MSU Water Alliance Launches Working Group Seed Funding Opportunity

Published September 24, 2026

The MSU Water Alliance announced a new internal seed funding opportunity on Sept. 23 to support targeted, interdisciplinary teams of MSU faculty, specialists, and early career researchers. This initiative provides up to $4,000 per project to fund collaborative grant proposals, publications, white papers, and outreach products.

Eligibility Criteria

You must be a member of the Water Alliance to apply
The Working Group leader must be an MSU faculty member or specialist

MSU faculty, specialists, post-docs and graduate students can check their membership and/or join the Water Alliance via our Member Directory.

Types of activities supported include:

Summer salary for faculty to generate product(s)
Salary support for MSU employees to generate product(s)
Data collection
Travel
Workshops and stakeholder forums

How to Apply

The application form is available as a link on the Water Alliance Teams site. One member of the group should complete and submit the form on behalf of the Working Group. The form requires the following information:

Contact information for Working Group Leader
Information about Working Group members
Proposal
- Alignment with Water Alliance goals
- Type of support requested
- Upload a 1-page pitch for why the Alliance should support your Working Group
  - Goals for your Working Group
  - Product(s) you will generate
  - Value added by Working Group
  - Timeline & short budget

More Information

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated by the Water Alliance leadership based on the following:

Alignment with Water Alliance goals
Multidisciplinary team (at least 3 disciplines represented)
New collaboration
Inclusion of early career professionals (e.g., assistant professors, post-doctoral scientists, graduate students)
Value added by your working group to the Water Alliance and MSU

Deadlines

The Water Alliance will accept proposals on a rolling basis until funds are expended. There will be two review periods each academic year:

Fall semester: November 15
Spring semester: March 15

If you submit a proposal between review periods, it will be held until the next review period.

Decision notifications will be made within one month of the start of the review period.

Program Contact

If you have questions, please contact Dr. Erin Dreelin, Associate Director, MSU Water Alliance (dreelin@msu.edu)