Visit our Overview page to learn more about the MISTI Global Seed Funds program.
Visit our Overview page to learn more about the MISTI Global Seed Funds program.
MISTI strongly encourages interested international partners to contact MIT professors and researchers directly to discuss any ideas about collaboration and potential projects. If you already have faculty connections, that is great! If not, the following links will help you find faculty connections: MIT Research and Global MIT International Research. Clear and concise emails are best, and please be aware that professors might not respond immediately.
GSF is open to all MIT faculty members and research staff with principal investigator privileges (principal research scientists and senior research scientists). If you have questions about your PI status, please consult your department. Proposals must be submitted jointly with a foreign colleague working in a university or research institute. Participants working in companies are not eligible to apply. Visit our Guidelines & Eligibility page.
Faculty who have received past awards are welcome to apply in subsequent cycles if all final reports for completed past projects have been submitted. New applications will not be considered from faculty with reports still outstanding.
Either the MIT or international applicant can fill out the application online. Be sure to have all information necessary to complete the application, including the name of the Administrative Officer (AO) or Financial Officer (usually from the MIT applicant’s home department) who will manage the grant.
Applications are made available on our online application portal. Click here for application dates.
Yes. You can build student participation into your proposal and select individual students later. In the budget section, you can list “Undergraduate/graduate student to be determined (TBD).” After you have decided which students will be traveling, please let the relevant MISTI Manager know.
Yes. Please however be mindful of the 20-month grant period; if you receive a grant, all trips should be completed by the grant end date.
Global Seed Fund (GSF) proposals are viewed by the evaluation committee, selection board, and the GSF administrative staff. We advise you not to provide details of patentable ideas, copyrightable software, or any confidential information, as this proposal could be considered a public disclosure and harm your patent and confidentiality rights. If you choose to submit patentable ideas, copyrightable software or other confidential information, you do so at your own risk. Please contact the TLO for further advise if needed.
The maximum amount varies by fund. Please refer to this page for a list of all funds.
Funding will be awarded annually and should be expended within 20 months. Awardees will have through December of the following year (20 months later), to spend the funds. At the end of the project period, a grantee report will be due.
Funds will be transferred to the winners as soon as accounts have been set up by MISTI to receive the funds – but no earlier than the end of May. All funding will be transferred into an account of the participating MIT faculty.
Costs need to be calculated on the basis of travel expenses: flight expenses, housing costs, living costs, visa, etc. The basis for the calculation should be no higher than 75% of published U.S. State Department per diem. Please note that MISTI Global Seed Fund awards may not be used to cover salaries or equipment.
Acceptable expenses for meeting costs include facility rental and food.
No. These funds may not be used to cover equipment.
The funds granted should be used according to what has been outlined in your proposal. Major modifications of the budget allocations during the project are not recommended but minor changes can be approved in coordination with relevant MISTI Seed Fund Manager.
*An exception: MIT-Italy Seed Funds may be used to cover long-term stays at MIT and the MIT Visiting Student fees.
No, funds may not be used to pay student or employee salaries.
No, funds may not be used to cover salaries, even to help organize a conference or meeting. Additionally, funds cannot be used for conference registration costs.
No, funds may not be used to cover materials.
Additional international Insurance is no longer necessary for MIT students, faculty or staff. Funds can be used to pay for insurance for visiting collaborators and students.
Yes, funds can be used to pay for visa applications.
Funds will be transferred to the MIT PI participating in the collaboration who will disburse them according to the budget. The MIT PI's department will be responsible for any travel reports related to the seed fund.
MISTI recommends that MIT grantees pay for the MIT employee and student airfare, housing and meals with their own MIT travel or departmental card. When the trip is complete, close out the transactions in Concur.
MISTI recommends that MIT grantees pay for the international collaborator’s airfare, housing and meals with their own MIT travel or departmental card. It is possible to give visitors a stipend for their trip. When the trip is complete, close out the transactions in Concur. If you have questions, please contact the Travel department.
The department representative responsible for managing the seed fund grant should process reimbursements for the international collaborator(s). The MIT grantee should collect itemized receipts from the international collaborators and use them to create an expense report in Concur. After the expense report is finished, contact Travel to arrange an international wire transfer. You will need the following information from the collaborators to make the wire transfer:
Full name
Home address
Bank name
Bank address (of the branch s/he uses)
Account number
Bank’s SWIFT code
MISTI Program Managers do not process reimbursements for grant awardees.
No, you cannot use funds to pay for a business or first class ticket, even if a leg of your flight is over 6 hours. If you still want to book a business or first class ticket, you will have to charge the extra funds to another account. You should check with the Travel department with any questions on how to process this transaction in Concur.
MISTI does not facilitate the logistics related to visiting faculty from abroad. Inquiries about bringing a visiting scholar, visiting professor, postdoc or other researcher should be directed to the HR administrator in your specific department, lab or center headquarters as appointments at MIT are initiated by individual departments and the International Scholars Office works with a contact person in each department.
More information here: https://adminconnect.mit.edu/how/how-obtain-visa
MISTI does not facilitate the logistics related to visiting students from abroad. Inquiries about bringing visiting students should be directed to the advisor in the International Students Office.
Additional visiting student information
More information from the International Students Office (ISO) website.
In any publications that result from your GSF project, please acknowledge the GSF fund and the country program (e.g. ULVAC-Hayashi MISTI Seed Fund, MIT-Japan Program) in addition to MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI). When appropriate please include links to MISTI, the fund, and country program page.
No, funds may not be used to cover publication costs.
No. Funds can only be used for collaborators identified in the original proposal who are either MIT faculty, researchers or students or international collaborating team faculty, researchers or students. Significant post-award proposal changes including changes to the team members require that MISTI is notified and funds returned.