ComArtSci Internal Funding Opportunities

Building new interdisciplinary teams. Generating pilot evidence. Positioning ideas for larger impact.

Program Purpose

The College of Communication Arts and Sciences (ComArtSci) and the College of Social Science (CSS) invite proposals for a jointly supported seed grants program designed to catalyze research and creative activity collaborations across the two Colleges.

The program will support promising teams at an early or pivotal stage when modest, flexible investment can help investigators test an idea, develop preliminary evidence, establish a shared approach, strengthen a community or organizational partnership, or prepare a competitive external proposal. Projects should integrate complementary expertise from both Colleges and produce outcomes that would be difficult to achieve within either College alone.

Program Goals

• Launch new cross-college collaborations or significantly deepen emerging partnerships between CSS and ComArtSci faculty.
• Generate pilot data, proof-of-concept findings, prototypes, methods, datasets, creative works, or partnership infrastructure.
• Advance rigorous, innovative, and societally relevant work that connects communication, media, behavior, institutions, communities, policy, culture, technology, and the human experience.
• Position teams for external funding, peer-reviewed publication, public scholarship, policy or practice impact, or a scalable next phase.
• Create opportunities for meaningful student research engagement and inclusive research training, where appropriate.

Illustrative Areas of Collaboration

Proposals may address any topic that benefits from the combined strengths of the two Colleges. Illustrative areas include, but are not limited to:

• Artificial intelligence, digital transformation, human-centered technology, ethics, governance, and society;
• Health, risk, science, environmental, and crisis communication; healthy people and healthy communities;
• Democracy, civic life, political communication, misinformation, trust, polarization, and public institutions;
• Climate, sustainability, mobility, place, infrastructure, and community resilience;
• Inequality, identity, culture, inclusion, accessibility, and social or behavioral change;
• Media, journalism, advertising, public relations, entertainment, games, and creative production;
• Global and comparative research, community-engaged scholarship, and work with Michigan partners;
• New methods, computational approaches, data science, measurement, visualization, immersive media, or research infrastructure.

These examples are intentionally broad and are not intended to privilege particular disciplines, methods, populations, or forms of scholarship.

Eligibility and Team Composition

• At least one team member must be a tenure-system faculty member with a primary appointment (51% or greater) in ComArtSci, and at least one must be a tenure-system faculty member with a primary appointment (51% or greater) in CSS.
• One ComArtSci investigator and one CSS investigator must be designated as Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PIs). One Co-PI will serve as the administrative contact, but both will share intellectual responsibility for the project.
• Additional MSU faculty, academic staff, students, postdoctoral scholars, community partners, and external collaborators may participate when their roles are clearly justified. The required ComArtSci-CSS Co-PIs must remain central to the work.
• A faculty member may participate in no more than one proposal as a Co-PI in this competition. 
• Priority may be given to teams that do not have other discretionary resources available for the proposed activities, including uncommitted startup, retention, gift, or internal award funds.

All applicants must explain why this joint seed funding is needed. If related funds are available, the proposal must distinguish how those funds are committed and why the requested activities cannot reasonably be supported from existing resources.

Funding and Project Period

• Teams may request up to $2,500 for a project period of up to 12 months.
• Up to 4 awards are anticipated, contingent on the availability of funds and the quality of submissions.
• No department, school, center, or institute match is required.
• Funds are expected to become available on May 1, 2027 and must be expended by June 30, 2028. No-cost extensions or carry-forward will be considered only in exceptional circumstances and require advance written approval from both Colleges.
• Awards will be transferred to and administered by the College of the designated administrative Co-PI. The Colleges may establish additional account-management procedures at the time of award.

Allowable and Unallowable Costs

• Allowable: Graduate or undergraduate student wages, hourly support, or assistantship costs consistent with University policy; Participant incentives, recruitment, transcription, translation, and accessibility services; Data acquisition, specialized software, research materials, supplies, equipment, or fabrication essential to the project; Community or partner engagement expenses, including appropriate honoraria or subawards when permitted; Methodological consultation, technical services, or prototype development; Dissemination or proposal-development costs directly tied to project outcomes.
• Not allowable: Salary or supplemental compensation for faculty or regular support staff; Course buyouts or teaching replacement costs; General-purpose office equipment or routine operating expenses; Conference registration, conference travel, or presentation expenses; Memberships, journal subscriptions, or costs not directly attributable to the proposed work; Expenses incurred before the award start date or costs inconsistent with MSU policy.

Questions about unusual or partner-related costs should be raised before submission. All expenditures remain subject to Michigan State University policies and applicable sponsor, tax, procurement, and research-compliance requirements.

Application Requirements

Submit the materials below as a single PDF. The narrative is limited to a maximum of three single-spaced pages using 11-point Arial, Aptos, Calibri, or Times New Roman font and one-inch margins. References, budget materials, and CVs do not count toward the three-page narrative limit.

