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).
Biomedical Graduate Studies: Summer Undergraduate Internship Program
Deadline: 02/01/2025 (Tentative)Summer research program at Penn for undergraduates interested in conducting biomedical research with faculty in the Biomedical Graduate Studies group.
Summer Research - Early Identification Program (SR-EIP)
Deadline: 02/01/2025 (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.
Pulitzer International Reporting Student Fellowship
Deadline: 02/01/2025 (Tentative)The Pulitzer International Reporting Student Fellowship provides funding for an undergraduate student to pursue international journalism within South Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East or North Africa.
Leonard Davis Institute Summer Undergraduate Minority Research Institute
Deadline: 02/01/2025 (Tentative)The Leonard Davis Institute Summer Undergraduate Minority Research Program provides undergraduate students with an opportunity to receive a stipend to conduct health services research on a topic of their choice, under the guidance of Penn faculty.
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Deadline: 02/01/2025 (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.
Moore Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (MURAP) at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Deadline: 02/01/2025 (Tentative)The Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (MURAP) invites applications for a paid summer fellowship for undergraduate students (rising juniors or seniors) in the humanities, social sciences, or fine arts.
National Radio Astronomy Summer Research Assistantships
Deadline: 02/01/2025 (Tentative)Summer research opportunity for students interested in conducting cutting-edge astronomical research at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and Green Bank Observatory.
NASA Internships and Fellowships
Deadline: 02/02/2025 (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.
Gates Summer Internship Program
Deadline: 02/02/2025 (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.
Department of Medicine Undergraduate Student Scholars Program (USSP)
Deadline: 02/02/2025 (Tentative)Summer 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.