NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)

The solicitation can be found on the NSF site and this link: Solicitation # 22-601

A request for an REU Supplement to an existing NSF award should be submitted if the need for undergraduate student support was not foreseen at the time of the original proposal submission. 

The following is a summary as to how the REU supplement proposals vary from standard NSF applications as detailed in NSF’s Grant Proposal Guides (GPG). Applicants are expected to be familiar with the GPG.

  1. Budget
    • All student costs should be entered on Line F (Participant Support Costs) of the proposal budget.
    • Indirect Costs: The REU solicitation has been revised to clarify the treatment of indirect costs in proposals for REU Sites and requests for REU Supplements. The treatment of indirect costs should follow the policies specified in NSF's Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG). Indirect costs (F&A) are not allowed on Participant Support Costs in REU Site or REU Supplement budgets.
  2. In the form entitled "Summary of Proposed Work," state that this is a request for an REU Supplement.
  3. In the form entitled "Justification for Supplement," which is limited to 3 pages, include the following information:
    • the form and nature of each prospective student's involvement in the research project
    • the experience of the PI (or other prospective research mentors) in involving undergraduates in research, including any previous REU Supplement support and the outcomes for that support
    • the nature of the mentoring the student will receive; and
    • the process and criteria for selecting the student(s).  If the student has been pre-selected (as might be true in the case of a supplement for and ongoing award), then the grounds for selection and a brief biographical sketch of the student should be included.
  4. If an REU student has been pre-selected, you may place a brief biographical sketch in Supplementary Documents.
  5. The only proposal sections that need to be submitted for an REU supplement are:
    • The Summary of Proposed Work
    • The Justification for Supplement
    • The budget
    • The budget justification
    • Supplementary documents (if applicable)

Common Mistakes in NSF REU supplement proposals:

  1. Student costs are not listed in Category F
  2. Fonts that do not adhere to NSF format. Acceptable NSF fonts are:
    • Arial 11, Courier New, or Palatino Linotype at a font size of 10 points or larger
    • Times New Roman at a font size of 11 points or larger
    • Computer Modern family of fonts at a font size of 11 points or larger
  3. If there was a co-PI on the main award, the co-PI also needs to sign off for the REU supplement

OPAS Contact Information for NSF

College of Natural Sciences: Mary Santos,  (413) 545-0699

All other Colleges: Kim Lowney,  (413) 545-0699