UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State undergraduates from all academic fields and campuses can apply for an Erickson Discovery Grant to fund student-initiated projects during summer 2023. 

Grants provide $3,500 toward living expenses and project costs. Student projects of all kinds are welcome: the arts, engineering, humanities, sciences and social sciences. Projects should primarily be the student’s own work, but they can be related to the supervising faculty member’s research or scholarly interests. While some students travel for their experience, many choose to stay at their home campus to conduct their work. 

More details and a grant application can be found at urfm.psu.edu. A total of 50 grants will be awarded for summer 2023. 

Nate Cherok, a Penn State junior majoring in geography from Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, used an Erickson Discovery Grant to fund a research trip to Morocco in summer 2022. 

“It was an incredible and eye-opening experience to conduct field work in another country,” Cherok said. “In addition to learning about the local agricultural systems, I was able to immerse myself in Moroccan culture, enjoying traditional food, learning some Arabic words and phrases and spend time with farmers and community members to learn about their experiences and practices.”  

Cherok spent two weeks in communities of the High Atlas Mountains where he spoke with local farmers and collected physical data points using a handheld GPS. He then organized and digitized the data for his project, “Quantifying Nutritional Yield within Morocco’s Agroforestry Systems.” 

He said the experience taught him about the entire research process and strengthened his desire to attend graduate school and pursue more research opportunities. 

The Erickson Discovery Grant is funded and administered by Penn State Undergraduate Education.