The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and the Center for Technology, Innovation and Competition (CTIC) are pleased to announce the fifth year of the CTIC Interdisciplinary Scholarship Program, a competitive program that awards scholarships to JD students pursuing joint degrees in law and technology.

Each year the Law School and CTIC award $40,000 to up to three students to help offset tuition expenses for their additional year of study at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science (Penn Engineering).

Current 1L and 2L students who intend to pursue the JD/MSE (Master of Science in Engineering) or the JD/MCIT (Master of Computer and Information Technology) or the JD/PhD at Penn Engineering are eligible to apply for a scholarship. The JD/MCIT and JD/MSE are four-year programs and students typically spend their first year at the Law School and their second or third year at Penn Engineering; during the other two years, they take classes at both schools.

Current student JD/MCIT, Delaney Butler L’20 said, “One of the reasons I came to Penn was for the dual degree opportunities, and the JD/MCIT did not disappoint.” Butler continues that, “Almost every lawyer I have told about the JD/MCIT dual-degree has been impressed - not just as an academic pursuit, but for the foresight that understanding technology will be a key aspect of lawyering in the 21st century.” 

The JD/MCIT at Penn is a particularly unique program not only because of its approach to understanding technology and its legal application, but also because it does not require that a student have any background in engineering or computer science.

Applications for the scholarship will be accepted until Friday, March 20, 2020, from matriculating Law School students who applied or are applying to the MCIT or MSE programs for the November 15, 2019 or March 15, 2020 deadline.

Students selected for the program will also have the opportunity to work closely with CTIC faculty, who are renowned experts in intellectual property, Internet law, and technology policy. The CTIC Interdisciplinary Scholarship recipients contribute to CTIC’s mission of promoting foundational research that shapes and reshapes the way legislators, regulatory authorities, and scholars think about technology policy, intellectual property, privacy, and related fields.

Recent recipients of the CTIC scholarship include Christina Chen L’20, Delaney Butler L’20, Teddi Josephson L’19, and Kelsey Matevish L’19, all of whom are pursuing or have pursued the JD/MCIT. Milad Emamian L’21 was awarded the CTIC scholarship this past year. Milad is pursuing a JD/PhD in Bioengineering. Watch Josephson and Matevish discuss different paths they pursued using their education in technology and the law.

Interested students should contact Amanda S. Aronoff, Director, Cross-Disciplinary Programs & Academic Options, at aramanda@law.upenn.edu. Applications will be reviewed by the CTIC Scholarship Program Committee and must include a statement of purpose and a copy of the student’s MCIT or MSE application.