Funding Opportunities

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

A PURM team in a robotics lab.

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
A SHIP participant presenting at the Penn Museum

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
A Barthmaier grant recipient doing field work with their team

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 grants

Search Funding Opportunities

Display funding opportunities that match ALL of my selections: (Select more options to return a narrower set of results).

Penn Undergraduate Urban Research Colloquium

Deadline: 11/30/25

The Undergraduate Urban Research Colloquium facilitates faculty- and doctoral student-mentored, urban-focused research through funding support and a semester-long, credit-bearing seminar (CPLN 528/URBS 428).

Second-Year Junior Senior - First Semester

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) RISE Program

Deadline: 11/30/25

RISE (Research Internship in Science and Engineering) Germany offers undergraduate students from North American, British, and Irish universities with the opportunity to conduct summer research at a top German university or research institution.

First-Year Second-Year Junior

NARA Voluntary Internship Program

Deadline: 12/18/25

The NARA Voluntary Internship Program is an unpaid occupational experience through the National Archives designed to complement formal academic training in a wide range of disciplines.

Penn Global Research & Internship Program (GRIP)

Deadline: 01/07/26

The Global Research & Internship Program (GRIP) offers outstanding undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to intern or conduct research with a variety of organizations and companies abroad for 8 to 12 weeks over the summer.

First-Year Second-Year Junior

Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI)

Deadline: 01/07/26

The Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship provides both undergraduate and graduates students through conducting research in one of 17 participating U.S. Department of Energy laboratories/facilities for summer or for a semester-long experience.

First-Year Second-Year Junior Senior - First Semester

Undergraduate Clinical Scholars Program (UCSP)

Deadline: 01/09/26

The Undergraduate Clinical Scholars Program (UCSP) is a 9-week rigorous summer research enrichment program for undergraduate students with an interest in clinical/epidemiologic research, with an eventual goal of MD, PhD, or MD-PhD degrees.

First-Year Second-Year Junior

MindCore: Undergraduate Summer Fellowship Program in Interdisciplinary Mind and Brain Studies

Deadline: 01/11/26

Paid 10-week summer research program for Penn undergraduates (1st, 2nd, and 3rd years) as well as select students from other institutions interested in interdisciplinary approaches to the study of the mind and brain.

First-Year Second-Year Junior

Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program (PURM)

Deadline: 01/16/26

Each year Penn supports undergraduate involvement in faculty research through the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program (PURM), which provides students completing their first or second undergraduate year the opportunity to spend a summer conducting research with a standing Penn faculty member.

First-Year Second-Year

Grants for Faculty Mentoring Undergraduate Research

Deadline: 01/19/26

Grants for Faculty Mentoring Undergraduate Research will be awarded to offset undergraduate research expenses, such as to provide stipends for undergraduate students or for any other expenditure necessary to facilitate continued support of undergraduate research.

First-Year Second-Year Junior

RealArts@Penn Internships

Deadline: 01/20/26 (Tentative)

RealArts@Penn Internships help students jumpstart their chosen artistic lives and career paths through paid internships with creative professionals across the country.

First-Year Second-Year Junior Senior - First Semester