Apply for a Convening Grant

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On a semesterly basis, Penn Global welcomes proposals from faculty, senior administrators, Ph.D students, post-docs, and graduate students seeking support for their global convenings. Start preparing for your application by reviewing the important information below.  

Important

Before you proceed, all applicants are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with our grant program priorities, in addition to our fund-specific goals.

Begin Your Application

We are currently accepting applications for 2025 Fall Semester convenings. The deadline to submit is June 1.

Applications for convening grants are accepted on a semesterly basis: For Fall semester convenings, applications due June 1
For Spring semester convenings, applications due October 1 
For Summer semester convenings, applications due February 1 

Begin My Application

Before You Apply

Eligibility & Minimum Requirements

Penn faculty and senior administrators are eligible to apply.

In addition, Penn-affiliated graduate students, Ph.D. students, post-doctoral researchers, and researchers holding an appointment of one year or more at the University are conditionally eligible to apply, provided that: 

  • The expenditure of award funding is completed at least six months prior to degree completion or end date of the applicant’s appointment at Penn, and
  • The applicant obtains two Letters of Support:
    • A Letter of Support from a willing faculty sponsor who holds a standing faculty appointment at the University
    • A Letter of Support or e-mail copy from a Business Administrator from their faculty sponsor’s School or Center, confirming the Business Administrator would fulfill the prospective Awardee’s purchasing needs, account reconciliation/reporting, and set-up needs for the award journaling account

Note for Applicants with Multiple Grants and/or Planning Multiple Applications

Penn Global’s Grant Program endeavors to support as diverse an array of projects as possible across regions, disciplines, Penn Schools and Centers, and principal investigators (PIs), and we welcome PIs to concurrently have one Convening and one Research and Engagement project running at any given time.

Applicants are also welcome to submit new applications while existing project is finishing its final award expenditures, such that the existing project’s expenditures would conclude prior to the launch of their new proposed project. Exceptions to this general project limit guidance may be made on a case-by-case basis, and while this limit extends to PIs there is no limit to the number of projects one may serve on as a collaborator.

PIs are welcome to submit multiple applications for different projects in the same application cycle. However, please note that due to the limit on PI-ship the applications may be in competition with each other during the review process.

Types of Support

Penn Global Convening Grant award amounts generally do not exceed $10,000 and are designed to support conferences, symposia, workshops or scholarly meetings with clear end products and avenues for continued research, curricular or course development initiatives, and/or significant contributions to broader debates on global issues. 

Convenings should provide enrichment opportunities to interested faculty, students, and staff and enhance existing research and scholarly programs, particularly in disciplines where external funding is difficult to obtain. Priority will be given to inter- or cross-disciplinary conferences that include primary collaborators from more than one School or Center.   

As you plan your application, please note the following: 

  • Applications must clearly articulate their proposed convening’s tangible value add to the broader Penn community. While events need not be held on campus or be open to all Penn members, proposals must demonstrate how outputs and outcomes of the convening will be made accessible to the Penn community.
  • Support for virtual, hybrid, and in-person models for conferences and gatherings are supported, the latter two pending compliance with University of Pennsylvania and public health guidelines.  

Note for Applicants Engaging China & India

India Research and Engagement Fund (IREF) recipients are welcome to partner with the University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India (UPIASI) to perform projects and activities in India. Any project activities directly engaging UPIASI are subject to a 15% facilitation fee. Project PIs and BAs are expected to keep this facilitation fee in mind if they plan to engage UPIASI.

China Research and Engagement Fund (CREF) recipients are welcome to engage with the Penn Wharton China Center (PWCC) as part of their project (e.g. conferences hosted at the Penn Wharton China Center). Any project activities directly engaging the PWCC are subject to a 20% facilitation fee. Please figure this PWCC facilitation fee into your budget proposal.

What We Do Not Fund

Annual or Regularly-occurring Events

The Convening Grants program is not designed to support annual or other regularly-occurring events. Rather, the program is designed to stimulate new events and discussions on key questions, issues, and challenges facing focus countries, regions, and the world at large. 

For-Profit Events

The Convening Grants program is not designed to support for-profit events. Generally speaking, convenings are expected to be free and open to their entire target audience and/or partners.  

In the event that charging a small admittance fee for attendees is necessary for the project to remain within its budget, Penn Global must be contacted and consulted in advance of application submission at global@upenn.edu 

Review the List of Allowable & Unallowable Costs 

Please be sure to review list of allowable and unallowable costs for Convening Grants expenditures. You will be prompted to enter your PennKey and password. 

Term, Budget & Matching Funds

TERM  

Penn Global Convening Grants must be spent within one year of award. Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis.  

BUDGET  

Penn Global Convening Grant awards do not exceed may be funded at up to $10,000.   

Allowable & Unallowable Costs  

Prior to application submission, applicants and their business administrators should review our list of allowable and unallowable costs. 

