Funding Opportunities Upcoming Deadlines and Opportunities (November 2025)
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he Grad Center posts a regular digest of highlighted funding and professional opportunities during the regular academic year. External opportunities are shared for informational purposes only and their inclusion herein does not represent an official endorsement by the University.
To see additional fellowships and award opportunities, visit the CURF Resources for Graduate Students and Grad Center Grants and Fellowships webpages.
Additional individual & student group funding, student employment, and financial assistance information can be found in the Graduate Funding & Finances section of the Graduate Resource Guide. Career Services has also compiled a list of various summer funding sources to assist students with professional pursuits during summer months.
Funding and Professional Opportunities
American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) Fellowship
Deadline: November 1
Fellowships (up to $23,000) and grants (up to $5,000) to individuals to pursue research, study or creative arts projects in one or more Scandinavian country for up to one year. Priority is given to candidates at the graduate level for dissertation-related research.
National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowships
Deadline: November 15
1-3 year fellowship awarded to applicants who will pursue a doctoral degree in, or closely related to, an area of DoD interest within one of their fifteen prioritized disciplines in science and engineering. Fellows receive full tuition & fees, a monthly stipend, and up to $1600 for medical insurance.
National Research Council (NRC) RAP Postdoctoral Associateships
Deadlines: November 3
The National Research Council (NRC) Research Associateship Program (RAP) offers a range of postdoctoral opportunities in science and engineering for independent research compatible with the interests of sponsoring laboratories and affiliated institutions. Eligibility criteria vary by host laboratory and project. Current opportunities can be found on the NRC Research Associateship Programs Participating Agencies List. Citizenship requirements, program length, and details vary by lab and agency.
Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program
Deadline: mid-November (Tentative)
Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) institutes provide fully-funded group-based intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences for 7-10 weeks for U.S. citizen undergraduate, Master ’s and Ph.D. students. Countries may include: Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Russia, South Korea, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, or others where the target languages are spoken. Apply in November for a fellowship the following summer. For information and support in applying for the CLS program at Penn, visit curf.upenn.edu/content/cls.
DOD Science, Mathematics And Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship for Service Program
Deadline: December 5
The Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship for Service Program is an opportunity for students pursuing a graduate or doctoral degree in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines and conducting research relevant to the U.S. Department of Defense. Includes full tuition, annual stipend of up to $46K, and other benefits. Awardees are matched with a DoD research laboratory where they will be expected to serve as a summer intern and complete a period of post-graduation employment service as a civilian.
Career Exploration Fellowship for PhD Students
Deadline: December 19
This program provides doctoral students the opportunity to explore careers beyond the professoriate through one-on-one mentoring with an advanced degree holding professional. The list of hosts for 2025 can be downloaded here. This unpaid fellowship runs from February to May and typically entails approximately 8-10 hours of time commitment. In 2024, the program will allow for in-person, virtual, and hybrid fellowships. See full details on the program webpage. You can also see this blog post about the CEF program.
DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship
Deadline: January 15
Generous, multi-year fellowship that supports top students pursuing doctoral degrees in fields that use high-performance computing to solve complex science and engineering problems. Open to masters and first year PhD students.
Boren Fellowship
Deadline: January 21
Provides grants of up to $25,000 for 3-12 months of research and language study abroad, plus up to $12,000 for domestic language study prior to departure. Awards granted with preference for countries, languages, duration, and fields of study critical to U.S. national security. U.S. citizens only.
Provost’s Graduate Academic Engagement Fellowship at the Netter Center
Deadline: February 23
Internal fellowship opportunity for all PhD students across the University of Pennsylvania. Fellows are outstanding students whose scholarship significantly involves activities related to Academically Based Community Service (ABCS), including community-engaged scholarship, participatory action research, local problem-solving learning, service-learning, and learning by teaching in public schools. The second year of the fellowship includes full funding for the academic year (inclusive of stipend, tuition, general fee, clinical fee, and health insurance) and one summer stipend. The fellowship also includes $5,000 of research funding and additional support to attend and present at conferences. Sign up here to receive information about upcoming information sessions held throughout the fall.
YH Park Fellowship in Korean Studies
Deadline: April 24 (tentative)
Provides PhD tuition, 12-month stipend, and health insurance to graduate students in the humanities, social sciences, international management, international studies, or fine arts whose primary research area is Korea and whose dissertation will be on Korea. Fellows are expected to continue their scholarly activities outside of Korea after graduation and must have sufficient proficiency to use Korean-language sources in conducting research and writing dissertations. Open to current master's or PhD students. Open to US citizens and non-US citizens. Learn more.
Penn Employment Opportunities
Recent graduates interested in pursuing a full-time employment opportunity at Penn are encouraged to review opportunities listed on the Careers@Penn website.
New and continuing students - in addition to any student employment opportunities listed above, you can learn more about student employment at Penn on the following sites:
