Erickson Discovery Grant
One way to continue to build your research skills is to apply for the Erickson Discovery Grant to fund an independent project of your own choosing and then present a poster of your work. The Erickson Discovery Grant is designed to provide summer funding to start, continue, or finish an independent project. An independent project can be on any topic but should be one that is your idea or one where you are taking the lead. You should not be proposing to spend your summer primarily assisting a graduate student or faculty member in completing their project.
The University Libraries has created this worksheet to help you in starting to identify potential research questions and mapping out your project.
Applications for summer 2026 grants will open December 1, 2025 and close on February 16, 2026.
Background
The Rodney A. Erickson Discovery Grant Program, named in honor of Penn State's seventeenth President, supports undergraduate student engagement in original research, scholarship, and creative work under the direct supervision of a research mentor.
Forty-three Erickson Discovery Grants were awarded for summer 2024.
The Erickson Discovery Grants are directed to student-initiated projects in the arts, engineering, humanities, sciences, and social sciences that provide experience in all facets of the research, scholarship, or creative processes. This includes conceptualization of a question or focus, proposal writing, identification and implementation of methods, and communication of results (reporting, exhibition, or performance). Projects should be primarily the student's own work; although the project may be related to the supervising faculty member's research or scholarly interests, it should not simply provide assistance to faculty work.
Grants may be used to cover living expenses and project costs (supplies, materials, books, specialized software, travel for the purpose of data collection, etc.). Note: Funds will be deposited to student accounts and therefore may have an impact on student aid or be applied to outstanding charges.
Eligibility
- Current undergraduate
- Must have at least one semester remaining after the funded summer
- Research must have a Penn State mentor
- Not have accepted an Erickson Discovery Grant previously
- Ability to dedicate significant time to research over the course of the summer. Students should plan for about eight weeks of half-time work—approximately 20 hours per week, totaling around 160 hours.
Application
Apply here for the Erickson Discovery Grant
A completed application consists of the following:
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Two-page research proposal (single- or double-spaced) that addresses the following:
- The question or goal to be addressed and its relevance to the discipline or field. Proposals for creative projects should describe the academic nature of the work.
- The methods or processes that will be used to address the question or goal
- Why the project is of interest to the student and their preparation to complete it
- How supervision by the faculty member will contribute to the student’s project
- Name and contact information of the research supervisor, so that the supervisor can be contacted to provide a letter of support that includes an evaluation of the proposal and the student’s ability to complete the project
Citations supporting the research topic may be included with the research proposal as a separate, third page.
Review Criteria
Applications are reviewed by faculty within your area of expertise. Review criteria include:
- Scholarly nature – Does the project involve research, scholarship, or creative work? (Educational or personal enrichment activities – e.g. study abroad, travel unrelated to research, projects not grounded in an academic discipline, etc., do not apply.)
- Student engagement – Did the student help to frame the question or focus of the project and will the student activities involve the major steps in the research or creative process? (Projects should not merely provide assistance to the faculty supervisor's work.)
- Faculty collaboration – Will the faculty supervisor provide a level of supervision that guides the student's work and adds value to the project?
- Faculty recommendation – Does the faculty supervisor consider the project worthwhile academically and endorse the student's ability to complete it?
Timeline
- Application opens December 1, 2025.
- Deadline to apply is February 16, 2026.
- Results will be announced in mid-March.
Questions about the Erickson Discovery Grant Program should be directed to Alan Rieck, associate vice president and associate dean for undergraduate education, at 814-863-1864 or ajr83@psu.edu.
2025 Recipients
- Elise Abbott - Impact of Personalized Narrative on Audience Engagement with Light Pollution Planetarium Show - Eberly College of Science
- Samantha Abbott - Investigating Interactions of Nonstructural Protein 1 and Host Innate Immune System During Zika Virus Infection - Eberly College of Science
- Ezequiel Adames - Tapeworm’s Effect on the Circadian Rhythms of Beetles? -
- James Banks - Effects of Video Production Training on Youth Confidence, Creativity, and Communication Skills - Donald P Bellisario College of Communications
- Caitlin Blessel - Effects of enrichment on long-term cognition in transgenic Alzheimer’s model zebrafish -
- Ashley Booth - Developing a Closed-Loop Regulatory System for Engineered T-cells - Eberly College of Science
