First time applying for a grant, fellowship, or award to support your undergraduate research? The tips below apply broadly across many types of undergraduate research funding including internal CNS awards, external summer programs like NSF REUs, and other fellowships and awards. While each program has its own requirements, the fundamentals of a strong application are consistent.
One important note before you start: not all funding is the same. Some programs fund supplies or conference travel. Others provide a student stipend to support you financially during an experience. REUs typically include both a stipend and housing. Make sure you understand what a program funds and whether it fits your actual need before investing time in an application.
1. Researching the Funding Opportunity
- Find the right program for your situation. Read through the program's priorities and eligibility requirements carefully to determine whether your experience, project, or need is a good fit.
- Are you eligible? Programs may specify requirements about enrollment status, year in school, college affiliation, prior research experience, graduation date, citizenship, and more.
- What does the program fund and what does it expect in return? Some programs fund stipends, some fund supplies or travel, some fund both. Many also have post-award requirements like reflections, reports, or presentations.
- Know the timeline. Make sure the program's application and decision schedule works for your situation. For summer programs especially, decisions often come in spring so plan accordingly.
2. Getting Ready to Write
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Review the application to see what components you need to prepare. Some applications may just require a statement of purpose, but others could require a project description, abstract, resume, recommendation letter, budgets, or other documents.
- Confirm your placement or project before applying if needed. Many programs require that your experience or research placement be confirmed at the time of application. Don't wait until the last minute to secure your faculty supervisor or host organization.
- Identify a mentor who can help you refine your proposal and write a strong recommendation letter. Your faculty research supervisor is usually the right person, but give them plenty of lead time.
- Start early and revise. A strong application takes multiple drafts. Build in time to write, get feedback, revise, and proofread before the deadline.
- Understand that for most undergraduate funding, your statement of purpose carries significant weight. Unlike professional research grants where the science does the heavy lifting, undergraduate applications are evaluated substantially on who you are, what you hope to gain, and how clearly you can articulate the connection between this experience and your goals.
3. Writing the Proposal or Statement
- Be concise and clear. Reviewers read many applications — wordiness works against you.
- Avoid jargon. Write as if your reviewer is a thoughtful person outside your specific subfield. If you must use technical terms, briefly explain them.
- Be specific. Vague statements like "I want to gain research experience" are far less compelling than specific descriptions of what you'll be doing, why this particular lab or program, and what you hope to learn or contribute.
- Tailor every application. A statement written for one application will not work as-is for another one. Each program has different priorities and it’s important to address them directly.
- For your statement of purpose, answer three questions clearly: What are you doing and why does it matter? How does this connect to your academic and career goals? Why is this funding necessary for you specifically?
- Support scientific claims with citations where appropriate, but don't pad your application with unnecessary references.
- Check spelling and grammar. Errors signal carelessness and distract reviewers from your ideas.
- Get feedback from your mentor, peers, or our office before submitting.
4. Preparing the Application
- Read the application instructions carefully and follow them exactly. Stick to word limits, page limits, and formatting requirements as exceeding them can result in disqualification.
- Don't leave questions blank. Incomplete applications can be rejected outright.
- If a recommendation letter is required, ask your recommender early — ideally several weeks before the deadline — and give them everything they need: the program description, your draft statement, a clear deadline, and instructions for submitting their letter. Some programs set a separate deadline for letters and applications so make sure your recommender knows both.
- If you are submitting a budget, estimate costs accurately and only include allowable expenses. A padded or poorly justified budget signals poor planning. Likewise, don't underfund your request, just ask for what you actually need.
5. Submitting Your Application
- Confirm the submission method and plan ahead. Most CNS and UT programs use Lasso, but many REUs and external fellowships use their own portals.
- Deadlines are firm. Extensions are rarely granted. Submit early to avoid possible technical issues on deadline day.
6. I Didn't Get Funded. Now What?
- Don't be discouraged. Rejection is a normal part of the funding process, even for strong candidates. Many programs are competitive simply because demand exceeds available funds.
- Consider other programs. If one wasn't the right fit, another one might be. Our office can help you think through your options.
- Persistence pays, but make sure each submission is meaningfully improved, not just resubmitted as-is.