What opportunities are open to me?
There are many opportunities for Penn undergraduates to conduct research in any discipline—regardless of their previous experience. Research positions can be:
- Volunteer
- Arranged through work-study
- Paid -- funded directly through a faculty member’s grant or via a program that provides a stipend
- Conducted for academic credit, or
- Supported via a grant for which you apply.
Keep in mind that funding options are often specific to particular kinds of research, fields of study, grad year, etc. In addition, most (but not all) CURF funding is reserved for research conducted under the mentorship of a Penn faculty member.
Use the list below to identify research programs, grants and opportunities at Penn, elsewhere in the US and abroad. While CURF strives to maintain a thorough and up-to-date website, these listings are not comprehensive and students are encouraged to conduct their own funding searches.
What grants should I apply for?
The Penn Undergraduate Research Mentorship (PURM) program is ideal for first and second-year students who have little to no prior research experience. For more advanced researchers, the College Alumni Society Research Grant, the Vagelos Undergraduate Research Grant, and the Class of 1971 Robert J. Holtz Endowed Fund for Undergraduate Research are good places to start.
Other options are often specific to particular populations or kinds of research (e.g. grants for international research, social-impact endeavors, or for juniors who have not done research before).
Undergraduate Clinical Scholars Program (UCSP)
Deadline: 01/12/2025 (Tentative)The Undergraduate Clinical Scholars Program (UCSP) is a 9-week rigorous summer research enrichment program for undergraduate students with an interest in clinical/epidemiologic research, with an eventual goal of MD, PhD, or MD-PhD degrees.
UROP International at RWTH Aachen University
Deadline: 01/15/2025 (Tentative)UROP International is designed for students from North American universities who wish to gain research experience by conducting research projects at RWTH Aachen University in Germany.
RealArts@Penn Internships
Deadline: 01/15/2025 (Tentative)RealArts@Penn Internships help students jumpstart their chosen artistic lives and career paths through paid internships with creative professionals across the country.
Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) Program
Deadline: 01/16/2025 (Tentative)The MMUF Program at Penn provides a small cohort of extraordinary Humanities and Social Sciences undergraduates with an intergenerational, intellectual family that nurtures their disciplinary aspirations.
Sachs Program for Arts Innovation
Deadline: 01/22/2025The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation provides numerous grants for Penn students and faculty in support of support teaching art, making art, and presenting art, as well as to provide Penn students with increased access to the arts and humanities.
Grants for Faculty Mentoring Undergraduate Research
Deadline: 01/22/2025Grants for Faculty Mentoring Undergraduate Research will be awarded to offset undergraduate research expenses, such as to provide stipends for undergraduate students or for any other expenditure necessary to facilitate continued support of undergraduate research.
Ralph Bunche Summer Institute
Deadline: 01/22/2025 (Tentative)The Ralph Bunche Summer Institute Program (RBSI) is a five-week program at Duke University designed to introduce to the world of doctoral study in political science to under-represented undergraduate students interested in broadening participation in political science and pursuing scholarship on issues affecting underrepresented groups or issues of tribal sovereignty and governance.
Penn Program for Public Service Internship Program
Deadline: 01/28/2025 (Tentative)The Penn Program for Public Service (PPPS) Summer Internship is an 11-week multi-faceted summer program that immerses undergraduates in real-world problem solving in the West Philadelphia-Penn community.
EPFL School of Life Sciences International Summer Research Program
Deadline: 01/31/2025 (Tentative)The Summer Research Program in Life Sciences and Technology at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) offers an intensive research training opportunity to undergraduate students interested in research careers in life sciences.
CHOP Research Institute Summer Scholars Program (CRISSP)
Deadline: 01/31/2025 (Tentative)The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Research Institute Summer Scholars Program (CRISSP) is a 10-week competitive summer internship program for undergraduate students interested in careers in the biomedical sciences.