GEMS 2026 Dates

Penn GEMS is a 1-week day camp

June 22-26, 2026

Monday-Friday  •  9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Application opens: January 20, 2026

Application closes: March 1, 2026

The university no longer requires the COVID-19 immunization for non-healthcare students.

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Camp Fees 2026

• The application fee is TBD
• The camp fee is TBD.
  • Due for accepted campers 30 days after their acceptance to hold their space in camp.
  • This fee must be paid by credit card only. Payment instructions will be included in the acceptance notification, along with additional required health and safety forms to be completed at that time.

 

Penn GEMS Activities

The activities listed below are subject to change, and not all participants will experience every activity. Students will be divided into groups and take part in a variety of experiences. While we are still finalizing this year’s program, here are some examples of activities from past years:

GLOW IN THE DARK SCIENCE
What does a cell in your body look like up close? Through hands-on labs, you’ll learn how cells travel throughout your body and how engineers are actually making body cells that fight disease!

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING IN ACTION!
Mechanical Engineers create everything from cell phones and toys to medical devices and cars. Explore the physics of force, energy transfer, and mechanical advantage as you work in teams to design, build, and test a launching catapult. Apply the engineering design process, experimenting with variables and refining your prototype, to achieve maximum distance and compete for top honors!

CENTRAL DOGMA IN ACTION
Discover how your body makes proteins by following the path from DNA to RNA to protein! You’ll extract DNA from fruit, see how much you can get, and explore glowing RNA and proteins to learn how scientists study how our cells work.

SHAKE IT UP: EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING
Can your tower survive the shake test? In this hands-on workshop, you’ll explore how engineers design strong buildings, then work in a team to build your own balsa wood tower and test it in an earthquake simulator!

IT’S A ROBOT
What do NASA’s Mars Rover and Honda’s ASIMO need to do interact and react in their environments? Learn the basic electro-mechanical principles behind robotics technology and more when you get to play with your own robot.

WHAT IS COMPUTER SCIENCE?
Computers, iPods, cell phones, websites, video games, animated movies, and robots are just a few things created by computer scientists. Learn how to think like a computer scientist and maybe even create a few things of your own!

IMAGINATION TO ANIMATION
Love animated movies and video games? You’ll learn some basic computer programming skills that any animation or game maker needs and leave with something to show your friends and family.

BIOENGINEERING ETHICS 101
Just because we can build it—should we? In this interactive session, you’ll dive into real-world examples like self-driving cars, facial recognition, and AI bias to explore how engineers make decisions that impact our world. Through debates and case studies, you’ll learn why ethics and responsibility matter in STEM.