Scholars Programs
Highly motivated College students have the opportunity to challenge themselves through scholars programs.
The Integrated Studies Program (ISP) provides the heart of the College freshman’s Benjamin Franklin Scholars experience. It is a rich introduction to the power of ideas in an innovative pair of double-credit courses, Integrated Studies 001, taught in the fall of the freshman year, and Integrated Studies 002 in the spring, which make up half of the typical course credits that Penn freshmen take. These courses fulfill a portion of the College’s General Education requirements, and provide a large piece of the solid foundation needed for any major area of study. In the spirit of great civilizations courses, these offerings explore powerful ideas over the common ground of the liberal arts. Further, following the model of Franklin himself, they range more widely than an exploration of this or that canon of texts. Integrated Studies brings together the humanities, social sciences, and sciences in a coordinated set of explorations around the great ideas that continue to drive our understanding of the world and the human place in it.
Each semester’s ISP course is comprised of three concurrent lecture-based streams, one each in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. None presumes specialized knowledge, and each is tailored to speak to talented students of all backgrounds and intellectual dispositions. Within the streams, faculty experts guide students through an introduction to a discipline’s content and habits of mind — whether that be English, Anthropology, Biology, Classical Studies, or History— but also steer the course to converge toward weekly Big Questions shared by all the streams. These form the basis for wide-ranging weekly discussions that are built into the course.
Integrated Studies is a residentially-based program. All students live together during the freshman year in Riepe College House in the Quad, and some parts of ISP are taught in house. All College students are encouraged to apply.
The University Scholars program provides an academic environment for intellectually dynamic students who have demonstrated their commitment to research. Through mentoring, research funding and scholarly events, the program supports and encourages students to take maximum advantage of their undergraduate years, not only with in-depth research, but also by making an early start in graduate and professional courses.
Students apply to the program from the end of their freshman year through the first semester of their junior year.
Interested students should contact Dr. Harriet Joseph.
Penn Civic Scholars commit to a four-year experience in civic service and scholarship with close faculty mentorship that achieves certification as a Penn Civic Scholar at graduation. In a sustained and connected approach, Penn Civic Scholars engage in community service or social advocacy work, special proseminars, summer internships, selected courses, and capstone research projects aimed at public policy recommendations. They seek to serve, investigate, inform and lead the way to societal change.
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Ambitious and highly motivated students interested in the molecular view of life should consider the Vagelos Scholars Program in Molecular Life Sciences. Students begin as freshmen and major in two sciences or submatriculate for a Master of Science degree in the standard four years. Students in this program plan to pursue scientific research careers. Scholars are invited from the admitted pool of high school seniors at the beginning of April at the discretion of the faculty director and the admissions committee.
Students, especially those with more than three units of A.P. credit in math, physics and/or chemistry, should email biochemistry@sas.upenn.edu or call the Biochemistry Program office at 215.898.4771. Students enter the program in their first semester.
