Skip to content

Penn Draw Down the Lightning Grants

General Information

Program Description

The Office of the President and the Provost are pleased to announce the Draw Down the Lightning Grants initiative. This seed fund supports Penn’s strategic framework, In Principle and Practice. Interim President J. Larry Jameson, Provost John J. Jackson Jr., and Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives David A. Asch invite faculty, students, postdocs, and staff to propose bold projects addressing key challenges.

In Principle and Practice is Penn’s focus on tomorrow, developed around the question, “What does the world need from Penn?” It reflects Penn’s highest aspirations and most pressing imperatives. The Fall 2023 launch of this strategic framework energized and aligned University programming to meet these goals. Proposals should focus on accelerating interdisciplinarity, addressing major challenges, strengthening community, deepening engagement with partners, and fostering leadership and service.

Eligibility

  • Applicants must be University of Pennsylvania faculty members (including all types of standing, non-standing, and emeritus faculty), staff members, postdoctoral researchers, and undergraduate and graduate students.
  • Teams that cross schools, centers, and disciplines are strongly encouraged.
  • Staff-initiated proposals: Must have approval from a supervisor.
  • Faculty-initiated proposals: Must have approval from a Department Chair or Dean.
  • Student- and post-doctoral scholar-initiated proposals: Must have a faculty advisor and the approval of that faculty advisor’s Chair or Dean.

Award Information

  • Draw Down the Lightning grants will be offered at two levels:
    • Programs requesting less than $50,000
    • Programs requesting between $50,000 and $250,000
  • Proposals must include a request for a specific dollar amount. Proposed program budgets should be no longer than 2 years (though we expect most will be 1 year). Applicants will be expected to provide a plan for financial sustainability beyond the grant funds. The expectation is that successful programs will receive financial and in-kind support from originating Schools, Centers, and Departments to supplement the Draw Down the Lightning grant.

Review Process

Selection Criteria

The Draw Down the Lightning Grants will be reviewed through an internal competition conducted by the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost. Proposals will be evaluated by a panel of leadership, faculty, and members of the internal advisory committee.

Particular consideration will be given to proposals that:

  • Align with the focus areas of In Principle and Practice:
  • Accelerating Interdisciplinarity: Projects that foster collaboration across different disciplines
  • Major Challenges: Addressing significant issues related to climate, health, data, and/or truth and democracy.
  • Strengthening Community: Initiatives that build and enhance community ties.
  • Engagement: Deepening partnerships with local, regional, and global entities.
  • Leadership and Service: Promoting leadership and service within the community.
  • Incorporate a transdisciplinary approach: Especially those involving new collaborations between disciplines.
  • Generate new knowledge: Projects that outline a plan to translate their findings into practical, on-the-ground impact.

Application Requirements

Applications must contain the following:

Please submit a proposal of no longer than 2 pages that includes the following:

  1. Objective: Clearly define the intended project, including how the proposed work will enhance education and training related to the strategic framework. Describe how outcomes from the proposal may be translated into practical impact.
  2. Project Team: Provide names and titles of proposed team members and their roles in the project.
  3. Budget: Provide an itemized budget and summarize how funds will be spent, when, and why. Allowable costs include supplies, non-faculty salaries, and travel expenses related to the project. Equipment costs up to 100% of the budget may be eligible for funding, but requests must be justified in the application as essential to the program. Faculty salaries are not allowable. Graduate tuition is not allowable. Fringe Benefits are calculated for FY25 full-time employees. Please use 9% to calculate part-time EBs.
  4. Future Directions: Explain how this project could be built upon by future efforts, including potential future sources of funding to support this work.

Proposal Submission Process and Timeline

The program follows a two-stage application process. Interested applicants should:

  1. Download and fill out a brief Proposal Form.
  2. Complete the proposal submission form here.

Full proposals, if invited, will include questions similar to those of the letter of intent form with the opportunity to provide more detail, an itemized project budget with justification (including any contributed monetary or in-kind support), and final approval of relevant Deans, Department Chairs, or Center Directors.

Timeline:

  • October 28: Letters of Intent due
  • November 25: Invitations for full proposals
  • January 15: Full proposals due
  • March 5: Notification of awardees