THE TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA CORP

Their core work

The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) is a major US Ivy League research university that serves as an international partner and host institution in European research projects across a remarkably broad range of disciplines. Their H2020 involvement spans healthcare workplace wellbeing, biomedical sciences, atmospheric chemistry, computational economics, neuroscience, linguistics, and materials science — reflecting the diversity of a large multi-faculty institution rather than a single focused lab. Penn primarily hosts European researchers through Marie Skłodowska-Curie mobility fellowships and contributes specialist expertise to health-related clinical trials and training networks.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Penn's early H2020 involvement (2015-2018) centered on hard sciences and biomedical engineering — atmospheric chemistry, colloidal physics, hydrogels, aortic surgery, and computational macroeconomics. From 2019 onward, participation shifted markedly toward health systems research (Magnet4Europe on clinician wellbeing), humanities and social sciences (ancient etiquette, postcolonial linguistics), and neuroscience (sleep and memory). This evolution suggests growing engagement of Penn's social science and humanities faculties in European research networks, broadening well beyond the initial STEM-heavy profile.

Penn is increasingly engaged in interdisciplinary health and social science research within European consortia, making them a stronger partner for projects requiring US-based expertise in healthcare delivery, cultural studies, or neuroscience.

How they like to work

Penn never coordinates H2020 projects — all 18 participations are as partner (13) or non-lead participant (5), consistent with their role as a non-European institution that cannot lead EU-funded consortia. They work across very large networks (115 unique partners in 25 countries), joining different consortia for each project rather than repeatedly partnering with the same groups. This makes them a flexible, low-commitment international partner: easy to bring into a consortium for specific US-based expertise, but not an institution that will drive project management or administrative workload.

Penn has collaborated with 115 unique partners across 25 countries, an exceptionally broad network for 18 projects, indicating they join large, diverse consortia rather than small focused teams. As a US institution, they serve as a transatlantic bridge connecting European research groups with American research infrastructure and expertise.

What sets them apart

Penn is one of the world's top research universities (consistently ranked top 15 globally), bringing access to exceptional research infrastructure, talent, and US-based clinical and experimental settings that European consortia cannot replicate domestically. Their value as an H2020 partner lies not in project leadership but in lending institutional prestige, providing secondment destinations for MSCA fellows, and offering complementary expertise from a distinctly American research perspective. For consortium builders, including Penn signals international reach and access to one of the strongest research ecosystems in the United States.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Magnet4Europe
  Penn's largest funded H2020 project (EUR 807K), addressing healthcare worker burnout and patient safety across European hospitals — a high-impact health systems study.
• PAPA-ARTIS
  A long-running clinical trial (2017-2024) on preventing paraplegia during aortic surgery, where Penn contributes surgical expertise to a multi-center randomized controlled trial.
• NOTsoQUANTUM
  Their most recent project (2022-2025) on polaritonic chemistry simulations, representing Penn's continued strength in computational physical chemistry.