MSU Research Foundation Announces Annual Grant to Support Research, Technology Commercialization, and Entrepreneurship at Michigan State University
The Michigan State University Research Foundation has committed $11.8 million for the 2024-2025 academic year, matching the previous year's grant, to support key programs at Michigan State University, including technology commercialization, faculty recruitment, and research initiatives.
EAST LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan State University Research Foundation has announced an $11.8 million grant funding commitment to Michigan State University for the upcoming 2024-2025 academic year. The 2025 grant matches the previous year's allocation and supports important research programs at the university.
The 2025 grant matches the previous year's allocation, supporting important research programs at the university.
"Our grant to Michigan State serves our mission more than anything we do,” said David Washburn, Executive Director of the MSU Research Foundation. "These resources provide an annual margin of excellence, enabling programs and research projects across campus."
As a nonprofit foundation associated with the nation’s premier land grant university, the MSU Research Foundation is dedicated to promoting, encouraging, and supporting scientific investigation and research at Michigan State. The grants awarded by the Foundation have consistently bolstered the university's reputation as a world-class institution, supporting programs including technology commercialization, faculty recruitment and retention, and capacity-building initiatives.
“Since 1974, when our grant program started, every corner of the university has been impacted by resources from the Foundation,” Washburn continued. “From our MSU Research Foundation Professorships to institutional matching dollars, instrumentation and equipment, and student entrepreneurship, the Foundation’s resources are applied to real-world problems with an eye toward economic prosperity for all.”
The Foundation’s grant is an important funding mechanism that support promising new initiatives in key areas of research, scholarship, and multidisciplinary collaboration. The program aims to achieve several aspirations, including:
Establishing a strong reputation for research, both nationally and internationally, distinguishing MSU from other universities.
Fostering sustained collaboration among faculty members, enabling research projects that would not have been possible without this funding.
Supporting innovative, high-risk research with the potential to provide greater returns and enhance the university’s reputation.
Enabling MSU faculty to compete successfully for external funding opportunities, ensuring long-term sustainability for research and fostering future growth.
Encouraging the development of research ideas with significant long-term commercial potential or the ability to create a broad impact on the community or the world.
The program enables such opportunities by supporting research and scholarship that is leading-edge, interdisciplinary, and capitalizes on the existing intellectual and research resources at Michigan State University.
Additionally, the program advances the MSU Research Foundation’s mission to provide seed funding for the development of new knowledge, lay the groundwork for centers of excellence at the university, and invest in the development of Michigan State University as one of the nation's leading research institutions.
Since its founding in 1973, the MSU Research Foundation has provided over $390 million in funding to Michigan State University.
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About the MSU Research Foundation
The MSU Research Foundation supports the Michigan State University ecosystem with resources that increase the impact of research and innovation. The Foundation achieves its mission through grant programs that contribute over $11 million annually to the University, entrepreneurial programming and early-stage investments that accelerate technology transfer and startup growth throughout Michigan, and environments where startup businesses and collaborators can thrive. The Foundation's work is made possible through its stewardship of a flexible and sustainable endowment, nourished by over 50 years of licensing revenues and investment returns. Learn more about the MSU Research Foundation and its impact at msufoundation.org