The Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships serves as the University of Pennsylvania's information hub and primary support office for Penn students and alumni considering applying for major grants and fellowships. CURF aims to demystify these opportunities to help undergraduate and graduate students and alumni determine which fellowships they wish to explore and support them through the application process.
A great place to start learning about the value of applying for fellowships is this video (Penn log-in required): The Anti-Resume Project: Dealing with Failure at Penn, featuring 2022 Rhodes Scholar Nicholas Thomas-Lewis, 2022 Fulbright Awardee Kaitlyn Rentala, 2021 Udall Scholar Ben May, and 2020 Thouron Awardee Natasha Menon sharing their experiences with "failures" (aka "L's") and "successes" as Penn students.
To start exploring fellowships:
- Review the two-page overview of CURF research and fellowship funding
- Identify opportunities that may interest you and review the step-by-step application guides and timelines posted at the top of those pages in our searchable and filterable Fellowships Directory
- Enroll in the CURF Fellowship Resources canvas site to learn more about how to begin to prepare to apply for specific fellowships and see what previous recipients say about their experiences
- If the Fulbright interests you, join our Fulbright Award canvas site
- Join CURF’s weekly listserv to keep informed about upcoming events and opportunities
- Attend an upcoming Fellowships: What Do I Need to Know? and Fellowships 201: How to Build an Effective Fellowship Application session and other CURF events
- If you can’t attend any of these events, review our online Fellowships: What Do I Need to Know? slide deck and our Fellowships 201: How to Build an Effective Fellowship Application slide deck (Penn log-in required)
- Once you determine which fellowships you wish to explore, please follow the links to those fellowships' websites and schedule an appointment with the contact person for those fellowships
Graduate Students should check out our Resources for Graduate Students