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 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 grantsNIST Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)
Deadline: 01/31/26 (Tentative)The 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.
Park City Mathematics Institute's Undergraduate Summer School
Deadline: 01/31/26 (Tentative)The 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.
National Radio Astronomy Summer Research Assistantships
Deadline: 02/01/26 (Tentative)Summer research opportunity for students interested in conducting cutting-edge astronomical research at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and Green Bank Observatory.
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Deadline: 02/01/26 (Tentative)The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program at UT Southwestern’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is an intensive summer research training experience designed for college students who are preparing for Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. careers in biomedical research.
Harvard-Amgen Scholars Program
Deadline: 02/01/26 (Tentative)The Amgen Scholars Program at Harvard is a summer research opportunity for undergraduates interested in biotechnology and related biomedical sciences.
Gates Summer Internship Program
Deadline: 02/02/26 (Tentative)The Gates Center Summer Internship Program (GSIP) provides hands-on research experience in cell biology and regenerative medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Summer Research Early Identification Program (SR-EIP)
Deadline: 02/03/26 (Tentative)SR-EIP is a fully paid summer internship that provides undergraduates with training and mentoring in the principles underlying the conduct of research and prepares them to pursue competitive applications to PhD or MD-PhD programs.
AAPM Summer Undergraduate Fellowship Program
Deadline: 02/05/26 (Tentative)The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Summer Undergraduate Fellowship Program is a 10-week summer program designed to provide opportunities for undergraduate university students to gain experience in medical physics by performing research in a medical physics laboratory and shadowing at a clinical facility.
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Internship
Deadline: 02/15/26 (Tentative)Opportunity to conduct three months of hands-on, collaborative research at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama.
Women+ and Advanced Mathematics
Deadline: 02/16/26 (Tentative)Women+ and Mathematics (W+AM) is an annual program with the mission to recruit and retain more women in mathematics through collaborative research and mentorship. W+AM is open to all that support its mission regardless of gender.