Optional Academic Communities
After students enroll at Penn, some may choose to apply to an optional academic community that aligns with their intellectual or social curiosities. Some are research oriented while others are residential and/or impact their course selection. We've listed those that require an application in May, but many more options exist once on campus!
Benjamin Franklin Scholars
At a time of increased pressures to specialize, the Benjamin Franklin Scholars (BFS) program embraces the intellectual vitality that accrues by crossing boundaries and integrating knowledge. Scholars are selected based on their interest in, and demonstrated capacity for, a deep engagement in the liberal arts and sciences, both as ends in themselves and as engines of change in the world. Each Penn school implements the BFS vision somewhat differently so that the program enhances the existing home school requirements, but every scholar lives together in Hill College House in the first year.
Clark Scholars within Penn Engineering
Clark Scholars Program provides financial support for engineering students who have achieved academic excellence and demonstrated financial need. By combining engineering, leadership, business skills, and service learning, the Clark Scholars Program aims to foster engineer-leaders dedicated to civic engagement and the public good.
First Exposure to Research in the Biological Sciences
FERBS, First Exposure to Research in the Biological Sciences, is an undergraduate fellowship program offered at the University of Pennsylvania in the Department of Biology focused on training and developing high-achieving undergraduate students in the biological research sciences. Considering the importance of the biological sciences to the overall welfare of our society, we are focused on identifying, recruiting, and nurturing the next generation of high-achieving students to serve at the forefront of future scientific leadership.
Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Molecular Life Sciences
Students in the Vagelos Scholars Program in Molecular Life Sciences are interested in the molecular view of life and plan to pursue research careers in science, pure and applied, including medicine. The program emphasizes developing fundamental knowledge in mathematics, chemistry, and physics in the first two undergraduate years. Vagelos MLS Scholars pursue mentored research with research groups on or near the University of Pennsylvania campus. To facilitate sustained commitment to the research effort, scholars carry out stipend-supported research during the summers after the second and third years.
University Scholars
The University Scholars program (UScholars) draws on the University of Pennsylvania's unique resources as an exceptional international research institution in the liberal arts tradition to provide undergraduates with mentored opportunities for innovation, conversation, and collaboration within and across the disciplinary boundaries of their curiosity-based inquiries.
Through these opportunities, students develop the ability to conduct consequential independent research projects; to communicate their work's premises, approaches, outcomes, and implications to both expert and non-expert audiences; and to participate in and contribute to professional settings within and beyond their specific fields of interest.