宾大由本杰明·富兰克林创建于1740年，是美国第四古老的高等教育机构，也是美国第一所从事科学技术和人文教育的现代高等学校。1765年成立全美第一所医学院、1881年成立全美第一所商学院、1896成立全美第一个学生会组织，在数百年的学校历史中，宾大一次又一次在教育以及科学技术上推动了人类文明的发展，诞生了人类历史上第一台通用电子计算机ENIAC，被誉为现代计算机科学文明的发源地，以及风疹疫苗、乙肝疫苗、认知心理疗法等的发明挽救了无数生命。宾大拥有全世界最强大的校友网络之一，包括数十位在各自领域的最高奖项获得者（如诺贝尔奖、图灵奖等）以及许多美国国家院士。

宾夕法尼亚大学由美国著名科学家和政治家、开国元勋、《独立宣言》起草人之一，避雷针、富兰克林炉及远近两用眼镜等的发明者本杰明·富兰克林创办于1740年，建校时间早于美国建国（1776年），《独立宣言》的9位签字者和美国宪法的11位签字者与该校有关。创办之初，学校是一所慈善学院。本杰明·富兰克林作为学校创建人，认为新的知识来自对现有资源最广泛的认识和最有创新的运用。这一思想指导着他的研究工作，同时也是他创办学校的指导方针。他认为要使当时的北美洲达到欧洲那样的工业、商业和军事实力，必须提倡和实施注重实际应用的新型教育，培养具有创新思维，对他人的创造反应敏捷，不脱离现实生活的人才。这一教育思想始终贯穿于宾大两百多年的发展历程。

宾大不同于依照英国模式开设老式课程的殖民地学院，旨在培养神职人员的三所殖民地学院（哈佛，威廉与玛丽学院，耶鲁），它标志着新的高等学府模式在北美洲的诞生。甚至从宾大的前身费城学院时代起，学校就深受当时苏格兰教育改革的影响，这在当时的北美洲是绝无仅有的。学校的第一任院长，富兰克林的朋友威廉·史密斯先生就是一位苏格兰启蒙运动的支持者和追随者，他为美国的教育事业作出了许多贡献，将科学学科引入学院传统的希腊语和拉丁语教学大纲之中便是其中一例。可以说宾夕法尼亚大学开创了现代美国教育，不仅首先设立了科学课程，同时还是第一个开设历史、数学、农学、英语和现代语言等课程的美国大学。

秉承富兰克林的教育理念，宾大现今成为多数顶尖学生的首选。沃顿商学院更是全世界商科学生的梦想之地。宾大不提供合作项目，不提倡任何只为赚钱的全职实习活动。大一学生要体验描述产生各种冲突的滑稽短剧。因为每个人都有他们的性格、兴趣和生活背景，所有这些使得宾夕法尼亚大学成为一个生活和学习都充满了活力的地方。而学生在大三就可以申请任何一个硕士课程。

Proposals may come from any combination of students, staff, and faculty, and can be directed toward any combination of the four principles and five practices of the strategic framework. In particular, proposals should articulate a project that focuses on one or more of the following: (1) accelerating interdisciplinarity; (2) a focus on major challenges around climate, health, data, and/or truth and democracy; (3) strengthening community; (4) deepening engagement with local, regional, and global partners; and, (5) fostering leadership and service. For example, programs could:

· Create a new undergraduate or graduate degree program toward great challenges of our time  

· Establish a new and enduring partnership with the City of Philadelphia to address a deep challenge or an exciting opportunity

· Support truth over disinformation

· Other programs consistent with In Principle and Practice

This solicitation is not intended to support individual research projects, but to expand areas of scholarship, advance community service or engagement, promote civil discourse and enrich campus life—or anything else reflected in In Principle and Practice that can better equip Penn to serve its missions. The breadth of this solicitation is meant to encourage creativity and inventiveness, and to originate programs that will cultivate a lasting legacy to Penn’s identity and future.

The University has set aside $2 million through the Fall of 2027 to fund these initiatives, with the expectation that successful programs will, in general, receive in-kind support from originating Schools, Centers, and Departments or additional financial support to supplement these central funds.

Grants will be awarded in two basic funding levels: [1] programs requesting less than $50,000; [2] programs requesting between $50,000 and $250,000. Program budgets should not exceed 2 years, though we expect most will be 1 year.

The program follows a two-stage application. Interested applicants should complete a short Proposal Form and submit it via this survey. Those with promising ideas will be invited to submit a slightly more extensive proposal. Please click the links below for application information, submission instructions, deadlines, eligibility requirements, and a list of frequently asked questions.