Make your own (paid) internship

Four years ago, the University Scholars program got Richard Gaster out of a jam. Then a freshman in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, he was looking for work as a research assistant.

"I applied to all these different labs, and nobody even responded to me," Gaster said.

Then he spoke to Flaura Winston, a Pediatric professor and Gaster's adviser in University Scholars. Winston made some introductions and Gaster finally got some interviews.

In addition to providing him with access to faculty, University Scholars paid for Gaster's travel and living expenses for the three summers Gaster spent doing lab research: two at Penn and one at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Back then, Gaster knew he wanted to work in a lab and was vaguely interested in cardiology. Today, Gaster is a pre-med senior who is majoring in bioengineering, and he has co-authored an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

So what is this mysterious organization that gets students jobs and gives them money? A society more secret than the Owls or Tabard? A cult of secretive intellectuals selecting students to govern the globe?

No. It's a group of undergraduates, of which I am a part, who are interested in conducting research. Every Friday, in the ARCH building, one of them gives a PowerPoint presentation while others look on and eat free lunch. And every year, Penn provides them with advising from some of Penn's best minds. And $120,000.

The purpose of University Scholars is to promote and support undergraduate research, and the program is more than 30 years old. But since the 2000 creation of the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, University Scholars' budget has ballooned. The thinking is that if students conduct research as undergraduates, they are more likely to win prestigious fellowships.

The CURF project is paying off for Penn. This academic year, Penn students won both a Rhodes Scholarship and a Marshall Scholarship for only the second time in University history. Two of the last three Rhodes winners from Penn were University Scholars. College and Wharton senior Brett Shaheen, who won the Rhodes Scholarship this year, spent a summer in India on a grant from the program.

Most students in the program do not win prestigious fellowships -- or even want to. But they do benefit from Penn's recent push to sponsor undergraduate research. Each spring, around 30 University Scholars apply for summer funding through the program. And, according to Harriet Joseph, the program's associate director, virtually all of their proposals are approved.

"As a University Scholar, you're not competing for funding," CURF Director Art Casciato said. "You're lining up."

Only students already part of the program can apply for funding. Most members were invited into University Scholars before arriving as freshmen, but each year more students are accepted into the program as freshmen, sophomores and first-semester juniors. During the semester in which Shaheen and I applied, the program accepted nine out of 11 applicants.

In short, almost everyone who wants to be a University Scholar can be. So if you're intrigued by the possibility of a summer pursuing your academic interests wherever they may take you, call CURF and schedule an appointment. In addition to funding, the group offers a community of supportive students and faculty knowledgeable about research.

Furthermore, the research these students conduct isn't all "hard science." The program funded College senior Erin Silverstein's exploration of Bengali museums, College senior Elena Poleganova's study of Soviet influences on Cuban novels and College senior Elan Fuld's research on clutch hitting in baseball.

As for me, University Scholars funded my research on China's energy security in Hawaii and Beijing. No matter what your academic interests, the program can help you spend your summer pursuing them without going into debt.

Casciato, Joseph and the University Scholars Council take the program and its money very seriously. Most members are good students and are "ankle-deep in research before they apply," Joseph said.

Still, everybody would love to have more students apply, get funded, travel and conduct research.

"The best thing that could happen for CURF, University Scholars, Penn and individual students would be getting more and more people applying," Casciato said.

So what are you waiting for?

Daniel Nieh is a senior East Asian Languages and Civilizations major from Portland, Ore. Low End Theory appears on Fridays.

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