1. Cover Page (not counted)
   Project title; names, titles, departments/units, Colleges, and email addresses of all team members; identification of the two required Co-PIs and the administrative contact; total amount requested; project period; and any required compliance review anticipated.
2. Project Narrative (maximum three pages)
   Address the significance and timeliness of the problem or opportunity; specific aims or objectives; current state of knowledge or practice; innovative contribution; integrated conceptual, methodological, technical, or creative approach; roles of the ComArtSci and CSS collaborators; work plan and milestones; risks and mitigation strategies; and expected outcomes.
3. Collaboration and Added-Value Statement
   Explain why the work requires expertise from both Colleges, how responsibilities and decision-making will be shared, whether the collaboration is new or emerging, and how the team will sustain or grow the partnership beyond the seed period.
4. Outcomes and Next-Step Plan
   Identify concrete deliverables and success indicators. Describe the intended next step, such as an external proposal, manuscript, dataset, prototype, creative work, community product, policy/practice resource, or larger collaborative initiative. Name likely sponsors or mechanisms when external funding is an objective.
5. Funding-Need Statement
   Disclose related internal or external support and explain why Collaborative Seed Grant funds are necessary. Identify any scientific, budgetary, or scope overlap and how duplication will be avoided.
6. References Cited (no page limit)
   Include references appropriate to the project. Use a consistent citation style.
7. Detailed Budget and Justification (recommended maximum two pages)
   Provide itemized costs by category and explain how each cost is necessary, reasonable, and allocable to the proposed work. Indicate which College will administer the award and identify any anticipated transfers or subawards.
8. Abridged CVs
   Include a current CV or biosketch of no more than three pages for each Co-PI and up to two pages for each additional faculty investigator. Highlight expertise and products most relevant to the proposed work.
9. Optional Appendices
   Up to three brief letters or emails documenting collaboration or access; a one-page figure, logic model, or technical schematic; and other materials explicitly necessary to assess feasibility. 

Review and Selection Process

• Administrative review for eligibility, completeness, and compliance with page and formatting requirements.
• Merit review by a joint committee with representation from both Colleges and, when useful, additional methodological or subject-matter expertise.
• Conflict-of-interest management consistent with College and University expectations.
• Committee recommendations to the Associate Deans for Research of ComArtSci and CSS, who will make final funding decisions.
• Budget reductions, conditions, or requests for clarification may be made before an award is issued. Award decisions are final.

Evaluation Criteria

• Overall merit and significance: Importance and timeliness of the question or opportunity; potential to advance knowledge, creative practice, policy, professional practice, or community benefit.
• Strength and integration of the collaboration: Clear intellectual contribution from both Colleges; complementary expertise; shared leadership; added value beyond parallel participation.
• Innovation: Originality of the concept, synthesis, method, technology, partnership model, product, or application; appropriate level of risk and potential reward.
• Approach, rigor, and feasibility: Sound design and methods; realistic scope, milestones, access, and risk mitigation; appropriate attention to ethics, inclusion, and research compliance.
• Outcomes and potential for growth: Specific deliverables; credible pathway to external funding, dissemination, public scholarship, policy/practice influence, or a sustainable next phase.
• Budget and funding need: Reasonable and well-justified costs; strong fit with the seed mechanism; transparent explanation of other available resources.

Award Conditions and Recipient Responsibilities

• Complete all required IRB, IACUC, conflict-of-interest, data-use, export-control, or other approvals before initiating regulated activities. Funding does not constitute compliance approval.
• Use funds only for the approved project and budget. Material changes in scope, personnel, timeline, or budget require advance written approval from both Colleges.
• Acknowledge support from the ComArtSci-CSS Collaborative Seed Grants Program in resulting publications, presentations, products, exhibitions, websites, and external proposals.
• Submit a brief mid-project update if requested and a final narrative and financial report within 30 days of the project end date.
• Participate in a joint ComArtSci-CSS research showcase, briefing, or other dissemination activity, if invited.
• Notify both Associate Deans for Research of resulting external submissions, awards, publications, creative products, policy/practice outcomes, student training outcomes, and other follow-on activity for at least two years after the award ends.

Expected Final Report

• Activities completed and progress against proposed aims and milestones;
• Key findings, products, partnerships, and student involvement;
• Publications, presentations, creative works, datasets, tools, policy/practice products, or community outcomes;
• External proposals submitted or planned, including sponsor, mechanism, amount, and anticipated submission date;
• Challenges, lessons learned, and plans for continuation;
• Final expenditure summary and explanation of material budget variances.

Key Dates

Questions? Contact Jason Moser or Sri Kalyanaraman.

We will also hold two online informational sessions:

• Friday, November 13, 3-4 pm EST
  Link: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/287729283081202?p=eU8AxfvG6Bxw10IC3r
• Friday, December 4, 9-10 am EST
  Link: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/287729283081202?p=eU8AxfvG6Bxw10IC3r

Submission Instructions and Questions

Submit the complete application as one searchable PDF by the deadline. Use the file name: LastNameComArtSci_LastNameCSS_CollaborativeSeedGrant.pdf.

Pre-Submission Checklist

• At least one eligible CSS Co-PI and one eligible ComArtSci Co-PI
• Narrative does not exceed three single-spaced pages
• Collaboration and added-value statement is explicit
• Funding-need statement discloses relevant available resources
• Outcomes and next-step plan includes measurable deliverables
• Budget and justification are complete and use allowable categories
• Abridged CVs/biosketches are included
• Optional appendices remain within the stated limits
• All materials are combined into one searchable PDF

Application Open: January 1, 2027

Deadline: February 1, 2027

Award Notification: April 26, 2027

Application Open: February 1, 2027

Deadline: March 1, 2027

Award Notification: May 3, 2027