Thanks to a newly launched website, Penn students will no longer need to scour campus to find a place to study.
Penn StudySpaces, a new online database with a comprehensive list of study spaces on and off campus, will launch to the University on Thursday.
The website, created by PennApps Labs — a student-run organization that hires undergraduate programmers to develop student-run technologies — has been live for three weeks and tested by members of the Undergraduate Assembly.
The website is geared toward users looking for group or individual study spaces, according to Engineering junior Alexey Komissarouk, one of the project managers.
Students may obtain a list of suggested and available study spaces through the online database. Study spots are narrowed down based on the number of people, location, time and facilities needed, such as white boards, projectors and computers.
Penn StudySpaces is “the best effort at centralizing everything,” College senior and UA Vice President Mark Pan said.
He added that the UA has worked on increasing study spaces on campus this year through initiatives such as the Late Night under 1920s Commons. StudySpaces aims to make it easier for students to find a place to study around campus.
Komissarouk said he hopes the database will “enable the discovery of new places to work.”
So far, Penn StudySpaces has received positive feedback from students.
Engineering junior Chinmay Paranjape said he thought the website was “really cool.”
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted a white board and had to walk all over the place to find somewhere that had it,” he said. “I’m definitely going to start using it.”
Engineering sophomore Mansha Mahtani also said that it is often difficult to find a place to study on campus.
“I hate being in one place,” she said, adding that the comprehensive database may help her to find new places to study.
Komissarouk, however, stressed that the current Penn StudySpaces website is a “first draft.”
“We want to get feedback from the student body at large,” he said, adding that users may leave feedback on the website.
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