Competitive Discretionary Funding Program

The Competitive Discretionary Funding Program (CDFP) provides internal funds to support research opportunities that have significant potential for external funding and that support the research/scholarly thrusts of departments, colleges and the University. Requests for bridging of grants and seed funding needed for resubmission of a grant application are the types of applications that will be considered.

Please note

• Applications for funding of a new research initiative are expected to include matching funds from the appropriate departments and/or colleges.
• Applications for funds to bridge grant funding will require the identification of the award that is to be bridged.

Who is eligible

• Tenured and tenure-track faculty.
• Faculty with uninterrupted, multi-year, fixed term appointments.
• Academic specialists in the continuing appointment system who have the majority of their effort in the research category.

How to apply

To apply for funding to resubmit a proposal, go to the Grant Proposal System (https://www.vprgs.msu.edu/gps/) and submit:

• A copy of the reviewer comments from the prior submission, if available.
• The name of the funding program.
• The projected date for submission of the external funding application.
• A statement of the impact of the funding (required).

If an application for external funding is not submitted within 6 months of the projected date, funding may be withdrawn. The maximum funding will be $60,000, except under unusual circumstances, and will be available over 2 years.

When to apply

Competitions will be held 4 times a year, with deadlines in the first weeks of:

• October
• December
• February
• April

The exact deadlines for submission will be posted on this web site and publicized in the Research News quarterly publication distributed to all MSU faculty and academic staff. Each session will be open for submission of application materials approximately 6 weeks prior to the deadline. 

Preparing your application

Applicants submit their materials to the Grant Proposal System (https://www.vprgs.msu.edu/gps/).

Humanities and Arts Research Program (HARP)

The HARP program provides internal MSU funds to support faculty who are conducting important research, creative, and performative projects and activities in the arts and humanities. The limited funding is designed to support faculty for projects that seem likely to enhance the reputation of the faculty member and the university, where external support is not generally available.

HARP will have the following two components:

Scholarship Development:
Awards for research, creative, and performance projects of the kind that will help faculty achieve their career milestones of reappointment, tenure, promotion, and annual merit evaluation.
Two separate panels will review the applications: one for research projects, the other for creative and performance submissions.

The deadline for application will be in mid-October, with awards announced at the end of January. Funds will be available beginning of July 1 and can be used for two years.

Scholarship Production:
This is a subvention program whose purpose is to help subsidize the costs of book publication, permissions to use copyrighted materials, CD recording and production, the creation and mounting of exhibits, and other expenses associated with producing the results of a completed research or creative project.

In order to respond to the more immediate needs that these subsidies often entail, the panels will review applications every two months, from mid-October to mid-April.

Funds will be available for an additional fiscal year after the fiscal year of the award.

Who is eligible?

• Tenured and tenure-track faculty.
• Faculty with uninterrupted, multi-year, fixed term appointments.
• Academic specialists in the continuing appointment system who have the majority of their effort in the research category.
• An investigator who has received an IRGP grant, either as a PI or Co-PI, is eligible to apply to the HARP program two years after the end date of their funded project.
• Those who have been awarded a Scholarship  Production grant are eligible to re-apply two years after the last award of this type.

The investigator must also be able to answer the following questions affirmatively: 

1. Will the proposed activity result in a scholarly or creative product (e.g., book, CD, musical composition, play, artwork) with the potential for significant impact in the discipline or related areas? This is a particularly important criterion.
2. Is the product likely to receive external recognition (e.g., through a publisher's interest or through available distribution or exhibition venues) or be used beyond MSU?
3. Is external funding to support release time and other expenses associated with creating the product generally unavailable? 

Applications:
Applications should be submitted through the Michigan State University Grant Proposal System at https://www.vprgs.msu.edu/gps/

Strategic Partnership Grants (SPG)

MSU Foundation selects 2008 Strategic Partnership Grants

The process of selecting projects to receive Strategic Partnership Grants (SPG) starts with preproposals, which are submitted early in the calendar year, usually January or February. After review by faculty panels, full proposals are requested from some investigators. 

In 2008, only 12 were requested and after further review, only six projects were selected for presentation to the MSU Foundation Grants Committee. Ultimately, four projects were selected for funding in 2008:

MSU Vaccines, Andrea Amalfitano, Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Professor of microbiology and molecular genetics

The team proposed to develop and test novel malaria vaccine platforms that are likely to show improved efficacy over current options for developing vaccines. In the long term, the vaccine platforms developed for malaria are expected to be adaptable for other diseases. In addition to benefits for human health, the platforms are also expected to have veterinary and agricultural applications. Each platform has the potential to be patented.

High Throughput Sequencing for Comparative Genomics of the Solanaceae, Cornelius Barry, assistant professor of horticulture

An interdisciplinary team of researchers will work to understand the mechanisms that contribute to genetic and chemical diversity within the Solanaceae, a large plant family, that includes important food crops and medicinal and ornamental plants, among them potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and tobacco. Drawing on expertise of the team, they will generate data to advance understanding of Solanaceae biology and provide new directions for comparative genomic research within this family. Their data are expected to yield discoveries of compounds and genes important in fruit development and chemicals with potential impacts for human health.

Mitochondrial Regulation of Health and Disease, Laurie Kaguni, University Distinguished Professor of biochemistry and molecular biology

The team proposed a new strategy for increasing knowledge in the fast-emerging field of mitochondrial science. Using their interdisciplinary expertise, they will employ advanced technology and novel model organisms to link mitochondrial function to global cellular processes and to pathological changes that lead to aging and disease. The project aligns MSU researchers with the National Institutes of Health initiative on Mitochondrial Medicine in Human Health.

Electronic Properties and Applications of Microbial Nanowires, Gemma Reguera, assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics

Building on their leadership in characterizing microbial nanowires, the research team will analyze the conduction properties of microbially produced protein nanowires and explore innovative applications for conductive proteins. Potential applications include design of conductive peptides and protein nanowires and insights to bimolecular self-assembly and electron transfer as well as development of more efficient microbial fuel cells and bioremediation processes for toxic materials.

Past SPG Awards

2006  

2004

MSU Foundation