The PEP application will officially open on December 4th, 2024.
Intended to strengthen Penn's commitment to impactful global, national, and local student engagement, the President’s Engagement Prizes will provide recipients with up to $150,000 ($50,000 for living expenses for each student recipient, plus up to $100,000 for project implementation expenses) to develop and implement a promising local, national, or global engagement project during the year after graduation. (Collaborative projects will be welcome with up to three awardees for a collaborative team project.)
The competition will be open to traditional undergraduates in good academic standing in the College, Engineering, Nursing, Wharton, or LPS who have completed at least three-quarters of the credits needed for their first baccalaureate degree and who are scheduled to graduate in December 2024, May 2025, or August 2025. This year’s application deadline is January 22, 2025. A winner will be announced in April.
As announced in November 2021, Penn is expanding the current President’s Engagement and Innovation Prizes for graduating seniors to include a new prize category designated specifically as the President’s Sustainability Prize. All sustainability-focused project proposals that are submitted as part of the standard President’s Engagement Prize and President’s Innovation Prize application process will automatically be considered for the President’s Sustainability Prize. There is no separate application process for the President’s Sustainability Prize.
To assist those who are considering to apply for the 2025 President’s Engagement or Innovation Prize, we will be hosting a series of joint information sessions over the next month. These sessions are excellent opportunities to learn more about both Prizes. The sessions will all be held virtually.
PEP/PIP Joint information sessions will be held as follows (all times in EST):
- Thursday, October 17, 4-5 p.m.
- Thursday, October 24, 3-4 p.m.
- Wednesday, October 30, 4-5 p.m.
We encourage you to attend, even if you are simply interested in learning more at this point. The Zoom link for each session will be https://upenn.zoom.us/j/91260996965. We ask that you please sign up in advance at https://forms.gle/YKoAkpQXdWAbBGwp8. During information sessions, we will provide a general overview of both Prizes, including application requirements and timeline, as well as answer any questions you have.
While underclassmen are most welcome to attend these virtual sessions, a reminder that eligibility for the 2024 Prizes is limited to Penn seniors graduating in December 2024, May 2025, or August 2025. If you have additional questions, please feel free to email pennpep@upenn.edu.
Here are 2025 Joint PEP/PIP Information Session Slides (PDF). Watch a 2025 Information Session here.
Here is a PDF presentation by the Penn Tax Office on the implications of the prize.
1 - Settle on a Project and Team. In addition to the basic design of your project, you should consider the tax implications of receiving an Engagement Prize.
2 - Once you have finalized your Proposal, you must submit the full application materials.
President's Engagement Prize Application Form
For joint projects, teams complete only one application form, fully describing the team’s proposed project, and each team member must provide one Letter of Recommendation. Additional team members will request their own letters of recommendation once they have been added as collaborators by the primary applicant. Please complete this initial form as soon as you have your team, mentor, and recommenders finalized--this will provide everyone with the necessary time to complete their portions of the process.
- Budget Form (to be submitted online in the .pdf of the Project Proposal; see Budget Planning Template. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE ALL SHEETS EXCEPT FOR INSTRUCTION PAGE).
- Penn Project Mentor Commitment and Recommendation Form and Recommendation Letter (requested via the application process)
Only Penn faculty members or Penn administrators may serve as Project Mentors for President’s Engagement Prize projects. As a President’s Engagement Prize mentor, you are agreeing to mentor an applicant(s) for the President’s Engagement Prize during the preparation of their prize proposal. This includes advising the student(s) on the design of the project and preparation of the initial proposal during the Fall of their senior year. If the proposal is selected for the Prize, during the spring semester mentors and recipients will work together to develop a detailed plan for project implementation, finalize the project budget, obtain any necessary third-party commitments, make any necessary preparatory arrangements, and refer the student(s) to other individuals and resources as needed in developing their project. President’s Engagement Prize mentors may—but are not required to—continue to mentor recipient(s) of the President’s Engagement Prize during the project implementation year (i.e., the year immediately following their graduation from Penn).
Once the student applies, the Project Mentor will receive an email with a link at which s/he should upload a signed letter of recommendation on letterhead for this project and applicant(s). Please include the last name of each applicant in the file name.
In your letter of recommendation, please comment on the following:
- Evaluate the project’s feasibility.
- Comment on the adequacy of the student’s preparation for this project.
- Discuss the project’s potential impact and level of engagement.
- Review and discuss the proposed budget and likelihood of any proposed external resources
- One Letter of Recommendation for each team member (this cannot be your Mentor)--email and unique link will be generated by the webform process.
This Letter of Recommendation requires that your Recommender comment on the following:
- Explain in what capacity you know the applicant.
- Comment on the applicant’s abilities, commitment to engagement (locally, nationally, or globally), and the adequacy of the applicant’s preparation to undertake this project.
- Assess the applicant’s ability to see projects to completion, to follow through on commitments, and to take responsibility for complex or important tasks.
- If you are familiar with the applicant’s proposed project, please discuss the project’s feasibility, potential impact, and level of engagement.
Item 1 - Project Proposal
Please answer the following questions in as much detail as possible. Please also include a title page with your project title and your name(s), school(s), and expected graduation month(s). Maximum word counts are provided in parentheses following each question:
- Describe your proposed project. What is its overall purpose and how will you accomplish it? (400 words)
- What experience (coursework, research, involvement in extracurricular activities, etc.) do you have that is relevant to your proposed project, as well as to local, national, or global engagement more generally? (250 words)
- What will be accomplished if your project is implemented successfully? How will you measure success? (200 words)
- How will you work with your project mentor to achieve your stated goals? (100 words)
Item 2 - Budget Planning
- Please attach your completed budget planning form (see Budget Planning Template link above). On a separate page, please describe in no more than 500 words how you will use your project budget to help you achieve your stated goals. Be as specific as possible in describing how you would utilize your project funds.
Item 3 - Other Materials
- A one-page resume/CV for each member
- An unofficial Penn transcript for each member
- Signed letters of preliminary interest/commitment from each proposed partner organization and/or institution with whom you intend to work (if applicable)