The big banner on the ARCH on Locust Walk and the emails from President Gutmann to the senior class have gotten the message out: The search for entries in the inaugural President’s Engagement Prize competition is underway.

As many as three seniors who design and undertake local, national or global engagement projects for the first year following their graduation will be selected for the President’s Engagement Prizes, which consist of $50,000 for living expenses and as much as $100,000 for project implementation expenses. Any graduating senior in the School of Arts & Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Science, School of Nursing or Wharton School is eligible to apply.

Announced by President Amy Gutmann in June, the prizes are designed to highlight the importance that engagement plays at Penn.

Harriet Joseph, director of the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, says CURF sees the President’s Engagement Prizes as an extension of its student outreach to make research an integral part of the undergraduate experience.  She also stressed that students shouldn’t be intimidated by the prize’s monetary amount; creativity and practicality are far more important than the size and scale of a project proposal.

“The hope is that this prize will allow students to use what they have learned at Penn and make it a reality that will impact local, national or global communities and show them what amazing people Penn graduates are,” Joseph says. “This is the project’s inaugural year and we’re committed to mentoring students as they formulate their ideas and their budgets.  We’re here to walk students through the application submission process.”

Ira Harkavy, associate vice president and the founding director of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, says the awards epitomize what the University is all about: emphasizing local, national and global engagement, as well as exemplifying the Penn Compact 2020’s strategic priorities on impact, innovation and integration.

“The President’s Engagement Prizes carry out not only the vision of the Penn Compact 2020 but also Benjamin Franklin’s founding vision of Penn to prepare young people with an inclination (moral) joined with an ability (intellectual) to serve their communities, society and the wider world,” Harkavy says. “These awards provide an opportunity for students to put their ideals into practice and create experiences that enable them to ‘do well by doing good.’”

The deadline for applications, which can be submitted through the CURF website, is Jan. 16, 2015.