Introduction

The Tetrad Initiative, launched in Fall 2023, is designed to foster new cross-unit and cross-college collaborations among faculty who have not worked together before, resulting in projects that create opportunities for extramural support of unique research programs. Researchers, at any rank, seek collaborators from outside of their own unit to form a team of three investigators, who must be faculty (any track), librarians, and academic specialists. Funds can be used to partially support MSU learners such as students, post-docs, residents, and fellows on the project. Once the team submits a completed proposal, their Tetrad is awarded funding of $30,000 with support coming from each PI’s home department and college, with a match from the Office of Research and Innovation completing the Tetrad. There is no review for merit. If Tetrad applications exceed available funding, a random drawing will be conducted.

The Research and Innovation portion of the Tetrad funding is made possible through the generous support of the MSU Research Foundation.

Tetrad Awards Announced!

The Office of Research and Innovation is pleased to announce that 40 interdisciplinary teams have been awarded funding.

Tetrad Collaboration Space (Microsoft Teams)

The Tetrad collaboration space using Microsoft Teams is intended to be a gathering point for the initiative, where MSU community members have the opportunity to seek collaborators from across disciplines. It’s a virtual venue designed for sparking conversations and building connections, potentially laying the groundwork for the diverse research teams that are important for Tetrad funding.

Eligibility

Participating colleges/MAUs and departments are listed below. If your unit is not included, please do not submit an application, but instead encourage your college and unit to participate.

Colleges/MAUs and Departments must "opt-in" to the program and commit a budget level or the number of "Tetrad tokens" they can support.

The window for participating units to opt-in for the Tetrad Initiative has closed. If you have any questions or require support, please reach out to VPRFunds@msu.edu.

Participating Units

Last updated January 11, 2024

• College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, AgBioResearch
  • Animal Science
  • Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
  • Entomology
  • Fisheries and Wildlife
  • Food Science and Human Nutrition
  • Forestry
  • Horticulture
  • Kellogg Biological Station
  • School Planning, Design and Construction
• College of Arts and Letters
  • Arts and Humanities Health Pathway
  • English
  • H-Net/Digital Humanities
  • Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures
  • Religious Studies
  • Theatre
• College of Communication Arts and Sciences
  • Advertising and Public Relations
  • Communication
  • Communicative Sciences and Disorder
  • Media & Information
  • School of Journalism
• College of Education
  • Counseling, Educational Psychology & Special Education
  • Educational Administration
  • Kinesiology
  • Organizational Disparities Laboratory
  • Services, Training, and Research for Independence and Desired Employment (STRIDE)
  • Teacher Education
• College of Engineering
  • Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
  • Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering
  • Computer Science and Engineering
• College of Human Medicine
  • Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Epidemiology and Biostatistics
  • Family Medicine
  • Medicine
  • Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
  • OBGYN and Reproductive Biology
  • Pediatrics and Human Development
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology
  • Physiology
  • Psychiatry
  • Radiology
  • Surgery
  • Translational Neurosciences
• Institute for Quantitative Health Science & Engineering
• James Madison College
• College of Law
• Lyman Briggs College
• MSU Extension
• MSU Libraries
• College of Natural Science
  • Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering
  • Earth and Environmental Sciences
  • Integrative Biology
  • Integrative Studies in General Science
  • Kellogg Biological Station
  • Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
  • Physiology
  • Plant Biology
  • Plant Research Lab
  • Statistics and Probability
• College of Nursing
• College of Osteopathic Medicine
  • Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • Institute for Global Health
  • Medicine
  • Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
  • Orthopedics
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology
  • Physiology
  • Psychiatry
  • Radiology
• College of Social Science
  • Coastlines and People Thematic Area
  • Consortium for Sexual and Gender Minority Health
  • Future of Work Thematic Area
  • History
  • Human Development and Family Studies
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Social Work
  • Sociology
  • Youth Equity Project Thematic Area
• College of Veterinary Medicine
  • Large Animal Clinical Sciences
  • Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
  • Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology
  • Physiology
  • Small Animal Clinical Sciences
• University Outreach and Engagement

Center for Interdisciplinary Research, Collaboration, Learning, and Engagement (CIRCLE)

Interdisciplinary research has come to mean many different things in many contexts. While most institutions claim to value interdisciplinarity, they don’t always have the resources, expertise, and commitment to fully support collaborations across fields that don’t necessarily share languages, methods, or even the same understanding of what counts as knowledge. And often these differing forms of expertise and experience are entangled in systems and structures that render forms of power and privilege invisible. Successful collaborations that integrate multiple disciplines require participants to develop their collaborative skills, attend to collaborative processes, and to reflect on their situatedness within larger infrastructures.  MSU recently launched the Center for Interdisciplinary Research, Collaboration, Learning, and Engagement (CIRCLE) to help support interdisciplinarity by facilitating collaborations, building community, and conducting research on the nature of interdisciplinarity. CIRCLE offers training and networking for interdisciplinary scholars and educators, consultation for interdisciplinary teams, and support for evaluation and research on interdisciplinary collaboration. More information is available on the CIRCLE website, where they also provide a list of references for scholars interested in learning more about interdisciplinarity.

