Undergraduates can apply now for an Erickson Discovery Grant

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Undergraduates from all majors and campuses can now apply for an Erickson Discovery Grant to fund summer 2026 opportunities. Applications close Feb. 16.  

Projects of all kinds are welcome: the arts, engineering, humanities, business, education, sciences and social sciences. While proposals may be related to the supervising faculty member’s research or scholarly interests, projects must be independent and designed by the student. While some students travel for their experience, many choose to stay at their home campus to conduct their work.  

Applications are open now on InfoReady. 

This year's grant recipients include Kyla Ebersole and Aleta Lyzinski, who used the grant to pursue projects aligned with their academic interests. Their projects demonstrate how the Erickson Discovery Grant supports collaborative student research while developing career skills and working closely with faculty mentors.   

Kyla Ebersole, a senior biology major, used her Erickson Discovery Grant to explore advertising calls in common terns, a type of seabird. She recorded the calls, used AI to quantify them and gathered data to examine environmental influences. The grant funded her equipment, which included a weather station, and her living expenses.  

“Being able to implement my own study and go out myself to do the tests we designed really helped me build problem-solving skills,” Ebersole said. “And learn how to address challenges in a scientific way and communicate with my advisers who are scientists in the field I want to go into.”    

Aleta Lyzinski, a junior majoring in biomedical and mechanical engineering, spent her summer researching ultrasound transducers in a lab specialized in nondestructive material testing. The grant funded her living expenses and allowed her to commit to working full-time on the project.    

“And the experience taught me that there’s a lot in engineering you can explore or dabble in. You don’t have to only do major-specific research. It all really does interconnect,” Lyzinski said. 

About the application 

Applications are open now. Penn State University Libraries developed a worksheet to help students identify potential research questions and map out their project.   

The final application asks for a 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.   

Applicants will also need to provide the 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. Students should aim to work on their projects for about eight weeks at half time, or about 160 hours. 

This year’s cycle will have fewer available grants than in previous years, said Alan Rieck, associate vice provost for Undergraduate Education. 

“We’re working with our partners to identify donors and new sources of funding for the Erickson Discovery Grant program,” Rieck said. “Each year, students from across the commonwealth use Erickson grants to travel, conduct research and discover their passions in life and work. It is our intention to secure Erickson grant funding that will sustain the program closer to its previous number of awards.” 

Erickson Discovery Grants are supported by Penn State Undergraduate Education.