You can certainly do parallel processing using perl. The specific implementation depends a lot on the problem you are trying to solve.

Whatever the situation, your University's cluster/grid probably has some tools installed to make parallel processing simpler. Ask around or check for PVM, LAM/MPI, or MPICH2. Learn how these systems work and check out CPAN for the perl modules that interface with them. Parallel::PVM and Parallel::MPI are both available, but the PVM module has seen more recent updates and has a higher version number, so it might be a better bet.

Good luck with the project.