Getting Started in Research at MSU

Welcome!

Whether you are new to MSU or taking on a new research related role, there are many policies and resources you'll need to navigate when setting up your first research project.

This finding aid has been developed to assist new investigators and is organized in a sequential manner from securing funding and building your team, to compliance and technology transfer. Please review the outline below and refer to it often. A few of the sections are still under construction, but when in doubt, inquire with your department chair or contact us for assistance.

The Office of Research and Innovation fosters creative activity through administering research funding, ensuring research integrity for faculty and students, providing grant support services, fostering collaboration, licensing university inventions, and overseeing regulatory compliance.

Our Research Facilitation and Dissemination team is here to help and would enjoy hearing from you. If you should need assistance, please call (517) 432-4499 or email research@msu.edu.

1.  For New Faculty Starting Careers at MSU

1. Fundamentals:  Faculty research and creative activity guidelines 
2. Understanding research roles:  PIs, Co-PIs and Key Personnel 
3. MSU Libraries’ holdings and databases relevant to your research
4. Meet the Associate Dean of Research and other administrators on your academic line
5. Early conversations with your department chairperson or school director; discuss expectations, goals, your needs and more.
6. Finding a mentor
7. See your Dept. Chair/Director first regarding space assignment. Also read "Making the Right Moves" external guidebook from HHMI for new researchers setting up their first lab.
8. Your set-up funds, and how long they last (See your Dept. Chair/Director)
9. How to set up your lab, studio, or other space for scholarly work (external link)
10. Recruiting into your group (external link)
11. How to prepare yourself, your graduate students, and your post docs 
12. Identifying research administration and compliance contacts
13. No research group is an island, sufficient unto itself:  Core facilities and central resources
14. Understanding research networks – MSU partnerships local/state/national/global; set up your profile and find other researchers on MSU Scholars
15. Who else is working on related research at MSU? (MSU Net ID required)
16. Finding research networks and expertise across campus
17. International research 
18. Communicating your research:  conferences, publications, invited talks & social media
19. Plan ahead for publication:  Copyright 
20. Plan ahead for publication:  Page charges
21. Plan ahead for publication:  Who gets to be an author?
22. Plan ahead for publication:  Book publishing
23. Plan ahead for publication:  Does the choice of journal or publisher matter? 

2.  For Veteran Faculty Moving to MSU

1. Transferring funding
2. Transferring equipment
3. Transferring animals

3.  Regulatory Compliance

1. Required preparation for your group
2. Preparation applicable to all MSU faculty (RVSM and DEI) 
3. Preparation applicable to chemical safety 
4. Preparation applicable to biological safety 
5. Preparation applicable to radiological safety 
6. Disposing of chemical, radioactive & biohazardous waste
7. Preparation applicable to human subject protection
8. Preparation applicable to use of laboratory animals 
9. Controlled substance approvals 
10. Obtaining licenses for research use of controlled substances 
11. General biological approvals 
12. Stem cell approvals 
13. General radiological approvals (radiation safety manual link)
14. Human subjects approvals: general research at MSU 
15. Human subjects approvals: pupil rights
16. Human subjects approvals: useful templates
17. Applying for use of laboratory animals 
18. Applying to obtain and operate drone aircraft or submersibles 
19. Youth protection policies 
20. Complying with export control and trade sanctions regulations
21. Conflicts of interest:  Personal
22. Conflicts of interest:  Business interests
23. Conflicts of interest:  Foreign financial support, employment, titles, and lab access 
24. Faculty service on regulatory committees

4.  Applying for Grants and Contracts 

1. Roles and responsibilities 
2. Finding and asking for funds
   1. Agency specific guidelines 
   2. Internal funding: SPG / DFI / HARP/A&L Monograph Support
   3. Special considerations when approaching charitable foundations
   4. Special considerations for "fee for service" also referred to as “testing” (see your Associate Dean for Research and/or College Research Administrator)
3. MSU resources for grant development support 
   1.   OR&I Proposal Services
   2.   Office of Sponsored Programs  | Contract and Grant Administration
      1. Frequently requested proposal data 
   3.   MSU Extension 
   4.   Global 
      1. International Project Toolkit 
   5.   MSU Libraries
4. Write Winning Grants annual seminar and other grant related workshops
5. Acquiring grant writing skills  
6. Building a grant proposal 
   1. F&A rates 
   2. Fringe benefits 
   3. Academic salary adjustments 
   4. Grad Assistant stipend and fringe benefits 
   5. Sub awards
7. Proposal submission deadline
8. Fee for service activities 
9. Budget development
10. Forms and templates 
11. Data management plans   
12. Proposal preparation and approvals
    1. College Research Administrator Units 
    2. Kuali Coeus Research Administration System 
13. Working with industry 
14. Cross disciplinary collaboration in research and practice 

5.  Managing Awards  

1. Fiscal responsibility 
2. Advance and hardship accounts
3. Outgoing Subawards 
4. Equipment and other capital assets
5. Technical / progress reporting
6. Changes to a project
7.  Public access
8.  Information security 
9. Close-out

6. Travel in Support of MSU Research

1. COVID19 considerations for travel
2. Field work 
3. Visiting funding agency program officers 
4. Travel related to international collaborations 

7.  Conducting Research Responsibly 

1. Responsible conduct of research and the importance of mentoring
2. Research misconduct, investigations and reviews
3. Authorship, plagiarism and peer review
4. Conflicts of interest, peer review and collaboration 
5. Data, data management and research collaborations 
6. Use of human subjects and IRBs 
7. Use of animal subjects and animal protocols 
8. Rigor and reproducibility 
9. Ethics in research and creative activity and effective mentoring (scroll down)
10. Strategies for effective team authorship decisions: power dynamics, authorship policies  
11. Team dynamics 
12. Commercialization

8.  Key Policies 

1. Guidelines for faculty load 
2. Cost share or in-kind contributions 
3. Summer salary 
4. PI exceptions 
5. Signature authority 
6. Outside work for pay/overload
7. Institutionally limited proposals
8. Copyright
9. Patents
10. University Research Organization 
11. UAS and USV (Drone) acquisition and operation
12. Research and the Michigan and Federal Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”)
13. Product endorsement is prohibited in the course of MSU research
14. Use of student classwork in sponsored or unsponsored research - see Copyright policy
15. Acceptable Use of MSU Information Technology:  general provisions
16. Data ownership and transfer (scroll to bottom of the page)    
17. Adjunct faculty and research
18. Emeritus faculty and research

9.  Hiring and Building Your Team

1. Hiring faculty and academic staff
2. Staff hiring and supervision 
3. Orienting you and your staff
4. Performance management 
5. Professional growth and career development