CENTER FOR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AND FELLOWSHIPS
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The Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF) supports and endorses students applying for the major international, post-graduate, and other competitive fellowships, which are generally for graduate study. CURF also provides information and assistance for undergraduates seeking research opportunities or funding for research, either through the University or elsewhere.
CURF helps Penn undergraduates pursue independent research through personal Research Consultations and administration of competitive research grants.
As one of the world’s leading research universities, Penn has a broad array of faculty conducting cutting-edge research in all disciplines. CURF helps Penn undergraduates become involved in research by helping you identify resources, narrow your search, and shape your initial inquiries so you can find appropriate faculty mentors and research funding.
The best place to start is CURF’s Research Directory, where Penn faculty and researchers have posted research projects in which undergraduates may participate. Students may find a researcher who is conducting research that intrigues you. Reviewing the Directory will help students see how faculty describe their projects, which should help them begin the process of shaping their own research questions.
After reviewing the Research Directory, call the CURF office at (215) 746-6488 to make an appointment for a Research Consultation.
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH DIRECTORY
http://www.upenn.edu/curf/research/research-directory
CURF maintains a database of faculty offering opportunities for undergraduates to participate in their research projects. Since research projects are ongoing and dynamic, some opportunities listed may no longer be available. This directory should therefore serve as a guide and a first step toward undergraduate research opportunities, but by no means the only source of information and opportunities. Select “Using the Research Directory” at left for access to (and some important instructions on using) the CURF Research Directory.
If you do not find an opportunity that matches your interests on CURF’s Research Directory, do not despair. Check out online suggestions for Finding a Faculty Mentor and Finding Other Faculty. For an appointment to strategize with CURF’s Associate Director for Undergraduate Research, Dr. Wallace Genser, call the CURF office at 215-746-6488.
CAREER SERVICES
Suite 20, McNeil Building, 3718 Locust Walk
www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices
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LPS degree candidates who are enrolled on a full-time basis may utilize all the services and resources available through Career Services, including the pre-health credentials service, the career library, job listings, programs, and workshops. Career counseling is also available to full- time students. Part-time degree candidates may utilize all the resources and services mentioned above except for career counseling, which is only available to part-time students who are within one year of graduation.
Overview
Career Services helps Penn students define their career goals and take the steps necessary to achieve them by providing resources and services on career direction and assessment,
employment and admission to graduate and professional schools through individual advising, career seminars and workshops, online job and internship listings, networking, graduate school visits, career fairs and on-campus recruiting.
Resources tailored to undergraduates, including information on alumni mentoring, career fields by major, preparing resumes, interview skills and more, can be found at
http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/undergrad
While there are no pre-medicine or pre-law majors, Career Services provides online information and pre-professional advising for students interested in pursuing these professions.
http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/gradprof/index.php
GRADUATE STUDY
As students explore their majors, they should consider fields they might want to do graduate study in, taking opportunities to enroll in research methods courses and seminars in those fields (even if they are not part of the student’s major). They should also take advantage of the Undergraduate Research Directory and the many other resources for undergraduate research available at Penn.
Penn offers much to the student who wishes to study science at the highest levels. Those who wish to major in one of the natural sciences should take courses in that discipline in their first semester. Students should speak with the undergraduate chair of the department of the department that interests them as they plan their first yea. Students who successfully completed advanced coursework in science and math in high school may wish to take two science courses as well as math in their first semester.
Students talented in science should consider preparing for a Ph.D. program. It is extremely important to get as much advanced coursework and research experience as possible. Since the common language of science is math, and the common unit of study for most sciences has
become the molecule, it is important to begin the study of math, chemistry and physics early in an undergraduate career.
Advising for students interested in graduate studies in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences is available for qualified students through Career Services and the Center for