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University Research Foundation: Conference Grant

General Information

Program Description

The University Research Foundation (URF) Conference Support program is designed for scholarly meetings that will be convened on Penn’s campus, thereby providing enrichment opportunities to interested faculty, students, and staff, most frequently in the format of a 1–2-day colloquium. The intent is to support meetings that are designed to enhance existing research and scholarly programs, particularly in disciplines where external funding is difficult to obtain. It should highlight the scholarship of Penn faculty and bring distinguished scholars to Penn’s campus.

Limitation

Schools are not limited in number of applications to this competition.

Eligibility

  • Appointment: Open to faculty at all levels.
  • Disciplines: Open to faculty of all disciplines.
  • Additional Financial Support: Applications are required to have documented additional financial support when appropriate.
  • Priority for New Conferences: Previously funded conferences will receive low priority.
  • Application Limit: Only one application per Principal Investigator (PI) per cycle.
  • For any sponsored research projects, the applicant must be eligible to serve as Principal Investigator for the project, unless otherwise noted in the LSO. Please see Penn’s PI Eligibility requirements to ensure you are eligible. 

Award Information

  • A total conference award of $5,000 for one (1) year.
  • Scope and Nature: The amount and duration of the grant vary based on the scope and nature of the proposed conference.
  • Eligible Expenses: Funds are to be used for speakers, travel, and accommodation. Funds are not to be used for meals and entertainment.
  • Unexpended Funds: Unexpended funds must be returned.
  • Acknowledgment: Publications and other outputs resulting from the project should acknowledge that the project was funded, in part, by the Vice Provost for Research University Research Foundation. 
Apply here

OVPR URF Application Guidelines

Selection Criteria:

All proposals are reviewed by a faculty committee in one of the four review panels. Each panel makes its recommendation to the Vice Provost for Research who makes the final selection of grants. Each grant has a project start date of March 1, 2025.

Applications must include the following:

Cover Page (InfoReady Autogenerated) including:

  • Proposal Title
  • Candidate’s name, academic rank, department, email address, phone number, and campus address.
  • Date of appointment (month and year)

Project Proposal (maximum 3 pages):

  • Purpose of event, intellectual area, benefits of scholarly research, expected outcomes, student involvement, proposed timeline, target audience, topic timeliness, and relationship to department, institute, or center programs
  • Describe what you expect to accomplish with this conference/workshop for the relevant field of study
  • Provide a proposed agenda/schedule
  • Indicate if speakers will be on-site or participate remotely
  • Indicate if the conference is an annual event
  • If this is an annual event and previously funded by URF, include that information
  • References are not included in the page limit and should be included in this section
  • Include your name and proposal title on the first page
  • Provide anticipated title, date, location, number of attendees, Penn Faculty participant information, and non-Penn faculty participant information

Event Support:

  • Provide letter(s) of financial support from other sources, detailing the amount of support
  • No-cost facilities and AV support are not considered part of financial support

Undergraduate Research Mentorship Description (maximum 1 page): Optional but encouraged

Budget (maximum 1 page):

  • Download the budget template and complete the information
  • Include and identify support from other sources

CV or Biosketch (maximum 3 pages):

  • Use a CV or Biosketch that is discipline-appropriate
  • Additional key personnel CV/biosketches can be uploaded as appendices but are not required