- Shreshty Budakoti - Developing a Diffusion Model-Based Framework for Protein-Specific Small Molecule Generation Using Deep Learning and Molecular Docking Constraints - Eberly College of Science
- Norah Dana - Biology of a two-century-old grapevine pest predator -
- Aum Dave - Optimizing Ni-Peek Composite Coatings via Cold Spray Deposition: A Comprehensive Analysis - Engineering
- Isaiah Diggs - Investigating the effects of NAD+/NADH cofactor imbalance on aging and reproduction - Eberly College of Science
- Om Dobariya - Investigating Perplexity and Prompt Engineering for Non-Expert AI Users - Smeal College of Business
- Neha Dushyantha Kumar - Can A Mini-Neptune's Atmospheric Spectrum Be Mistaken for a Water-world? - Eberly College of Science
- Kyla Ebersole - Applying Soundscapes as a New Approach to Study Colonial Waterbirds -
- Kristina Exton - Evaluation of a mobile training to support pre-service speech-language pathologists in creation of effective visual scene displays - Health and Human Development
- Noah Frank - Methods For Systemically Predicting Data Assimilation Performance - Engineering
- Taylor Freeman - Decoding Russian Disinformation in Germany: Evaluating Impact Since 2014 and Implications for U.S. and Allied Countermeasures - The Liberal Arts
- Isabel Gaganidze - Studying the Rise and Spread of Ancient Pandemics: A case study of Medieval Yersinia pestis - The Liberal Arts
- DaniDani GrahamGraham - A Targetted Prosociality Intervention for Previously Incarcerated Populations -
- Elisabeth Groff - Novel Approaches to Combating Antimalarial Drug Resistance: Identifying and Targeting Host Metabolite Determinants of P. falciparum Intraerythrocytic Growth - Eberly College of Science
- Owen Grubbs - Fractional Zero Forcing and Maximum Nullity -
- Joanna Kieran-Mendez - Neurophysiological Mechanisms of Absolute Pitch: Examining the Neural Basis of Pitch Perception and Vocal Production Using EEG and fNIRS - Health and Human Development
- Josh Klinges - Enhancing the Dielectric Properties of PDMS Through Zwitterionic Grafting -
- Ethan Kuo - Improving Investor Confidence in Leveraged ETFs via Optimized RSI Parameters and Position Sizing through Genetic Optimization -
- Rishi Lal - Exploring the Economic Implications of Penn State Research - The Liberal Arts
- Srikar Lanka - A Tone Analysis Model on Student Evaluation Data - Information Sciences and Technology
- Carson Lehman - Preferential Diffusive Loading of Nanoparticles in Heterogenous Polymer Gels for Physical Data Encryption - Earth and Mineral Sciences
- Sophia Lehman - A History and Current Analysis of Political Relations Between Albania and the U.S.A - The Liberal Arts
- Kelvin Li - Zero Forcing and Minimal Forts of Graphs: A Theoretical and Computational Analysis -
- Lilith Loriinae - Developing a Stochastic Model of Intracellular Kinetics to Characterize Factors in HIV Viral Burst and Subsequent Establishment of Infection - Eberly College of Science
- Aleta Lyzinski - Ultrasonic Testing of Cold-Sintered Ceramics - Engineering
- Roger Ma - Development of a Prototype System and Treatment Methods for Volumetric Tissue Ablation Using Histotripsy - Earth and Mineral Sciences
- Don Mauney - Investigating pH-Induced Environmental Stress and its Effects on NAD+ (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide) Metabolism in Model and Non-Model Yeast - Eberly College of Science
- Julius Max - Regulation of forC2 expression in Bacillus subtilis - Eberly College of Science
- Olivia Myers - The Backbone of Life: Finding Phosphorus Abundances in HWO Target Stars - Eberly College of Science
- Ria Naik - A Study of Eye Volleying and Attraction - The Liberal Arts
- Clyde Neville - Single-molecule based design/build/test pipeline for engineering improved plastic degrading enzymes to address microplastics pollution - Engineering
- Devan O'Keefe - Investigating the Impact of Maternal Vitamin B12 Deficiency on Brain Myelin - Health and Human Development
- Saniya Prasheel Patil - Brain Slice Ultrasound Stimulation Platform using Transparent Ultrasound Transducer - Engineering
- Saatvik Pradhan - Improving AI-Based Triage for Maternal Health: Enhancing TRIM-AI for Low-Resource Settings - Engineering
- Aditya Raj - Development of an AI-Based Search Engine - Engineering
- Rohan Ramaswamy - Exploring the mechanisms and interactions that shape Castilleja coccinea’s fitness - Eberly College of Science
- Kate Rarrick - Assessing binge drinking induced changes in somatostatin receptor expression in PFC projection neurons - Engineering
- Lily Ridilla - Characterization of Bryophyte Species as Potential Indicators of Old Growth Forests in Southwestern Pennsylvania - Agricultural Sciences
- Kenneth Rozelsky - Proposal of a Computational Analysis on Varied Rotating Detonation Engine Exhaust Interacting with Turbine Vane Cooling Flow - Engineering
- Makayla Smith - Police Appearance Policies Throughout Pennsylvania: Are they Consistent? -
- Emmerson Velazquez Santiago - GHz Communication using Magnetoelectric Transducers as High Frequency Antenna - Engineering
- Sophie Walsh - Introduction of Artificial Sensory Feedback for Improved Robotic Prosthetic Control - Engineering
- Rebekah Whiteman - Exploring Pollinator Dependence in Tomato Crops across a Domestication Gradient - Agricultural Sciences
- Shan Wu - Matters of Medieval Art and Architecture at the Basilica of San Isidoro in León, Spain - Arts and Architecture
- Johnson Zheng - Microtubule behaviors in ddaE neuronal dendritic side branches - Eberly College of Science