expressions of various social, political and economic anxieties associated with globalization. This research team works on a broad range of questions relating to “bordering” in world politics.