Penn offers many resources for students conducting research. Please note that funding options are often specific to particular kinds of research, fields of study, grad year, etc. Also, CURF funding is reserved for research conducted under the mentorship of a Penn faculty member.
Use the Funding Opportunities database (below the highlighted opportunities) 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.
Highlighted CURF Opportunities
Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program
PURM provides Penn students completing their first or second undergraduate year the opportunity to spend a summer conducting cutting-edge research under the guidance of a standing Penn faculty member. No prior experience is required.
Learn more about PURM
Summer Humanities Internship Program
Each year the College of Arts and Sciences and CURF fund approximately twenty-five summer research internships for students in the humanities and social sciences. Internships provide undergraduates with the opportunity to work in a cultural, historical, or archival setting.
Learn more about SHIP
Independent Research Grants
Undergraduates pursuing an independent or semi-independent research project with a Penn faculty member can apply for funding to offset research-related expenses. Multiple opportunities are available each fall and spring. Click below and then scroll down to see a filtered list of CURF-administered research grants.
browse CURF grantsFund for Latino Scholarship
Deadline: 06/15/26The Fund for Latino Scholarship through the American Political Science Association (APSA) is designed to encourage and support the recruitment, retention, and promotion of political scientists students and scholars who study and research Latina/o politics (especially students and tenure track junior faculty).
Joy of Giving Something (JGS) Fellowship
Deadline: 07/15/26 (Tentative)The goals of the JGS Fellows Program are to elevate photography and digital media as pathways for undergraduate students to pursue their careers and to make a difference in their communities.
NASA Internships and Fellowships
Deadline: 09/12/26 (Tentative)NASA’s internship programs provide training, mentoring, and career development opportunities while working with the best science, engineering, financial, information technology and business minds in the world. Please review each internship's eligibility guidelines, application details, and deadlines closely as they are different for each specific program.
Sigma Xi Grant
Deadline: 10/01/26 (Tentative)The Sigma Xi Grants in Aid of Research (GIAR) program provides undergraduate and graduate students from a wide variety of disciplines with financial support for scientific research.
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Internship
Deadline: 10/15/26 (Tentative)Opportunity to conduct three months of hands-on, collaborative research at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama.
Vagelos Undergraduate Research Grant
Deadline: 10/19/26 (Tentative)The Vagelos Undergraduate Research Grant funds an independent scholarly project conducted by an undergraduate student during the academic year.
Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies Student Research Fellowship
Deadline: 11/09/26 (Tentative)The Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies (PORES) is an undergraduate research program committed to conducting high-quality social research in the public interest on issues of national and international importance.
EPFL School of Life Sciences International Summer Research Program
Deadline: 11/15/26 (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.
Sachs Program for Arts Innovation
Deadline: 11/25/26 (Tentative)The 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.
Jewish Studies Administered Research Awards
Deadline: 11/25/26 (Tentative)Each fall and spring the Jewish Studies Program offers Goldfein Research Awards, Brenner Special Opportunity Awards, and Schwartz Awards to both undergraduate and graduate Penn students to cover research projects and study programs in or related to Jewish studies.