CIRCLE (Center for Interdisciplinary Research, Collaboration, Learning, and Engagement) is excited to offer seed grants to support three projects in 2025-26. This program aims to provide an opportunity for genuine interdisciplinary collaboration among scholars and educators from different fields and areas of focus. The aim of these grants is to help develop new collaborations. We welcome proposals that focus on teaching and learning, research, or creative practice, and we welcome proposals in which team members are changing course or exploring new areas of inquiry.

Proposals due April 15, 2025.

Program Description

Selected projects will receive facilitation and professional development for their team, as well as funding of up to $15,000. Each project will work directly with one member of the CIRCLE leadership team and a CIRCLE Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellow. This kind of collaborative mentorship is designed so that the project team, the CIRCLE leadership mentor, and the Graduate Fellow can learn from one another while CIRCLE supports the project in developing strong collaborative relationships and effective processes. This support includes participation in CIRCLE training workshops, facilitated team building, and guidance on specific areas of interest to the team, for example, evaluation design or arts methods for fostering collaboration.

There are two tracks for the Seed Grants: 

I: Interdisciplinary Research and Scholarship

II: Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning. 

Both tracks will focus on interdisciplinarity and will require the same basic proposal materials. 

Track I: Research and Scholarship 

Projects in this track will focus on the development and implementation of research or creative activities. Proposals might include traditional research projects or collaborative creative projects. We also welcome innovative or experimental collaborative methodologies that might not fall into conventional research and creative activities, but that generate knowledge and encourage collaborators to expand their practice.

Track II: Teaching and Learning

Projects in this track will focus on teaching and learning or the scholarship of teaching and learning. Examples include (but are not limited to): planning, implementing, or refining an interdisciplinary course; developing interdisciplinary pedagogical resources or modules; contributing interdisciplinary components within a curriculum design; or conducting research on interdisciplinary courses, curricula, or pedagogies—work that often occurs within the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and its subcategory, the scholarship of interdisciplinary teaching and learning (SoITL). 

Requirements for Funding

To qualify for a CIRCLE Seed Grant, project leadership must include at least one CIRCLE Affiliate Faculty member. Leadership teams should also include members from at least two different MSU colleges or major administrative units. Teams must also commit to all the requirement for participation over the course of the year (listed below). 

The Seed Grants are intended to spark new collaborations and innovative inquiry. This work can sometimes create uncertain terrain as ideas come together. While we hope projects proceed as envisioned, we do not expect that all proposals will describe an immediately implementable plan. We appreciate the messiness of collaborative, emergent work that is rooted in a strong conceptual foundation and committed interdisciplinary relationships.  We welcome visions for fruitful investigation across boundaries that can create the foundation for future work and collaborative relationships. We expect that through facilitation with CIRCLE leadership, these ideas will coalesce and build momentum for meaningful co-inquiry over the course of the year. 

Successful proposals will:

• Meet the requirements for the Seed Grants (see above)
• Identify a clear set of themes or concepts that the collaboration will explore.
• Integrate at least two different ways of knowing/disciplines (i.e. art and science, economics and music, etc.) and explore the ways these perspectives intersect, relate, and/or diverge.
• Include a clear rationale for the collaboration across the identified ways of knowing and/or the specific team members. 
• Describe why the proposed integration is novel, worthwhile, or important, and for whom.
• Describe any specific costs associated with the project.

Participation and Timeline

Teams who are selected for the Seed Grant Program will participate in professional development and teambuilding activities throughout the year. In addition, they are welcome to participate in CIRCLE social events, write-ins, and celebrations. Teams can plan for the following CIRCLE programs and events:

• May 14, 2025 (12 pm – 3pm): Wrap up and Kickoff Event. 2024-25 Seed Grant teams and graduate fellows will share their experiences and then 2025-26 teams and fellows will begin to think about their projects. It is important for all team members to participate in this event to begin teambuilding. Teams can then work with their CIRCLE leadership mentor to establish a schedule for the summer, should one be necessary. 
• Fall 2025: all project teams will participate in a full cohort check-in meeting early in the fall. 
• Throughout 2025-26: Project teams will participate in several professional development opportunities throughout the year.
  • CIRCLE’s three-part workshop series on Interdisciplinary Collaboration. These are offered on Fridays throughout the academic year. 
  • In addition, awardees are invited to participate in the two-part Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning workshop series.
  • CIRCLE will host three Seed Grant check-in lunches over the course of the year (one in the fall and two in the spring) so that the full cohort can informally share their progress, discuss any challenges that arise, and celebrate each other’s’ successes.
• Early May 2026: Teams will join us again at the end of their award to participate in the wrap-up and welcome 2026-27’s recipients.

To be determined: CIRCLE leadership and fellows will collaboratively develop a schedule in which they work with individual teams between cohort lunches. Additionally, CIRCLE may invite members from seed grant teams to participate in panel discussions during CIRCLE workshops and events. 

Application Materials 

While the project does not need to be fully fleshed out, the principal investigators should have a sense of why they want to collaborate and what themes or topics they hope to address. 

Applications should articulate: 

• A brief history of the team, including any prior collaborations (250 words)
• An abstract introducing the topics, themes, and ideas driving the project (500 words)
• A description of the activities, experiments, methods, or media that the team will develop (500 words)
• A discussion of the different disciplines or fields the team will integrate and a rationale for why this collaboration is important (250 words)
• A budget justification that broadly outlines how the team envisions using the funds (250 words)
• An individual bio for each team member that includes a rationale for their participation (250 words)[1]
• A short (2 page) CV for each project leader (please submit this as a PDF)

Selection Criteria 

Applications will be evaluated by a committee of CIRCLE Leadership and Advisory Board members.  Evaluation criteria:

1. Inter- or transdisciplinary nature of proposal: What different ways of knowing are combined in the project, and how are they combined? 
2. Rationale for project: Is the rationale grounded in interdisciplinarity? Do individual rationales align with the project rationale? Do they show meaningful engagement with different disciplines or ways of knowing? 
3. Innovative and imaginative thinking: How does this project differ from existing projects? What potential does the project have for generating novel ideas, methods, or practices? How might it expand the ways we create or share knowledge?
4. Potential for future success: What does success look like for this project? This can include, but is not limited to, ways the project might live beyond the scope of the grant, how the project might reach new audiences, or lead to new scholarly or creative works. 

The project rationale should indicate why the project itself is important and why a collaboration among the project team members is important, while the rationale included in the biography should focus on why the project is important to that team member.

How to Apply 

Please submit materials using the CIRCLE 2025 Seed Grant Proposal Form before April 15, 2025. 

Award notifications will be made by April 28. Award recipients will have their project abstracts published on the CIRCLE website. If you have any questions about the CIRCLE Seed Grants, please email ori.circle@msu.edu.