The President’s Ph.D. Initiative

Announced in Fall 2020, the President’s Ph.D. Initiative is a six-year, $30 million initiative to support doctoral education at Penn. The Initiative creates and supports Presidential Ph.D. Fellows, drawn from among the most accomplished and diverse doctoral students at or newly recruited to Penn. Each Presidential Ph.D. Fellow will receive a three-year fellowship, including summer support and funds to support their research. The inaugural group of fellows was selected entirely from existing Penn Ph.D. students during the 2021-22 academic year. Beginning in the 2022-23 academic year, fellowships are awarded to incoming Ph.D. students. Read more about some of our extraordinary Presidential Ph.D. Fellows.

FAQS

Presidential Ph.D. Fellows are chosen from among incoming Ph.D. students. Students do not need to apply for the fellowship; they will be selected based on their admissions materials.

All Presidential Ph.D. Fellows:

  • Demonstrate exceptional academic promise
  • Contribute to increasing diversity in their fields
    • As an historically under-represented person in higher education and/or
    • By pursuing scholarship that contributes to better understanding issues of diversity/inclusion/inequity or interdisciplinary areas within their fields
  • Have a research agenda that is exceptionally innovative and/or impactful locally, nationally, or globally
  • Demonstrate leadership potential (through University service, student government, society engagement, etc.).

Each Presidential Ph.D. Fellow will receive a fellowship for up to three years, which will include a 12-month stipend, tuition, fees, Penn Student Insurance Plan coverage, and research funds. In 2023-24, the annual stipend will be $42,000 with research funds of $10,000/year. The fellowship will renew automatically for students in good academic standing.

No, all of the academic requirements of the program, including teaching and research, remain in place for Presidential Ph.D. Fellows.

Yes, this initiative is dedicated to supporting Ph.D. students at Penn.