MICHELSON GRANT RECIPIENT TESTIMONIALS

"The Michelson Grant gave us the opportunity to apply our expertise to a field that was completely unfamiliar to us. Instead of shunning our ideas, the Foundation encourages and challenges researchers from diverse fields to come up with out-of-the-box solutions for a chemosterilant...A goal that, when realized, will have huge worldwide impact. I am very grateful to be given the opportunity to test out our ideas and to be welcomed into a tremendously talented family of scientists from academia and industry, all working toward a common goal.”

"Applying for a grant with the Found Animals Foundation was a very different experience to the usual impersonal grant application channels.

Our letter of intent was assessed very quickly, and the feedback was comprehensive. The comments given to us significantly helped in the preparation of the full application. Additionally, a meeting via Skype allowed us to canvas any issues of concern and to immediately clarify any questions we had about the submission process.

The contact with the Foundation was very helpful and not intimidating.”

"Submitting a short LOI and receiving both critical and constructive feedback has been extremely helpful in the grant-writing process.

The Found Animals Foundation has put together a world-class Scientific Advisory Board for the MPG program. We knew our grant would be evaluated thoroughly and fairly because their expertise is not just in reproduction and endocrinology, but encompasses more diverse areas including immunology and virology.

For grantees that have no background in clinical trials or regulatory processes, it’s a relief to know that the Found Animals Foundation will provide the support and resources necessary to guide a successful product over those final hurdles.” 

“As a small business, it was such a pleasant surprise to discover how easy it was to work with the Found Animals Foundation.

From the clear helpful feedback on our original letter of intent, simple/fair negotiation of the contract language, streamlined reporting - everything about our interactions seemed well thought out to promote achieving a common research goal as a member of the Foundation team. What other funding agency makes you look forward to having them out for a site visit?

This is a great scientific quest and we are proud to be a part of it. We owe it to our four legged friends, and at the same time, the technologies we are developing may also help cancer patients.”

“For more than 20 years I have obtained funding for my research from many different organisations around the world and often dealing with funding bodies can be frustrating. I have found dealing with Found Animals to be a refreshing experience. Found Animals are focused on their goals and work with investigators such as myself to promote research and development of networks of researchers focused on achieving a viable alternative to surgical sterilisation of companion animals.”

“When the Michelson Grants in Reproductive Biology were announced by the Found Animals Foundation, Dr. Mirella Meyer-Ficca and I immediately applied, hoping to be able to put our expertise in infertility prevention research to work for the development of a painless chemical sterilization method targeting cats and dogs using cultured cells and mice as a model in the initial stages. The application process was straightforward and peer review by the scientific board was constructive and transparent. Moreover, the procedure until the beginning of funding was overall much quicker than expected.

From the beginning, there has been an immediate close collaboration between the Foundation and our research group which has been providing a useful framework along the way in this team effort. The generous financial support and the positive personal relationships that formed over time with members of the Foundation staff have been allowing us to make really great strides towards our aims, which we see as particularly important and meaningful because of their true potential to improve animal protection.”