Michelson Grant Details

Up to $50 million in grant funding is available through the Michelson Grants in Reproductive Biology. Multiple multi-year grants are available for promising research in pursuit of non-surgical sterilization products or technologies for use in dogs and cats.

Since the announcement of the Michelson Prize & Grants in October 2008, Found Animals has received tremendous response from the scientific community, including over 80 letters of intent (LOIs) for the Michelson Grants. Based on the high quality of these LOIs, the Foundation has invited more than 25 investigators to submit full grant applications.

To date, three grant proposals have been approved for funding. The first approved investigator, Dr. Beverly L. Davidson of the University of Iowa, has initiated work on the research project entitled “Inducing stable infertility by RNA interference – Proof-of-principal studies.” Two additional applications have been approved for funding and more details will be released as work commences in the coming months.

The Michelson Prize & Grants is featured in the article entitled "A Cure for Euthanasia?" in Science Magazine. Read the full story.

Grant Application Process
Investigators wishing to be considered for grant funding are required to submit a brief letter of intent containing:

Proposed approach for developing a single dose non-surgical sterilant
The rationale for proposing this approach
An overview of required research (budget estimates not required)

LOIs must not exceed two typed pages, have ¾ inch margins, and use 11 point Arial or Helvetica font. Include investigators’ names, institution, address, phone, e-mail, and a title describing the work proposed. Found Animals reserves the right to decline LOIs which do not conform to these guidelines.

To submit a letter of intent, investigators should create an account here. After logging in, click “Start New Application” on the upper right hand corner of the screen and chose “Letter of Intent” to submit the LOI.

Found Animals accepts LOIs on an ongoing basis. If the LOI is approved, investigators will be invited to submit a full grant application, and will receive an application code and a grant proposal ID number. Please do not submit a full proposal unless invited by the Found Animals Foundation.

Proposed research is not required to generate results which meet all of the Prize criteria in order to be funded. However, strong preference will be given to projects with the potential to produce a Prize winning product or technology. In order to be considered for the Michelson Grants in Reproductive Biology, a proposed project must pursue a technology, mechanism, or pathway representing an innovative approach to non-surgical sterilization.

Grant applications will be reviewed by Found Animals and their scientific advisors. Final decisions regarding grant funding will be at the sole discretion of the Foundation.

Grant recipients will be eligible to make Prize claims in the event that their research generates a product or technology that meets all of the Prize criteria.

Guidelines
All animal research performed for the Michelson Grants in Reproductive Biology must conform to the Found Animals' standards for humane treatment of animal subjects. Animal guidelines are available here.

Found Animals expects exclusive commercialization rights in the area of interest of the Foundation for products that develop from Michelson Grants-funded research. The Foundation intends to pursue further development and commercialization activities as needed to bring the products or technology developed via the Michelson Grants in Reproductive Biology to market for use in cats and dogs.

The Michelson Prize & Grants in Reproductive Biology are international programs and are open to any entity.

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