Faculty & Department Grant Administration

📢 Important Update

Due to significant changes in the university’s budget, Faculty and Department Grants will now only support student research conducted during the summer. Beginning this academic year, we will no longer provide payroll or stipends during the Fall, Winter, or Spring quarters through these grants. Students pursuing more independent projects or contributing a smaller portion to a broader research effort may still apply for Small Grants during the academic year to fund specific project expenses (excluding compensation) by submitting their own proposals. We recognize that this change may create challenges and did not make this decision lightly. Departments wishing to continue supporting academic-year research are encouraged to consider offering academic units or using Federal Work Study where possible. Thank you for your understanding as we work to steward our resources while continuing to champion meaningful undergraduate research opportunities.

Overview

This webpage outlines the policies and procedures for using VPUE Departmental and Faculty Grants for Undergraduate Research. Please read carefully as policies/procedures may have changed.

Common Questions:	Answers:
Is my student eligible to receive VPUE funding?	See our Eligibility Requirements.
When should my student sign the Contract & Waiver?	Your full-time Summer students MUST sign the Contract & Waiver prior to appearing on your roster.
When will I hear back about my submitted application?	Departmental Grant award letters are sent in late Nov. to mid Dec. Winter Faculty Grant applications will be sent out in mid to late March.
My student said that they still have not received their stipend. Where should I direct them?	Stipends can take up to 3-4 weeks to process from the date that the student's information is added in the Summer roster. If your student's stipend has been processed by our office (processing date will be on the roster proper) and has yet to receive their funding, please see our below section re: missing stipends.

Eligibility Requirements

Departmental and Faculty Grant Eligibility Requirements pertaining to student eligibility, mentor eligibility, and project eligibility should be carefully reviewed prior to applying, recruiting mentors or students, or designing projects.

Student Participation

If a student's participation during the Summer quarter does not meet expectations, contact vpue-research@stanford.edu so that we can discuss remedies with the student and mentor involved. Students who do not participate fully in the research training opportunity may be asked to return unused grant funds to Undergraduate Research so that they may be made available to another student.

VPUE Stipend

Stipends (Summer Only)

Stipends are for full-time summer research experiences
All stipends are processed by Undergraduate Research through the Financial Aid Office.
Undergraduate Research cannot process stipend requests which are not tied directly to VPUE awarded funds nor can we process requests to be charged to a non-VPUE PTA.
Students who receive a Summer stipend MUST sign a Student Contract & Waiver
In addition to the listed policies as issued by VPUE, departments, programs, or faculty mentors may elect to add more restrictive policies to the Student Contract, as they deem appropriate.
Students must sign a Student Contract & Waiver in order to be considered for a financial need supplement ($1,500).
Student stipends can take up to three weeks to process from the date listed in the “Date Processed” column on the “Summer” tab of the roster.

Amount

Summer | Full-time = $8,500 + up to $1,500 need-based supplement (if student qualifies)

Processes & Procedures

Departments and Faculty, who are awarded VPUE funding, must complete a roster (a link to a Google Sheet will be embedded in your award letter).
All students supported with VPUE funding must be clearly identified on the roster on the “Summer Roster” tab of the assigned Google spreadsheet.
For research programs to be fully considered for future funding increases, programs must furthermore identify the following in the “Not Funded” tab in their roster:
1. Students who are participating in the program but are funded by a non-VPUE source.
2. Students who wished to participate but were turned away without funding.
A full roster walkthrough with step-by-step instructions can be found via our Job Aid.

Summer Roster Deadline

Summer Stipends: May 1, 2026. *

*Any Summer stipends not allocated to a specific identified student by May 1st may be reallocated by Undergraduate Research to another department or program. After May 1st, Undergraduate Research will release additional funds (if available) to programs that have identified students who applied to participate in the summer but were initially turned away.

Missing Stipends

Is your student having issues locating their stipend?

For students who are unable to locate their stipend, we encourage Faculty and Staff to review and redirect students to the Financial Account Details page to assist students when reviewing their account.
If Axess does not reflect the student's stipend, the student should be redirected to the Student Services Center (SSC). There could be a number of reasons as to why the student has yet to receive their stipend and the SSC will have more insights than the Undergraduate Research Team.
If the SSC is also unable to locate the stipend, please email vpue-research@stanford.edu.

Taxes

Undergraduate Research is not in a position to answer questions about how/if student grants might affect taxes. Students who receive stipends should consult with Student Services Center (SSC) and the IRS about scholarships and grants which are received.

Programming Funds (non-stipend expenses)

Grant funds are sometimes awarded for certain expenses, activities, and events that build a cohort or community of undergraduate researchers.
When awarded, such funds will be transferred in a single transaction to a qualifying PTA administered by the relevant department, program, or center.
Subsequent transactions will be the responsibility of departmental staff, and must be clearly related to the purpose(s) outlined in the award notification.

Year-End Reporting (non-stipend expenses)

All awarded departments should plan to provide a system-generated financial report on the use of these funds when applying in the subsequent year, no later than October 31st for activity concluded by August 31st. When generating the report, Undergraduate Research recommends using the following report in Oracle:

OBI CER "Monthly Expenditure Details Statement" report
"All Detail" View

Unspent programming funds will either be transferred back to Undergraduate Research or will be deducted from subsequent-year awards.