College of Arts & Letters (CAL) Internal Funding Opportunities
College Fund for International Travel (CFIT)
Deadline: Rolling | Application
NOTE: ISP suspended FY26 Special Foreign Travel Funding (SFTF): International Studies & Programs at Michigan State University :: Special Foreign Travel Fund
Dissemination of the results of faculty research, most typically at significant professional events abroad.
CAL Undergraduate Research Initiative
Deadline: Late August/Early September | Additional Information
Support for undergraduate researchers to work on a faculty member’s research or creative endeavor, or to support a student to present their research at UURAF.
Engaged Pedagogy & Programming Grant
Deadline: March 4, 2024 for FS24 Submissions, September 16, 2024 for SS25 Submissions | Additional Information
The College of Arts & Letters Engaged Pedagogy & Programming Grant are provided for teaching faculty members to assist with efforts to fund external speakers working at the intersections of the study of race, class, gender and sexuality and/or to support engagement with off-campus communities.
Newberry Library Funding (Now includes Folger Shakespeare Library)
Deadline: Rolling | Application Instructions
Available to faculty members and graduate students in CAL to travel to conduct short-term research or to participate in a one- or two-day seminar at the Newberry Library.
Internal Funding Opportunities from MSU
HARP – Development
Deadline: First Thursday of October | Guidelines and Application
Provides up to $25,000 to support faculty who are conducting important research leading to creative and performance projects or activities in the arts and humanities.
HARP – Large Scale
Deadline: First Thursday of October | Guidelines and Application
Provides up to $100,000 each academic year to support a faculty or team of faculty engaged in an exceptional large-scale creative and performance project or activity in the arts and humanities. This limited funding is designed to support faculty in the final stages of the development of projects that seem likely to enhance the reputation of the faculty member and the university, and lead to
international distribution of a performance or product.
HARP – Production
Deadlines: Session 1: 2nd Thursday of September & Session 2: Last Thursday of January | Guidelines and Application
Provides up to $7,000 to help subsidize the costs of book publication, permissions to use copyrighted materials, CD recording and production, the creation and mounting of exhibits, etc.
Strategic Partnership Grants (SPG)
Deadline: TBD | Additional Information
Provides up to $400,000 to support research and scholarship that is leading-edge, interdisciplinary or futuristic, and capitalizes on the existing intellectual capital at MSU. Applicants should alert CAL’s associate dean for research if a proposal submission is planned.
Discretionary Funding Initiative (DFI)
Deadline: Rolling | Additional Information
Provides up to $25,000 to bridge grants and support additional studies needed to resubmit a grant application. A 1:1 match from the department is required. Applicants should discuss with their department chair and notify CAL’s associate dean for research if a proposal submission is planned.
Office of Research and Innovation (ORI)
Deadline: Rolling | Additional Information
ORI periodically hosts informal events to showcase ongoing faculty research.
International Funding Opportunities from MSU
Matching Travel Grants
Deadline: Rolling | Additional Information
ISP provides matching travel grants to help develop strategic partnerships. Grants are made for travel of partners coming from abroad and MSU faculty travel to partner institutions.
Fulbright Grants
Deadline: Rolling | Resources
Coordinated by MSU’s International Studies and Programs.
International Studies and Programs Project Funding
Deadline: Rolling | Resources
External Funding
Fulbright Programs
The term “Fulbright Program” encompasses a variety of exchange programs, including both individual and institutional grants.
Fulbright-Hays Program
This program is run through the Department of Education. Faculty and students must apply through their institutions, therefore applications to this program require that an eTransmittal be routed and approved.
Individual Faculty Programs
These programs are all run through CIES. An eTransmittal is not required, however faculty are encouraged to communicate with their Chair early in the process. Faculty, administrators, and professionals may contact MSU’s Fulbright Program Adviser for individual consultation, including reading and commenting on written drafts.
Office of Research and Innovation Funding Search
This site contains links to several databases to assist in searching for funding.
Student Programs
These programs are all run by IIE. All student applications must be submitted through the Fulbright Program Adviser’s office at MSU.
Federal Sponsors
Grants.gov
Search for federal grant opportunities and submit proposals.
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
NEH Summer Stipends – (Limited Submission) – Only two faculty may be nominated each year by MSU. Of the two, at least one should be a junior nominee (instructor or assistant professor). Those holding the rank of associate professor or professor will be considered senior nominees. Some government grants are institutionally limited, which means that only a limited number of submissions are accepted by NEH for the grant. Interested faculty should send a Competition form and Internal Pre-proposal application to Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Associate Dean for Research and Scholarship, kfitz@msu.edu at least seven weeks in advance of when the limited submission grant is due, and it will be forwarded to ORI for consideration in time for their six weeks advance deadline. There will then be an internal competition to determine who will be able to submit. Only after a proposal is selected as the official MSU submission, can the applicant then go through the regular process of creating an e-transmittal and working with CGA. For more information, review the Institutionally Limited Application Procedure.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Non-Federal Sponsors
Except in cases when there is an open call for proposals, faculty should contact the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations before contacting corporate or foundation sponsors. This helps to prevent duplicate efforts and self-defeating internal competition. All requests to any Michigan based corporation or foundation must be cleared by the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations.
MSU Foundation Relations
MSU Foundation Relations maintains a database of foundation funding opportunities. To search for opportunities, click on the “Find Funding” button to open their Airtable database. Within this database, you can filter by keywords and dates and search the opportunities. Clicking on the entry will provide all the information for the opportunity. If you have questions about opportunities, please contact Melissa Anderson (the CAL contact at Foundation Relations). If you have a specific opportunity you are interested in, please fill out this form.
List of Sponsors
American Council of Learned Societies
American Philosophical Society – Grants, Fellowships, and Prizes
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
The Library Company of Philadelphia
Sabbatical Information
Sabbatical Information
College of Arts & Letters Sabbatical Policy