About 10 years ago, then-Penn President Judith Rodin “poked a bony finger” at former Deputy Provost Peter Conn and told him to help Penn students win more fellowships, Conn recalled at the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowship’s 10th Anniversary celebration on Tuesday.
This demand, along with a desire to foster more research for undergraduates, propelled Conn, an English professor, to lead the creation of CURF.
Alumni, faculty and staff were invited to a reception at the Arch building on 36th and Locust streets Tuesday night to celebrate CURF’s achievements and discuss its future.
In the past decade, CURF has fulfilled its aim to help Penn students receive prestigious fellowships, Penn Provost Vincent Price said, explaining that more students have won fellowships “in the last 10 years than in the 50 years prior.”
However, some CURF alumni, such as 2011 College graduate Kevin Axelrod, believe that the center could do a better job helping students navigate the fellowship application process.
“There was no guidance in terms of helping me with my application,” said Axelrod, who won a Goldwater Scholarship — awarded to about 300 math, science or engineering students nationwide — in his junior year.
Axelrod referenced other universities — the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Princeton and Stanford universities — as schools which he believes do a better job of helping their students apply for fellowships and grants.
This year, for example, Stanford was awarded two Goldwater Scholarships, and Princeton and MIT earned four. No Penn students received the scholarship.
“The marketing [at CURF] is a little weak,” Axelrod said. “It’s unfortunate that some of the best candidates don’t end up applying.”
CURF hopes to address this issue by encouraging faculty and staff to find students early in their college careers who they believe have the potential to win fellowships, Aaron Olson, the CURF assistant director for communications said.
“We’re looking for good people to cultivate for these big awards,” Olson explained.
In the next 10 years, CURF hopes to “identify and support” students who are eligible for fellowships and work effectively with all the schools to encourage more research, Price said, with the goal “to convert classroom knowledge into a valuable outside experience.”
While administrators acknowledged that CURF has room to improve, the mood at the open house and anniversary event was celebratory.
“It is incredible to see the variety, quality, inspiration, and work” that undergraduate research contains, College Dean Dennis Deturck said. “It is a tremendous tribute to the talent of the students and the dedication of the faculty.”
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.