Faculty/Departmental Grant Eligibility Requirements

Important Note

Faculty and staff should carefully read our eligibility requirements for all VPUE Department and Faculty Grants prior to submitting a proposal and making offers to undergraduate researchers. 

Table of Contents

1. Project Eligibility
2. Mentor Eligibility
3. Student Eligibility
4. Fundamental Standard

Project Eligibility

• Proposals must be authored and submitted by faculty and/or staff with faculty oversight.
• Off-campus/international projects must be clearly described in the proposal, and funding may only be disbursed after additional requirements on the part of students, mentors, and departmental staff are completed. 
  • All grant proposals must include an appendix with a Contingency Plan in the event that disruptions (not just COVID) occur.
• All research programs and projects are subject to change at any given point and time depending on Stanford Global Risk advisories and CDC guidelines. 
• Continue to pay special attention to current Stanford travel restrictions and undergraduate research policies outlines in the University Health Alerts. 
• Full details about individual proposal requirements can be found on our Proposal Guidelines Page.  

Mentor Eligibility

• All projects supported by a VPUE Departmental or Faculty Grant must be conducted and led under the guidance of a qualifying Stanford Faculty Mentor. 
  • The mentor must be: 
    • Academic Council OR 
    • University Medical Line faculty OR 
  • Co-mentoring may be provided by other faculty, academic staff, artists-in-residence, post-doctoral scholars, or advanced graduate students as appropriate, and should be clearly described in the proposal.
• Mentors must have their own active research or creative agenda in a discipline closely related to the main disciplines and methodologies of the proposed project.
  • Interdisciplinary research projects and creative arts projects are strongly encouraged to draw upon the knowledge and guidance of multiple mentors. 
• Mentors must be available to provide consultation, training, and advice throughout the project timeline.

Student Eligibility

Policies for Students Participating in ALL Research

• Stipends, prizes, or awards paid to undergraduate students who are receiving other forms of financial aid for any purpose are a form of financial assistance and may require adjustment to a student's scholarship eligibility, and/or adjustment to their overall cost of attendance. The Financial Aid Office has the responsibility to determine whether adjustments are necessary and it's the individual responsibility of the student to contact the Financial Aid Office about the impact of their grant to their overall cost of attendance.
• Student athletes should confirm their eligibility and the impact of any awarded stipend on their athletic eligibility by contacting the Compliance Services Office prior to accepting any VPUE funding.

Policies for Students Participating in Full-Time Research

• Availability: Full-time opportunities may only be offered during the Summer Quarter.
• Time Commitment: Full-time means devoting 35+ hours/week for 10 consecutive weeks, i.e., it is the student's primary activity that quarter.
• Full-time VPUE Faculty/Department Grant student recipients are not permitted to engage in another full-time internship, job, or volunteer opportunity (whether funded by Stanford or otherwise), unless their faculty mentors or program mentors have approved these arrangements.
  • As a reminder, VPUE grant recipients who are planning on concurrently participating in another Stanford program should also abide by the funding and program policies of the sponsoring unit.

Policies for Students Participating in Part-Time Research

• Availability: Part-time research opportunities may be offered to students during any quarter.
• Time Commitment: Part-time engagement is defined as no more than 10 hours per week (equivalent to a 3-unit course). 

Enrollment & Academic Standing

• Students must be enrolled in units while using grant funding, except during the Summer. 
• Students must be in the undergraduate (not graduate) tuition group while using grant funding.
  • Please refer to this Registrar webpage for details on when coterm students are switched to graduate tuition.
• Students may not receive both academic units and a stipend for any single project activity.
• Students may not be serving a suspension.
• Students may not be on a Leave of Absence (LOA) while using grant funding. Students who have been on a LOA for three (3) consecutive quarters prior to the funding period are not eligible (e.g., Autumn, Winter and Spring for full-time summer grants). 
• VPUE does not use a GPA requirement for student eligibility, nor does VPUE encourage the use of GPA as a criterion for inclusion in a research opportunity.

Fundamental Standard

• Please note that violations of the above listed Undergraduate Research policies are also violations of the Fundamental Standard and may be referred to the Office of Community Standards.
• Students who fail to abide by the policies as set forth by Undergraduate Research, their funding department or faculty, The Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, and Stanford University will have low priority for future Undergraduate Research funding opportunities.
• Undergraduate Research reserves the right to rescind funding at any given point and time should they be apprised of any policy violations.
• Undergraduate Research reserves the right to rescind funding in the event of unaddressed safety or ethics concerns.