The Seed Translational Research Program is designed to directly advance promising MSU research toward translation for societal benefit. Innovations that have emerged from prior fundamental research with a clear underlying analytical and/or experimental proof of concept would be candidates for the STRP program. We aim to fund a diverse set of projects spanning varied academic disciplines and we hope to support projects where graduate students or postdoctoral researchers will participate in translation activities and explore potential careers associated with research translation.  

We invite researchers to submit the following application to support the translation of their ongoing work toward practice and impact. 

 Program Specifics: 

  • Project length may vary from 12-24 months 
  • Anticipated total project costs: typically $25,000-$100,000 in direct costs 
  • Funding to be awarded in tranches, with funding decisions contingent upon timely milestone completion and a clear need for additional funding, and on a competitive basis 
  • 2026 awards to be announced by December 2025, with projects to start January 1, 2026   

 Eligibility:

  • While PI's who have won previous CATalyst Gap Fund awards are eligible, each MSU PI and each MSU Technology is limited to a single STRP award. 
  • If a technology/invention or copyrightable innovation is involved:
    • The IP surrounding the invention/innovation disclosure must be owned (fully or jointly) by MSU 
    • A disclosure form upon which the project is based must accompany proposal or be on file with the TTO
    • The invention/innovation underlying the proposal must not yet be licensed or optioned

Expectations of Program Participants: 

  • Work with the TTO to establish appropriate milestones, seek alternative or supplementary funding, adapt project plans as necessary, and engage in coaching in order to improve project competitiveness.   
  • Engage with an expert team to ensure progress to advance project readiness level, advancing toward a translational outcome to be achieved by the end of the STRP period. 
  • Submit a final report, due 30 days after the end of project. The format and specifics will be communicated in advance of the deadline.

Funding will be released in stages.  Projects that are awarded will be funded for the first phase, with future phases “soft” funded—meaning later phases may be funded if projected milestones are met, if the project has a clear need for additional funding, and on a competitive basis (vs other STRP projects). The TTO will assist in establishing appropriate milestones, seeking alternative or supplementary funding, adapting project plans as necessary, and coaching in order to improve project competitiveness. 

Questions about eligibility and conditions can be directed to Magali Eaton. 

Application

Step 1: Application form (Required)

Please submit the following application form. Please note characters are limited in some fields.

 denotes required fields.

List names and affiliations of project director/principal investigator (PI), co-investigators, staff, students, consultants and other key personnel. Summarize roles of each team member throughout the project.
List names and affiliations of any individuals involved that are outside of MSU.
Summary of project written in a way that is accessible to individuals who may not be in your discipline. Summarize the objectives, significance, and expected translational research outcomes that will be generated by the project.
Describe the background that motivates the project, including how the proposed work: 1, supports specific translational research activities that offer near-term opportunities for research outcomes to move into practice and generate economic and societal impact; 2, helps prepare graduate students and/or postdocs for entrepreneurial, use-inspired, and/or translational research careers in both public and private sectors; and 3, will result in some sort of translation to practice within 12-24 months.
Describe the project objective(s) and/or what problem you are trying to solve, and who has that problem. List specific goals and outcomes of the project and identify the societal impacts that will result from achieving these goals/outcomes.
Discuss the design, activities, procedures, programs, etc. of the proposed work. Identify members of the team who will lead specific aspects of the project. Note: if you receive the award, you will be revisiting the project design with the expert team and make tweaks as necessary. In this section, take your best guess at what you think you need to do to bring that project to practice by the end of the period of performance.
Provide a timeline of the project execution, including major project activities and 2 to 4 milestones typically 3-6 months apart. Supporting documents may be sent via email to jessica.murdock@montana.edu.
When your project is successful, what are the next steps to translate this work to practice? How do you anticipate sustaining the project beyond the life of the STRP? Please also justify why an STRP grant is needed i.e. what alternative sources of funding exist to perform the type of work you are proposing, where STRP fits in the overall funding landscape of your project and, why STRP can help catalyze your project.
Please feel free to send any additional support materials (references cited, diagrams, additional narrative) to jessica.murdock@montana.edu. Support materials must be submitted by October 31.

Step 2: Budget (Required)

All project applications must include a budget and budget narrative (up to 2 pages). Please utilize the Single Budget Department Template, provided by the Office of Sponsored Programs.

Your narrative should provide detailed information for your budgetary needs and how the budget will be used. Budget should be divided into distinct phases, with each phase ending in the achievement of a milestone.  Funding for later phases will necessarily be tentative, and may need adjustment based on what is learned in earlier phases.  Funding may be used for summer salary, or academic year course buyout, salary for hiring students or staff, travel, and other research expenses. Please note that large equipment purchases (single purchase >$5k) cannot be made with this funding. Project periods will begin January 1, 2025. Please also note that this funding cannot support activities that require an IRB.   

Send your budget and budget narrative to jessica.murdock@montana.edu by October 31.

Review Procedure and Criteria

Internal and external reviewers will review all proposals and rank each project on Overall Impact and Specific Criteria, as follows: 

Overall Impact vs. Funding Requested (0-10 points, 25% of overall score). Reviewers will provide an overall impact score to reflect their assessment of the likelihood for the project to have demonstrable broad impacts on communities and/or significant societal impact, and the timeline for that impact to occur. Reviewers will also judge whether there are potential alternatives to STRP to fund this work and the efficiency of how the funding is to be used to translate the project or to get the project to the next stage in translation (including the next source of funding). Smaller projects will be favored over larger projects that have similar impact. 

Specific Criteria (0-5 points each, combined for 75% of overall score). Reviewers will consider the criteria below and give a separate score for each.  

  • User-focused: Is there a structured and detailed plan for customer discovery, and sustainability plan development, ensuring key stakeholders are the focus throughout design, development, and refinement? All funded projects will prioritize customer discovery.
  • Long-term viability: Does the innovation meet a current market/societal need? Is it scalable?
  • Suitability: Did the innovation to be translated emerge from prior fundamental research and has that fundamental research been completed (i.e. is not part of the STRP proposal)? Do the project goals align with the objectives of MSU's ART program (i.e. will the project move research activity into practice, generating economic and societal impact within 12-24 months)? In particular, what form of translation is anticipated and when will that occur?
  • Approach: Is there a methodical approach to translation with appropriate milestones, and efficient use of funding to achieve intended outcomes within the projected timeframe? Are the outcomes achievable? 
  • Innovation: Does the application challenge and seek to shift current paradigms through novel concepts, approaches or inventions? Are the concepts, approaches or interventions novel to the field of research and applicable to a societal question? 
  • Mentoring: Does the project involve training graduate students and/or post-doctoral researchers on entrepreneurship or research translation? Will graduate students and/or post-doctoral researchers discover or explore potential translational research-oriented careers?