- 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).
Center for the Advanced Study of India
Deadline: 01/21/25The Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI) offers several opportunities for Penn students, including the Summer Internship Program in India and summer research funds.
Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) Program
Deadline: 01/21/25The 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.
Ralph Bunche Summer Institute
Deadline: 01/24/25The 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: 01/26/25The 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: 01/31/25The 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: 01/31/25The 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.
Park City Mathematics Institute's Undergraduate Summer School
Deadline: 01/31/25The Undergraduate Summer School (USS) at Park City Mathematics Institute (PCMI) provides a unique opportunity for undergraduate students to learn some fascinating mathematical ideas in a setting that allows them to interact with mathematicians at all levels.
Department of Medicine Undergraduate Student Scholars Program (USSP)
Deadline: 01/31/25Summer program hosted by the NIH Center for Molecular Studies in Digestive Liver Diseases at Penn that combines summer lectures and presentations with research experience in an affiliated laboratory.
Quantitative Research in the Life and Social Sciences Program (QRLSSP)
Deadline: 01/31/25The Quantitative Research in the Life and Social Sciences Program (QRLSSP) is an intensive summer research experience hosted at Arizona State University that prepares undergraduate students for the rigors of graduate level research at the interface of mathematics, statistics, and the natural and social sciences.
NIST Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)
Deadline: 01/31/25The NIST Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) provides students with the opportunity to spend 11 weeks conducting hands-on lab research with world-class mentors in one of NIST's six labs or other offices.