Research Directory

If you are a faculty member looking for an undergraduate research assistant or are open to involving an undergraduate in your work, you can post an entry in CURF’s Research Directory.

The Directory allows interested students to identify and connect with Penn faculty mentors. The information will be posted in our Research Directory so that students can learn more about your work and contact you about available positions.

Please note: your listing is not binding, does not require the inclusion of a particular research project, nor does it require funding for student financial support.

To create a listing, please first log in to the CURF website with your PennKey credentials here.

After you’ve logged in, click here to provide the requested information about your research opportunity.  If you do not log in first, you will receive an "Access Denied - 403" message.

Identifying a Faculty Research Mentor may be the single most important step in your research process. The Research Directory includes faculty members who are open to discussing research opportunities with undergraduates.  Please note that inclusion in the directory is not a guarantee that a faculty member will work with you, but rather that they are amenable to having undergraduates involved in their work if there is a good fit.  In addition, since research projects are ongoing and dynamic, some opportunities listed may no longer be available. 

If a research opportunity lists “work-study,” this means the faculty member is open to paying a student through the work-study program. However, the job may not yet exist in the Office of Student Employment work-study database.  Please coordinate directly with faculty if you are interested in using your work-study award for a potential research opportunity.

Once you have identified some potential mentors you’d like to contact, please see our tips on how to contact faculty before you send them an email. 

• Research opportunities that take place at Penn, for Penn faculty, and with payment by Penn are considered on-campus employment.  F-1 students are free to accept these positions without any additional authorization for up to 20-hours per week during the academic term.
• F-1 Students who work at a location other than Penn but who are employed by Penn and paid by Penn may still qualify, but must first seek authorization from Penn's International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) to work “on-campus at an off-campus location” (An example would be working for a Penn faculty at CHOP and still paid by Penn). Please complete this form for ISSS authorization, have it signed by the supervising Penn faculty member and return it to ISSS.
• F-1 students who pursue opportunities with organizations that are not affiliated with Penn, regardless of whether or not they are compensated, should first seek the appropriate employment authorization in the form of curricular practical training (CPT) or optional practical training (OPT).
• J-1 Students need written authorization from ISSS for any on-campus or off-campus employment.