Undergraduate Research and Independent Projects

Checklist for Grant Applications

Checklist for Grant Application

  1. Determine which grant opportunity would meet your project needs.
  2. Check your eligibility, your faculty mentor eligibility, and project eligibility.

  3. Work with your faculty mentor to focus your topic.

  4. Take courses that prepare you for the methodologies or techniques your project will use, including any special requirements for off-campus fieldwork preparation or human subjects (CITI) training.
  5. If your project makes use of human subjects or human materials, submit your Human Subjects Protocol to the Stanford Institutional Review Board early on, or latest by the first day of the same month as your grant application deadline.
  6. Draft your proposal, and seek feedback from your mentor, field contacts, and Undergraduate Advising Directors.
  7. Request letters of recommendation from you faculty mentor and field contact, giving a MINIMUM of three weeks’ notice. Provide them with the guidelines for letters sought by Undergraduate Research.        
  8. Register at the Undergraduate Research Grant Application Portal and become familiar with submission and acceptance requirements.

Next Steps

  1. Complete the Student Grant application in the Grant Application Portal by 11:59pm PST of the deadline. No hard copy or email applications will be accepted.
  2. Remind your letter writers about the deadline for the recommendation letters. Your faculty mentor receive an email as soon as you submit their information in the Grant Application Portal; this email will include a link to submit their recommendation and the due date.
  3. Many student grant proposals undergo a resubmission round. If reviewers request more information after the first round of reviews, submit a complete, revised proposal by the stated resubmission deadline.
  4. If reviewers approve your grant proposal, the following items must be completed before Undergraduate Research can distribute any funds. 
    • Prepare and upload documentation to satisfy off-campus project requirements, which may include: proof of insurance (also required for all summer projects), coursework, travel and embassy registration.
    • Visit our page For Awardees for further details on acceptance requirements.

After you complete your project, you should plan to submit a final project evaluation and apply to present your work at SURPS or ASURPS. When reviewing a grant proposal, Undergraduate Research reviewers consider your earlier record of Undergraduate Research-funded projects.

Follow-up on a proposal, whether it is accepted, rejected or put on hold

See Also