Michigan Turfgrass Foundation Research Grant Guidelines

Turfgrass Team

Mission Statement
The mission of the Michigan Turfgrass Foundation is to work in partnership with Michigan State University, supporting ongoing programs in research, education and extension in the area of professional turfgrass management that will benefit all individuals who manage turfgrasses or derive pleasure from the results of such management.

Based on this mission statement, the awarding of research grants is an important function of this Foundation.  The following sets of criteria are utilized to award research grants.  All criteria are equally weighted.  Research requests do not have to meet all criteria but those that meet multiple criteria will be viewed more favorably.

Research Criteria

• Collaborative projects involving multiple turf faculty and faculty from other disciplines
• Research leading to timely peer reviewed publication
• Projects targeted to research priorities identified by the turf industry
• Projects that are innovative and support cutting edge thinking.
• Research that creates partnerships with other funding sources

Protocol for Grant Requests
On an annual basis the MTF Board of Directors working with the Research Planning Committee will establish both applied research needs and develop longer-term basic research goals.  These research needs and goals will be finalized at the September Board of Director’s meeting and summarized as an attachment to the MTF call for proposals. 

Most research grants will be approved at the December Board of Director’s meeting.  Certain grants may be delayed subject to fund raising activities.

Renewal of Grants
Research grants are awarded for multiple years based on the timeline listed in the initial grant request.  Grants will be renewed each subsequent year based on demonstrated progress towards the research goal and after a progress summary is reviewed by the faculty member’s research committee.  Renewal of ongoing grants will also take place at the December Board of Director’s meeting.

A faculty member wishing to stop funding of an ongoing grant should state this in writing along with the reasons why funding should be suspended.  This should be submitted prior to the September Board of Director’s meeting.

Support Funding
In addition to research grants, the MTF recognizes that money may also be requested to pay for activities that support a research, teaching, or extension effort in turfgrass, but are not activities that can be allocated to a particular research project.  Each year at the September Board of Director’s meeting, the MTF Board will allocate a budget for support funds.

Support funds may be requested to complement an ongoing program of teaching, research or extension when all other sources of funding have been exhausted.  The request for funds must state in writing the purpose of these funds, the sources of other related outside funds, the efforts made to seek additional funds, and the impact these funds will have on the mission of the MTF.

Support fund requests must be submitted to the faculty member’s research committee or directly to the MTF Board of Directors prior to the December Board of Director’s meeting.