截止2014年年底，宾夕法尼亚大学拥有100多个研究中心和机构，涉及癌症，社会学，历史等各个领域以及超过4300名教师和1100名博士后研究员，5400名学术人员和研究生学员参与这些研究。

宾大素以其高质量的科研水平和丰富的科研成果著名，2015年度的科研经费超过8亿美元。学科交叉是宾大传统研究方式，几乎每个研究中心都有至少2个学科的专家学者。在大部分学科里，宾大教授的学术产出都是全美顶尖的，其中第一的学科包括：流行病学、商科、通信、比较文学、语言学、信息科学、犯罪学以及社会学。

根据美国国家科学委员会（National Research Council），宾大41个学科中，四分之三均排名全美前十，超过一半的学科位于全美前五。

宾夕法尼亚大学的图书馆始建于1750年，最初的藏书来自制图师路易·艾文斯的捐赠。20年后，当时的教务长威廉·史密斯远渡英国筹集资金以扩充藏书量。学校已拥有大小图书馆15个，馆藏图书超过610万册，同时订阅4万种以上的期刊，拥有400多名管理员，以及4.8亿美元的预算。

学校拥有知名的考古与人类学博物馆，这个博物馆得益于学校著名的考古学系所作出的贡献。博物馆的藏品中有着大量古埃及与中东的文物，同时拥有相当数量的中国文物，其中包括一个来自中国某朝代的世界上最大的水晶球。此外，校园中的当代艺术研究所每年举办多场不同风格的艺术展览。该大学的考古与人类学博物馆的中国馆中藏有中国唐朝皇帝李世民的昭陵六骏中的坐骑浮雕二座：飒露紫，拳毛騧。

■ 科研经费：宾夕法尼亚大学是全美首屈一指的研究型大学之一，超过每年7亿美元的研发支出。

■ 影响因子：2014年3月27日《自然》杂志发布年度报告，2013年在《自然》杂志上发表高质量论文的贡献指数，宾夕法尼亚大学位列第17。

■ 开创性成果：数百年历史中，宾大在多个领域屡开先例，不断推动人类文明的发展，其中重大科学成果包括，1946年，宾夕法尼亚大学莫尔电子工程学院设计出了世界上第一台全电子数学计算机“ENIAC”，开创了计算机科学发展的新时代。18世纪时曾任副校长的天文学家大卫·里顿豪斯创建了几座著名的机械天文台，其中的一座保留至今，成为校园的景点之一，以及“太阳系仪”的机械装置（实际上是一种机械模拟计算机）。风疹和乙肝疫苗、癌症与基因的联系、认知心理疗法、Retin-A、抵抗素等等发明或者发现均发生在宾大医学院。在经济与管理领域，宾大同样硕果累累，例如联合分析、西蒙·史密斯·库兹涅茨（1971年诺贝尔经济学奖得主）的GNP算法，劳伦斯·克莱因的沃顿模型。

A cross-cutting University approach that spans boundaries to forge novel connections in teaching, research, and clinical practice to advance knowledge and improve lives. Expand our commitment to the power of curiosity-driven exploration across all fields of knowledge, from the arts and humanities to the sciences to the professions. Seek exponential growth in Penn’s interdisciplinary faculty support; even more inter-School teaching, projects, and programs; and rich opportunities for students and staff to pursue novel collaborations across a wide range of domains.

Champion the essential role of the arts and humanities at the core of the human endeavor. They bring people together through deeper understanding of history, culture, social conditions, and empathy for others, and they foster problem-solving. We will seek new ways to strengthen and integrate them in all fields and amplify opportunities to explore Penn’s extraordinary repositories of culture and beauty on campus and beyond.

Continue to fuel Penn as a premier inventive powerhouse. From entrepreneurship to commercialization and tech transfer, Penn has established significant infrastructure to make this campus and city a destination for innovators. We will accelerate Penn as a premier powerhouse for translating knowledge into action and solutions.

Climate: Every person at Penn and all that we do has some nexus to the existential challenge of climate change. We must, in an all-in University effort, do more. From leading energy science and policy across disciplines to designing and caring for the built environment, Penn will seek additional ways to support and recruit the best minds; fuel initiatives that advance understanding and promise solutions; and adopt institutional best practices for the sake of our future and our planet.

Health: The pandemic cast in sharp relief the urgency of Penn’s groundbreaking work in life sciences and health across schools and disciplines. To help ensure a healthier, safer global future, Penn will do even more to advance our health efforts. We will further cement both Penn and the region as an epicenter for groundbreaking research and teaching, translational discovery, and policy expertise in life sciences and public health.

Data: From big data to large language model-powered AI, technological advances offer the chance to unlock new understanding across a dizzying number of domains and at the same time may dramatically outpace society’s ability to assess and plan for the promises and consequences. Penn is poised to lead in data-driven research, teaching, and applications. We will also cultivate leading expertise on how society can develop and deploy powerful technologies beneficially and justly.

Democracy, trust, and truth: Position Penn as a global leader in driving conversations about and promoting democratic values and institutions. Build on signature homegrown strengths and exceptionally broad-ranging expertise to seek and defend truth.