MindCORE Summer Fellowship Program

June 2 – August 8, 2025

The MindCORE Summer Fellowship Program is a paid 10-week program for both Penn and non-Penn undergraduate students. Summer Fellows are matched with select MindCORE faculty in interdisciplinary mind and brain studies based on student research interest and mentor preference. With their mentors, students embark on a research project shaped as much as possible by their interests.

Under the supervision of faculty and program staff, students participate in:

A 1-week introductory workshop on interdisciplinary research in cognitive science
9 weeks of mentored research
Weekly lunches for research discussions & faculty seminars
Research ethics training
Technical training
Lab demos
Professional development opportunities that prepare participants for pursuing advanced education and careers in related fields of research
Guidance toward creating a final poster or presentation of the student’s summer research work

Click here for a sample schedule.

Eligibility

Applicants must be enrolled as full-time freshmen, sophomores, or junior undergraduate students at an accredited institution. Graduating seniors are not eligible.

Non-Penn applicants must be U.S. citizens or Permanent Residents, without exception. Non-Penn students who are in the U.S. on any type of visa are not eligible for the program.

Our program is funded through gift and grants from the following sources:

Applications

Applicants are asked to indicate their area(s) of research interest in the application form, contact information & demographic data, as well as provide a resume, unofficial transcript, contact information for 2 professional references (e.g., college instructor(s) and/or work manager), and a short personal statement of no more than 500 words. The personal statement asks applicants to state reasons for wanting to participate in the program, relevance of the program to future research plans, and provide brief details of research interest and/or experience.

Please note that not all referees will be contacted. Reference requests are sent out after the first application review in late January.

Unfortunately we did not receive funding to support non-Penn students for the MindCORE Summer Fellowship Program in 2024.

Applications are not yet open for the 2025 program. Please check back in December for updated eligibility, application, and participating mentor information!