Ethics Institute Research Fellows Grant Program Letter of Intent

May 20, 2025

Dear Colleagues,

The Office of the Provost and the Ethics Institute are committed to our shared community values and ethical obligations. We are defining ethics broadly: we see ethics as our norms of behavior guiding how we treat one another, our environment, and our institutions. We recognize that ethics are normative, grounded in rationality, religious beliefs, our understanding of nature and natural law. Each person has a set of ethical beliefs.

The Ethics Institute Research Fellows Grant Program provides funding for MSU-affiliated investigators to pursue small, focused projects that have the potential to improve understanding of ethical dimensions and ethical practice in a specific field. While many types of projects will be considered, the program prioritizes projects that enable awardees to generate sufficient progress needed for successful applications for external funding and/or published research work. Work that contributes to institutional transformation at MSU and other institutions is also welcome.

There will be three grants awarded for the fall of 2025. There will be another call for proposals in the spring of 2026 for three grants.

This information is being distributed to deans, directors and chairs as well as faculty and academic staff. Please share the opportunity with others, as appropriate.

Award:
Up to $15,000 per grant for one year

Can be used for:
•    Student hourly
•    Conference travel
•    Journal fees
•    Course buy-out (for the following semester)

Cannot be used for:
•    Indirect costs
•    Faculty salary support

Please note that the funds need to be expended within a year of the award.

Research Fellows:
The awarded research fellows will engage in two meetings (one hour each) to collaborate with other fellows, once in the fall semester and once in spring semester. The spring semester will highlight the progress of the work to a broader audience (MSU administration, Ethics Institute, donors, etc.). Awardees agree to provide regular updates throughout the year. A research manuscript or case study and a blog/news story/podcast highlighting the findings will be submitted.

Who Should Apply:
Investigators at all levels are encouraged to apply. Grant recipients for each award must include at least one MSU faculty or academic staff member to serve as the lead investigator. Collaboration among faculty and interdisciplinary research is encouraged, as is the engagement of graduate student researchers.

Ethics Institute Research Fellows Grant Award Guidelines:
Pilot projects should emphasize one or more of the following topic areas:
•    Research ethics around marginalized populations
•    Ethics and diversity
•    Ethics and gender
•    Ethics and inclusion
•    Ethics and democracy
•    Ethics and the environment
•    Ethics and religious tolerance

Letters of intent should include the following:
1.    Title of the research project, names of lead investigator and collaborators (as applicable)
2.    1-2 paragraphs outlining project aims, methods and goals.
3.    Timeline
4.    Budget and budget justification

Apply:
Email Letters of Intent as a Word document or PDF to the Ethics Institute Team at MSU.ethics@msu.edu by June 5, 2025, with the subject “Research Fellows.” Please note there is a 3-page maximum, not including references, budget and timeline.

Timeline:
Letter of Intent Deadline: June 5, 2025
Notice of Invitation for Full Proposals: June 20, 2025
Deadline for Full Proposals: Aug. 1, 2025
Notice of Award: Aug. 15, 2025

Full Proposal Submission Checklist:
•    Names and affiliations of all investigators
•    Brief description of the topical ethics issues and their significance
•    Proposed research questions or objectives
•    Methodological approach and research details
•    Anticipated deliverable (e.g., grant proposal, paper, case study)
•    A full budget and project timetable

Thank you for your consideration of this opportunity.

Sincerely,

Thomas D. Jeitschko, Ph.D. (he/him)
Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Bree Holtz, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)
Director, Ethics Institute
Associate Professor, Department of Advertising and Public Relations