Frequently Asked Questions

What constitutes a "new" collaborator?
The goal of the Tetrad program is to develop new research collaborations across disciplines. A new collaboration is defined as "has not conducted scholarship together previously." If you developed curriculum or served on a committee for example, that does not constitute scholarship and would be allowable.

Are there any limitations to who I can work with from other departments?
One of the primary goals of the Tetrad Program is to develop new collaborations. Therefore, none of the PIs for a Tetrad may have previously collaborated on a scholarly project, even if the result had no work product.

Are there any limitations as to what my project can focus on?
A Tetrad project must be focused on scholarly work. Instructional or administrative projects will not qualify.

What if I have found a collaborator from another department, but we fall under the same college?
Investigators must be from three different departments, and at least two colleges. For colleges without departments, at least one PI must be from another college.

Are Tetrad collaborations limited to only the investigators, or can other participants engage with our project?
Participation of MSU learners (students, post-docs, residents, fellows) as personnel (not PIs) on projects is strongly encouraged but not required.

Can I apply for more than one Tetrad?
No, you should only apply once. If you were on multiple Tetrad applications, you could potentially disqualify one of the applications if there was not enough funding/tokens committed from your College or Department to cover more than one. You could apply in the future for a new round of Tetrad funding.

I am appointed in two departments. Which one do I list on my application?
All units that have "opted-in" will be listed in a drop down on the application. You should choose the department that fits the project you are applying for. All Colleges and Departments that have opted-in are listed on the website. If not, you should reach out to your chair and encourage them to support the program.

Are Henry Ford Health faculty eligible?
Yes, if they are appointed to an MSU college/department they may apply. We are working on a solution for HFH faculty who are NOT appointed at MSU.

Do I need to include a budget proposal to receive funding?
A budget narrative or explanation to support your Tetrad proposal is a required section of the online application.

Do I have to submit a budget document (PD) to the KR system before applying?
No, the application is not asking for a full budget but rather a narrative or support statement. Teams awarded Tetrad funding may be requested to submit a PD in order to receive their funding. Funded teams with a project requiring IRB or other compliance approvals will be expected to submit a PD.

What are allowable expenses for the budget? 
Expenses that will support completion of the research project including collection of data, consulting, student effort or research assistant effort are permitted, as are costs related to a performance or other creative activity since that is the final work product of the research. Any faculty effort for the project or expenses after the research is complete are not allowable (examples might be publication costs, travel to present results, or symposium).

Who is responsible for managing the funds?
One PI will be listed as the Primary PI of the project. Once approved, funds from contributing accounts will be transferred into an account created and managed in the Primary PI’s unit.

If I am awarded a Tetrad, how long do I have to use the funding?
The funding must be used within 18 months. There will be a symposium at the end of that period where all Tetrad teams will report on their projects.

What happens if the spending is not completed within the 18-month time frame of the award?
Spending must be completed within 18 months of the award. Any overdraft will be divided equally among the three collaborators' units.Any remaining funds will be proportionately returned to the financially contributing colleges/units/PIs.

How long are the tokens good for?
Tokens committed by the colleges and departments are good for the current round only. Colleges and departments will be asked to opt-in again for future rounds. 

As a chair I committed to 5 tokens, but only 3 were granted. What happens to the two that weren't used?
Tokens are a commitment for this round until funding is used up at the University level. Unused tokens are only placeholders. No money moves until a Tetrad is formed and and fully funded. Once University funds to complete Tetrads are exhausted, the round is complete.

Our department has faculty appointed at different colleges. When I opt-in for 5 Tetrad tokens, do I have to designate which college they can be used for?
The tokens are generic for your department until used by a faculty member from a specific college. So if you are offering 5, they can be anyone. The application routes to the college, and it's up to them to approve when they add their college specific token.

If my department opts-in for 3 tokens, but later learns we have 5 faculty interested, can we add more?
Yes! That would be a wonderful problem to solve.

What happens if a college or department doesn't commit to enough tokens to cover all the requests? Or what if the University doesn't have enough to complete all the Tetrad requests?
If you have more faculty apply than tokens (and approve those applications), then there will be a random selection of the finalists up to the tokens you have committed.

Are Henry Ford Health faculty eligible?
Yes, if they are appointed to an MSU college/department they may apply. We are working on a solution for HFH faculty who are NOT appointed at MSU.

Outside Contributions

Can outside institutions contribute to the Tetrad program?
Outside institutions may participate if a Tetrad contains an external investigator by providing $10,000 per participating external investigator. This cost matches the unit, college, and university contribution costs for the Tetrad for that PI.

Are in-kind contributions allowed to be used as a substitute for funding?
In-kind contributions are accepted, but CANNOT be used as a substitute for funds.