OVPR Funded Opportunities

Penn StartUP Fund: Early-Stage Investment for Faculty-Led Ventures

The Penn StartUP Fund is an internal investment program that provides seed-stage capital to support startup companies founded by Penn faculty and researchers. Managed by the Office of the Chief Innovation Officer (OCINO), the fund helps advance Penn-developed innovations into scalable ventures.

The program fills a critical gap in early-stage funding and complements the University’s broader commercialization efforts. By supporting key development milestones, the fund helps position Penn startups for future growth and external investment.

University Research Foundation: Research Grant

The University Research Foundation (URF) is an internal funding program that supports the research mission of the university. While the details of structure and funding have evolved over its 37-year existence, the goals have remained the same: to support faculty as they start their careers; to help established faculty pivot into new research directions; to compete for external funding; and to facilitate collaborations across disciplines

University Research Foundation: Conference Grant

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.

Discovering the Future of AI Grant Program

The Discovering the Future of AI grants program provides faculty with critical resources to pursue research and teaching development, exploring the intersection of AI advancement and modern business models, industries, and global economies, health care, and science. This fund supports the development of new methods, the application of existing techniques, new educational methods and paradigms, and investigations into the impact of AI and analytics. Faculty can apply for funding for a specific project or general financial support to advance their research or teaching.