The Provost and the Dean of ISP provide funds to support the development of new strategic partnerships between MSU faculty and colleagues at universities and research institutions abroad. The program supports individual faculty and multidisciplinary teams, with the primary goal of advancing collaborative research agendas that lead to publications and competitive external funding and other scholarship outcomes.

SPGs provide partial support for travel and related costs for MSU faculty and partner researchers visiting MSU. Colleges, departments, or institutes are expected to contribute matching funds to demonstrate shared commitment to long-term collaboration.

The grant helps faculty establish or deepen research collaborations, conduct preliminary or exploratory work, and position teams for external proposal development, and other research and scholarly outputs. Activities may include joint research design, preliminary fieldwork, planning for co-authored publications, developing shared teaching or training programs, or exploring faculty and student exchanges.

Proposal Guidelines. Proposal should include:

1. A narrative that addresses these questions:
• What activities are proposed and what is their importance?
• What short term outcomes are expected from funded activities?
• What are the long-term goals of this partnership and who will be involved?
• What is the rationale for partner/institution selection, MSU faculty team members, collaborating units abroad, and is there any prior collaboration?
2. A written endorsement from the applicant's dean or department chairperson committing to a minimum of 20% matching funds.
3. A detailed budget.

Awards typically range from $3,000 to $5,000 and we offer two funding cycles per academic year:

Award Timeline. ASC offers two SPG funding cycles per academic year.

Fall SPG Timeline

• Sep 15: Applications Due
• Oct 1: Funding Decision
• Jan 15: Deadline to Complete Activities & Travel

• Jun 5: Absolute Deadline for Reimbursement Requests due to university requirements. Requests not completed will not be reimbursed.

• Jun 15: Report Due

Spring SPG Timeline

• Jan 15: Applications Due
• Jan 30: Funding Decision
• May 30: Deadline to Complete Activities & Travel
• Jun 5: Absolute Deadline for Reimbursement Requests due to university requirements. Requests not completed will not be reimbursed.
• Jun 15: Report Due

Please fill out and submit application by visiting this link.