MATCHING FUNDS  

Penn Global strongly encourages matching funds for convening grants, with a goal of catalyzing impactful dialogue. A range of matching fund ratios may be accepted, though matching funding greatly increases the likelihood of application success.   

Matching funds do not have to be in-hand when proposals are submitted, but the proposal review process will take into consideration likelihood of securing match funds as evidenced by letters of support from funding partners  and other documented expressions of support. We expect any proposed matching funds to be in-hand at the time of award.   

Letters of Support

For faculty and senior administrators

  • A LOS from their School Dean or Center director
  • A LOS from a Business Administrator from their faculty sponsor’s School or Center confirming the Business Administrator will fulfill the applicant’s purchasing needs, account reconciliation/reporting, and account set-up needs

For graduate student, post-doctoral researcher, or other applicants holding a limited-duration appointment at the University

  • A LOS from sponsoring Penn faculty member
  • A LOS from a Business Administrator from their faculty sponsor’s School or Center confirming the Business Administrator will fulfill the applicant’s purchasing needs, account reconciliation/reporting, and account set-up needs

For Applicants from the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) 

  • Applicants based on the Perelman School of Medicine additionally require a LOS from the Center of Global Health (CGH).
  • Kindly contact Megan Doherty, CGH Director of Operations and Programming, to initiate this process: megand@pennmedicine.upenn.edu. The LOS should be requested at least two weeks in advance of your planned application submission.

Criteria for Priority Consideration

Penn Global seeks to support convenings that enhance Penn’s engagement with one or more countries or regions outside the United States or issues, trends, topics, or challenges that are of global importance. Projects must focus on international and/or multinational issues that are not United States-centric.  

Successful applications can be measured by a variety of criteria: there is no “one-size-fits-all” model. But in general, aspects of past successful applications include demonstration of any or more of the following:  

  • Tangible academic outputs (e.g., conference reports, videos, podcasts, etc)
  •  Demonstrated cultivation of new partnerships or strengthening of existing partnerships
  • Creation and development of new educational opportunities for the Penn community and international partners 
  • Pledged Penn school/Center, and/or external, matching funding 
  • Concrete plans for media coverage
  • Demonstrated potential for research and/or policy impact 

Penn Global welcomes all proposals that meet its minimum criteria, but proposals that feature the following will receive preferential consideration:  

  1. Led by faculty, senior administrators, post-doctoral researchers, Ph.D. students or other graduate students from two or more Penn Schools and/or Centers, and/or involve faculty members, students, researchers, or other collaborators from two or more distinct disciplinary fields, including the natural and applied sciences; the social sciences; the humanities; and clinical or professional training. These should be demonstrated in the Co-PI and Primary Collaborators list on the application form, and enforced by uploaded Letters of Support for the project by these partners.
  2. Involve tenure-track but currently untenured Penn faculty members
  3. Demonstrate potential for strong and equitable partnerships between Penn and collaborating institutions, organizations or communities abroad. These may be demonstrated both within the application narrative as well as by uploaded Letters of Support by representatives of proposed international partner entities 
  4. Engage Penn students as e.g. project RAs; part of convening’s target audience; etc.
  5. Demonstrate, or include a clear plan for obtaining, matching funds equal to or greater than the amount requested from Penn Global  

Application Process

Penn Global Convening Grant applications are accepted on a semesterly basis. To ensure sufficient time for review, follow-up (if merited), and award journaling (if successful) prior to the semester of the proposed project, applications must be submitted by the following respective dates: 

  • For Fall semester convenings (Sept 1 – Dec 31), applications due June 1 
  • For Spring semester convenings (Jan 1 – Apr 30), applications due October 1 
  • For Summer semester convenings (May 1 – Aug 31), applications due February 1 

Application Materials

Applications consist of three components:

  • Narrative Form:  including information about the proposed convening, its outputs, objectives planned approach, and connection to Convening Grant priorities; project partners and participants; and description of any plans to contribute or solicit matching funding
  • Financial Form: detailed, line-item budget proposal submitted via required budget template (downloadable via the Task Instructions section of the financial application form)
  • Supporting Documentation/Letters of Support: Any relevant documentation confirming e.g. School Dean/Center Director/equivalent Letter of Support; letters from planned project partners confirming intent to participate as well as value add for their constituencies; letters confirming matching funds; etc.

Application Review

Applications are evaluated via our grant program’s priorities and fund-specific objectives.  

Prior to Application Submission

Applicants are strongly encouraged to schedule a call with Penn Global’s Grant Program management team for tailored Q&A prior to submission. While these meetings do not guarantee application success, applicants who engage these resources tend on average to fare substantially better in peer review.

Contact Penn Global at global@upenn.edu to schedule a call with one of Penn Global’s Grant Program managers.