Penn Global Research & Engagement Grant Program Apply for a Research Grant

As part of its mission to promote global engagement in all its forms between the University of Pennsylvania community and the wider world, Penn Global manages a competitive grant program that provides resources to faculty and senior administrators to undertake a range of research, teaching, service, and other activities that focus on issues, trends or topics related to areas outside of the United States which may be national, regional, transregional or global in nature.

The grant program includes four funds:

• Global Engagement Fund
• China Research and Engagement Fund
• India Research and Engagement Fund
• Holman Africa Research and Engagement Fund

Before you apply, all applicants are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with our grant program priorities, in addition to our fund-specific goals (see above). You may also choose to download a copy of our grant priorities and fund-specific goals. 

Download the Priorities & Goals

We welcome all proposals seeking a Penn Global Research Grant that meet a few minimum requirements:

1. Projects or activities supported by a Penn Global Research Grant must be led by a Penn affiliate with a long-term position at the University, normally a Penn faculty member or senior administrator. In addition, Penn Global welcomes proposals for projects that engage all members of the Penn community, including academic support staff, undergraduate students, visiting scholars, and alumni as well as external partners. In general, we expect that the awardee will be responsible for at least 50% of the total work and responsibilities involved in the project.

2. Projects or activities must advance the study, teaching, and/or engagement of one or more countries outside the United States or issues, trends, topics, or challenges that are of global importance. The Penn Global Research & Engagement Grant Program cannot support projects that primarily take place within or are focused on the United States.

3. Some form of matching funding or support must be provided from another Penn or external source. In general, Penn Global expects matching funds to be equal or greater to those requested from its research and engagement funds, though in rare cases exceptions may be made.

Note for Applicants with a Current, Separate Grant Program-Supported Project, 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 an existing project is finishing its final outputs, such that the existing project would conclude prior to the launch of their new notional project. Exceptions to this general project limit guidance may be made on a case-by-case basis, and there is no limit to the number of projects one may serve on as a primary collaborator.

PIs are welcome to submit multiple applications for different projects in the same application cycle, and in the event we receive multiple applications from the same PI, these applications may be in competition with each other during the review process.

Note for Applicants Engaging China & India:

Projects supported by the China Research and Engagement Fund (CREF) are invited to make use of the Penn Wharton China Center in Beijing. This may include holding events or working with the PWCC to identify and explore potential partnerships and collaborations with host country institutions. The subset of PWCC-facing activities engaged in a project supported by CREF will be subject to a 20% facilitation fee that includes many services associated with the Penn Wharton China Center.

Projects supported by the India Research and Engagement Fund (IREF) are encouraged to engage the University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India in New Delhi. Activities directly engaging the University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India are subject to 15% overhead.

Penn Global Research Grants support the following types of activities, among others, and Penn Global welcomes creative and innovative proposals beyond those listed below:

• Research and Educational Collaborations: Development of international partnerships, research networks, or global programs on Penn’s campus, including but not limited to the development of a cross- or multi-School initiative on a particular topic or theme.
   

• Research Travel & Associated Costs: Travel for faculty research activities or related work outside the United States, and costs associated with Penn faculty doing extended research outside the United States. Also includes in-country travel for partners and/or collaborators.
  
  In general, Provost’s Office funds can be used for no more than five round trips per Project per year. Any deviations from this policy requires advance written approval from Penn Global. In addition, in no case can Provost’s Office funds be used for business class travel, though matching funds may be used to upgrade an economy-class ticket purchased using Provost’s Office funds. Finally, all Penn Global-supported travel must be in compliance with applicable University travel procedures, including the use of specified Penn travel portals and/or advance approval, where applicable in light of public health or other considerations.
   

• Field Work: Costs associated with conducting field work, which may include but is not limited to: data collection (e.g., surveys, focus groups, observations, etc.); data analysis, reporting, and archiving; manuscript preparation and publication; equipment necessary to perform the work, etc.
   

• Training & Capacity Building: Support for Penn faculty and/or teams to partner with organizations abroad to develop or enhance skills, methods, and the expertise needed to address well defined issues of local, regional, and global importance in connection with research goals.
  
  Penn Global Research Grants cannot support training or capacity building projects that are open-ended and/or do not involve a direct connection to ongoing research or teaching. 
   

• Curricular and Course Development Initiatives: Development of new educational or extracurricular programming on Penn’s campus, including but not limited to the design of new short-term or embedded course that take students abroad.
   

• Teaching and Student Engagement: Support for Penn students to participate in the project (e.g., as research assistants), thereby providing them with significant research, educational, or service experiences. Such support should be closely related to ongoing research activities, workshops, conferences, or other activities listed in this category. Applicants seeking funding for courses that involve international travel should apply for a Penn Global Seminar grant administered by Penn Abroad.
   

• Service Learning and Social Entrepreneurship: Activities with both an educational and public, community, or social service component that are intended to engage a specific target community, population, or organization abroad.
  
  Penn Global Research Grants cannot support service learning or social entrepreneurship projects that are open-ended and/or do not involve a direct connection to ongoing research or teaching. 
   

