Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships

The Penn Student Government Public Service Fellowship seeks to shift the culture at the University of Pennsylvania around public service by emboldening students to pursue internships, projects, and eventually careers in the field. It aims to expand accessibility to public service opportunities for undergraduates. 

Students may either apply to an existing internship or coordinate an internship of their choice with a non-profit. All internships must be associated with a social impact, non-profit organization, or local, state, or, federal government agency. 

The Penn Museum offers paid internships to three undergraduate students at Penn to work with Museum staff and create a small exhibition. The year-long internship focuses on the planning, development, design, fabrication, and installation of a small exhibition featured in the Penn Museum. Interns will learn first-hand about the curatorial, content development, administrative, and design aspects of staging an exhibition in a large museum. After the exhibition’s opening, students will implement educational programs and events for the Museum’s public and academic audiences.

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.

We’re accepting applications to the Fellows program in two rounds. Students who wish to apply for the first round may submit their application up through Sunday, January 30. Students applying in the second round have through Sunday, February 27. Current first year students are eligible to apply to the program. Selected Fellows participate in the program for three years, from their sophomore through senior year.

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 2022-2023 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.