Murdock Trust Grants Carroll $25,000 for Natural Sciences

November 23, 2009


The M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust recently announced that it has approved a $25,000 grant to Carroll College (Helena, Mont.) to fund the college's research start-up for a new physiology faculty member. This funding will be fully matched by the college, for a total grant of $50,000. This funding will assist the college during a faculty search for a professor of physiology, including the purchase of new laboratory equipment and supplies to support the professor and a team of undergraduate research students.

According to Carroll James J. Manion Endowed Chair of Biology Dr. Gerald Shields, the award is intended to enhance the pool of applicants for new tenure-track faculty positions in the college's Department of Natural Sciences by providing significant research start-up funding. The award is for $50,000 plus an additional $15,000 if the hired natural sciences faculty member attracts new outside funding for research after three years.

"The award can be used for research equipment, supplies, faculty summer salary and student research stipends," Shields notes. "This is Carroll's second research start-up award from the Murdock Trust, which granted the college an identical award in 2006 for our faculty position in biochemistry/molecular biology."

In addition, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust supports Carroll in a variety of other science ventures. In 2006, Shields received a $40,000 grant from Murdock to continue ongoing studies of black fly species in Montana with eight students. In 2005, Murdock granted Carroll $190,000 to support improvements to the college's Nursing Department lab.