Plant Resilience Institute Seed Grants

Seed Grants for Plant Resilience Research

Overview: The MSU Plant Resilience Institute is inviting applications for seed grant proposals to support research in the area of plant resilience. We encourage proposals to be synergistic across MSU laboratories and focus on projects that are both high-risk and high-reward. The proposed research must not already be funded by an existing grant and should be different from current research programs. Proposals are required to focus on plant resilience, broadly defined.

One PI (project lead) should be named for each proposal, in addition to any Co-PIs and/or collaborators, if there are any. Please ensure that all Co-PIs agree to be listed on the proposal prior to submission, and that they approve of the contents of the proposal.

Who may submit proposals: Any graduate student or postdoctoral researcher at MSU may submit a proposal. However, at least one of the Co-PIs should be a member of a PRI lab. Faculty are not eligible to be PIs or Co-PIs on proposals. 
 
Limit on number of proposals per PI or Co-PI: An individual can only be a PI or Co-PI on one proposal.  
 
Award amount and duration: Up to $10,000 for up to 18-months

Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions

Proposal structure: Applicants must submit the following documents. Proposals missing any of the items below will not be considered. Please submit all documents as a single PDF.

• Proposals (up to 2 pages) must include a project title, names and affiliations of PI and Co-PIs, and project description. The project description must contain the following sections:
  
  • Introduction and Rationale: This section should include a justification for the scientific merits of the project. Please also explicitly state how the seed grant would contribute to or further our understanding of plant resilience. Explain how the proposal goes beyond you and your lab’s current research.
  • Research Plan: The description should include the underlying conceptual framework, hypotheses, proposed methods, and research questions when appropriate.
  • Anticipated Outcomes and Impacts: This section should highlight the potential scientific impacts of the proposed research and how it will contribute to or further PRI’s research aim.
  • Potential Pitfalls and Alternative Approaches: This section should address potential bottlenecks and limitations as well as outline how the experimental plan will be adjusted in response to unexpected results.
• References (up to 1-page, exclusive of project description).
• Budget: Include a table or bulleted list summarizing how the $10,000-budget will be allocated.
• Short letter of support from the faculty advisor of the PI and all Co-PIs (No more than 1-3 sentences).

Deadline: All proposals must be received by 5 pm ET on March 1, 2025 for consideration. Applications that miss the deadline, or aren’t selected this year, can be resubmitted in subsequent rounds. 
 
Submission: Please upload proposals to this Google Form by 5 pm ET on March 1, 2025 for consideration.
 
Selection process: Seed grant proposals will be reviewed by the PRI seed grant committee. Seed grants with graduate student lead PIs will be considered separately than those with postdoctoral lead PIs. Reviewers will vote on proposals based on scoring using a rubric. Reviewers will not discuss or vote on any proposals deemed a conflict of interest (if reviewers are unable to fulfill their functions and duties due to conflict of interests, they will be replaced by external reviewers).
 
Award notification and post-award requirements: Proposers will be notified by the end of March 2025 about the status of their proposal. Selected proposals will be required to give a presentation on proposed work at the PRI Networking Hour on April 24, 2025. Each awardee must submit a post-award report at the end of their 18-month funding term.