Note about Workshops, Conferences and Other Convenings: Penn Global Research Grants also support workshops, conferences, and other convenings integral to a larger research project. Such convenings may provide a platform for the faculty member to share his or her findings with a public audience. If you are interested in seeking support for a stand-alone convening, or series of convenings, please apply for a Penn Global Convening Grant. 

Projects primarily focused on/taking place within the United States. Projects or activities funded by a Penn Global Research Grant must advance the study, teaching, and/or engagement of one or more countries outside the United States or issues, trends, topics, or challenges that are of global importance. Penn Global Research Grants cannot support projects that primarily take place within or are focused on the United States.

Certain kinds of training and capacity-building projects. Penn Global Research Grants cannot support training or capacity building projects that are open-ended and/or do not involve a direct connection to ongoing research or teaching. However, we are open to considering supporting a discrete research project within a broader training and capacity building project. We also provide support to Penn faculty and/or teams in partnering with organizations abroad to develop or enhance skills, methods, and the expertise needed to address well-defined issues of local, regional, and global importance in connection with research goals.

Certain kinds of teaching and student engagement projects. Such support should be closely related to ongoing research activities, workshops, conferences, or other activities listed in this category. Applicants seeking funding for courses that involve international travel should apply for a Penn Global Seminar grant administered by Penn Abroad.

Certain kinds of service learning and social entrepreneurship projects. Penn Global Research Grants cannot support service learning or social entrepreneurship projects that are open-ended and/or do not involve a direct connection to ongoing research or teaching. 

Consultation Services (on the part of Penn Faculty). We do not offer support for faculty or teams to serve as consultants or advisors participating, for instance, in the development of new methods or practices. To be considered for funding, faculty must clearly define how such activities are integral to their research or academic endeavors, and how such activities will better position the University of Pennsylvania as a leader of global research and intellectual innovation.

FUNDING TRACKS
Each Research Grant application is reviewed through one of three funding tracks, determined by the amount requested from Penn Global.
Your application will be reviewed only alongside others in the same funding track:

Track 1: Seed Grants
- Requested funding capped at $15,000
- Matching funds encouraged, but not required
- Ideal for new projects/concepts in exploratory phase

Track 2: Mid-size Grants
- Requested funding capped at $75,000
- Matching funds required; 1:1 ratio preferred
- Ideal for projects in proof-of-concept phase

Track 3: Large Grants
- No funding cap, though awards typically do not exceed $150,000
- Matching funds required; 1:1 ratio is expected and generally required
- Ideal for large-scale projects that advance School, Center, and University strategic global priorities; advance ambitious, interdisciplinary and inter-School collaborations; and scale up equitable partnerships between Penn and other international institutions

Please note that peer reviewers assess proposals' prudence in budgeting for project-related expenses: requesting the maximum amount in your funding track without strong justification for the expenses may hinder your application's chance at success.

TERM
Penn Global Research Grants have historically averaged terms of 1 to 3 years; however we welcome proposals for longitudinal research and engagement beyond 3 years as a proposal's focus and scope may merit. Other exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis. 

BUDGET
There is no minimum or maximum award amount for Penn Global Research Grants, although awards generally range between $10,000 and $150,000, depending on the Funding Track.. Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis.

Allowable & Unallowable Costs
As you build your budget, applicants and their business administrators are strongly encouraged to review our list of allowable and unallowable costs. You will be prompted to enter your PennKey and password in order to view them.

MATCHING FUNDS
All Penn Global Research Grants will require matching funds material support to be contributed by the applicant's School, center, or department or from another Penn or external source. As a general rule, the Provost’s Office expects to match awardee-provided funds on a 1:1 basis, so that Provost’s Office funds will comprise no more than 50% of the total Project budget. However, the goal of the funds is to stimulate transformative research, and proposers are welcome to submit proposals with alternative matching ratios, especially for proposals that respond to emerging or ongoing issues or challenges.

The proposal review process will take into consideration likelihood of securing match funds as evidenced by letters of intent or other documented expressions of support. Matching funds do not have to be in-hand when proposals are submitted, but the expectation is that the matching funds will be in-hand at the time of award.

At the time of award, matching funds contributed by the Awardee must be confirmed with the Penn Global Business Office prior to any Provost Office funds being provided. It is expected that the awardee will meet their annual match commitment each year, or they may jeopardize future years’ Provost funding.

Penn Global looks for projects 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 primarily take place outside the United States and be focused on issues that are not primarily focused on the United States.

Success can be measured by a variety of criteria; there is no “one-size-fits-all” model. But in general, benchmarks for success can be measured by research and academic outputs (e.g., scholarly publications, presentations, events), equitable engagement with new partners, creation and development of new courses at Penn or educational opportunities for Penn students, ability to attract school/center and external funding, media coverage, and research 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 facultyand/or senior administrators* 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;

2. Involve tenure-track but currently untenured faculty;

3. Build strong and equitable partnerships between Penn and collaborating institutions, organizations or communities abroad; and

4. Include a clear plan for obtaining matching funds equal to or greater than the amount requested from a Penn Global fund.

In addition, for the Holman Africa Research and Engagement Fund, preferential consideration will be given to proposals that specifically address or relate to sub-Saharan Africa and/or the Democratic Republic of the Congo.