MSU Research Foundation | Office of Research and Innovation

Michigan State University Research Foundation with spartan helmet

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.

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-college 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

Woodruff Earns Election to Two of the World’s Most Prestigious Scholarly Societies

Jun 9, 2026

Woodruff has been elected to the Royal Society and the American Philosophical Society, recognizing her groundbreaking work in reproductive biology and fertility preservation research.

OR&I Town Hall Outlines Ambitious Vision for Growth, Collaboration, and Research Impact at MSU

May 29, 2026

The event brought together OR&I staff and partners to discuss priorities for growth, highlight emerging opportunities, and reinforce the role research plays in improving lives in Michigan and beyond.

9 MSU Faculty Named Fellows for AAAS

Mar 26, 2026

Nine Michigan State University researchers have been elected 2025 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS, one of the world’s largest and most respected scientific societies.

Limbu Awarded HARP Large-Scale Funding to Advance Global Understanding of Himalayan Indigenous Rhetorics

Mar 26, 2026

A Michigan State University professor received major funding to study and preserve Himalayan Indigenous knowledge and oral traditions. The research aims to elevate global understanding of Yakthung culture and its living systems of knowledge.

MSURF Sponsored Research

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.”