MSU Research Foundation | Office of Research and Innovation

The MSU Research Foundation pushes the boundaries of research and discovery by reinvesting over $10 million annually back into the brightest minds at MSU. The Foundation bridges the gap between intellectual property and startup venture, leading the way in early-stage investments throughout Michigan, crafting an ecosystem for high-tech, high-growth startup businesses and collaborators to thrive.

Michigan State University Research Foundation with spartan helmet

Formed in 1973, the MSU Research Foundation is an independent foundation chartered to promote, encourage, and aid scientific investigation and research at the university; assist with patent matters and perform trust functions for the university’s fundraising organization.

MSURF partners with the Office of Research and Innovation and generously supports several programs including those outlined below. Learn more about how the MSU Research Foundation supports the university, venture creation, and economic development.

MSU Research Foundation Website

Hands at a desk, one hand on a laptop, the other hand writing in a notebook.

Internal Grants

MSU offers several programs for research development across disciplines including the arts and humanities.

An image of a science lab, with two people standing at countertops, and one person walking in the back.

Shared Research Infrastructure

Support for shared research resources advance MSU's cutting-edge research priorities and equip university researchers with the needed tools for discovery.

Tetrad

Designed to foster new cross-unit and cross-collaborations among faculty who have not worked together before.

Hands on a laptop, making virtual checkmarks in the air

Grant Development Workshops

Tailored services and development workshops to help MSU researchers successfully compete for external funding for their research and creative pursuits.

A decorative lantern outside of a brick building on MSU's campus.

MSURF Professorships

A title awarded to outstanding faculty who combine externally recognized, exemplary scholarly accomplishments with clear professional relevance to specific areas of MSU scholarly need, disciplinary development, or research or creative emphasis.

Fields of the MSU agronomy farm, with an orange marker in the foreground, and trees in the background.

Plant Science Excellence

Investing in continued excellence and leadership in the plant sciences at MSU.

News

Goodway Named Red Cedar Distinguished Professor

Apr 1, 2025

Internationally recognized scholar Jackie Goodway has been named a Red Cedar Distinguished Professor. Since 2022, the distinction has recognized faculty who demonstrate exemplary scholarly achievement, teaching excellence and a clear alignment with MSU’s strategic research priorities — strengthening recruitment, recognition and retention of top academic talent across campus.

Request for Discretionary Funding Initiative (DFI) Proposals

Mar 13, 2025

The Office of Research and Innovation requests applications for the 2024-2025 Discretionary Funding Initiative (DFI). The application and proposal development document deadline is March 13, 2025. DFI is generously supported by MSU Research Foundation.

Hong Named MSU Research Foundation Professor

Feb 12, 2025

Charles (Chaz) Hong, MD, PhD, has been named a Michigan State University Research Foundation Professor in recognition of his decades of scientific research and clinical impact, including groundbreaking research focused on phosphoinositol-3-kinase and mitogen-activated kinase signaling in artery-vein specification.

Shared Research Infrastructure Awards Announced

Jan 10, 2025

The Office of Research and Innovation (OR&I) is pleased to announce the first Shared Research Infrastructure Program awards. The chosen proposals support one-time, non-recurring purchases or investments in specialized research infrastructure that support and advance cutting-edge research at MSU.

MSURF Sponsored Research

Spartan Researchers Make Every Drop Count

College of Natural Science Assistant Professor Anthony Kendall and College of Engineering Associate Professor Annick Anctil are part of an interdisciplinary team. Together, with Kansas Geological Survey and Kansas State University, they created a system to increase groundwater and preserve aquifers by harnessing the power of solar panel arrays.

Moran’s Research to Better Understand Earth’s Ecosystems

Moran’s research uses stable isotope analysis to address an array of questions linked to microbial ecology and plant-microbe interactions. He is particularly interested in tracking interactions between plant roots and microbes in the thin region of soil just outside the roots, called the rhizosphere.

A photo of the MSU Museum on a sunny day

MSU Museum and GEL Lab Secure HARP Grant for Gaming Exhibition

The MSU Museum and the Games for Entertainment and Learning (GEL) Lab have been awarded the prestigious 2025 Humanities and Arts Research Program Large-Scale Development Grant to support the creation of Game Changers, an immersive exhibition exploring the societal, cultural and technological impact of video games.

4 people standing near a beach on a sunny day

Afro-Caribbean Artists Reclaim Stories of Slave Trade in New Documentary

Safoi Babana-Hampton, Professor of French and Francophone Studies in the Department of Romance and Classical Studies at Michigan State University, has produced and directed a documentary that features artists, historians, and policymakers who challenge Eurocentric narratives to reclaim, reshape, and preserve the memory of the Black Atlantic experience.

Picture captured of space with clouds of gas and dust swirling around forming stars

MSU Scientists Discover New Sources for ‘The Molecule That Made the Universe’

From helping catalyze interstellar reactions and fueling the birth of stars to its presence in neighborhood gas giants like Saturn and Jupiter, trihydrogen, or H3+, is best known as the “the molecule that made the universe.”