Shah Engaged Research Summer Internship at the Netter Center

Deadline: Sunday, March 16, 2025.  Students will be notified in April. 
Interested students should send an intent to apply email to faustine@sas.upenn.edu.

The Shah Engaged Research Summer Internship at the Netter Center will provide support to approximately four students (undergraduate or graduate) per summer to pursue action-oriented research projects rooted in collaborative real-world problem-solving  

Students' research should focus on helping to solve universal problems such as poverty, health inequities, environmental sustainability, and inadequate, unequal education as they are manifested in West Philadelphia and/or Philadelphia. Students will have the opportunity to connect to the Netter Center's regional, national, and global networks to share their research as well as learn from others.

Students must have support from a faculty member who will serve as an advisor. The Netter Center Director will also serve as an advisor. A faculty committee will review applications and make nominations to the Director who will make the final selection of the interns.

There will be two meetings during the summer for all of the interns, their advisors, the Director of the Netter Center, and other Netter Center staff as appropriate.

Undergraduate interns must be available to work on their research project full-time for ten weeks during the summer, starting June 2, 2025. Interns will receive a stipend of $5,000.  Graduate interns will receive a stipend in accordance with their professional school (e.g., six to eight weeks for $3,000).

Applications are open HERE. Please submit:

  • A brief research proposal (2-3 pages) focusing on helping to solve universal problems (such as poverty, health inequities, environmental sustainability, and inadequate, unequal education) as they are manifested in West Philadelphia and/or Philadelphia.  
  • Recommended guidelines for proposal format:
    • Abstract (250 words or less)
    • Project Proposal including:
      • Background information
        • What is the problem your project is addressing? What are the current conditions surrounding this problem?
      • How will your research contribute to solving this problem? What methods do you plan to use?
      • What is your anticipated final outcome or product at the end of the summer? How might the culmination of your research be utilized or implemented? By whom?
      • How have community members and/or other stakeholders been engaged in the development of this proposal, or how will they be engaged, if not already? Please specify the key players and campus or community partners and their roles with your project
  • Unofficial transcript(s)
  • A letter of recommendation from the faculty member with whom you will be working. The letter should be emailed directly to faustine@sas.upenn.edu.

We would be pleased to provide feedback at any point in the process. Students are encouraged to send drafts of their proposal to faustine@sas.upenn.edu.