Partners

University of Minnesota Partners

We engage partners across the University system, reflecting the interdisciplinary and systemwide nature of the work.

University collaborators include:

Academic colleges and departments from across all five campuses representing health sciences, social sciences, education, environment, agriculture, design, science, technology, and more.
System campuses, supporting collaboration across Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota campuses.
Office for Public Engagement (OPE), which provides strategic leadership, alignment with land-grant priorities, and support for community-engaged research practices.
University research support units, including the Clinical Translational Science Institute and Institutional Review Board.
The Masonic Cancer Center and Medical School’s Department of Pediatrics for internal grant awards.
Students and trainees, who participate as research assistants, ambassadors, and emerging scholars.

Together, these partners ensure that research conducted through the State Fair Research Program is rigorous, ethical, and aligned with University priorities.

Collaborative Impact

Our Host: The Minnesota State Fair

As our primary partner, the Minnesota State Fair provides the essential platform for fulfilling our mission. By hosting our research facility at the "Great Minnesota Get-Together," the Fair enables the University of Minnesota to connect with a vast and diverse audience. This enduring partnership transforms the fairgrounds into a premier site for public engagement, allowing us to bring the University’s research directly to the people of our state in a vibrant, accessible setting.

Community & Institutional Collaborations

Collaborative partnerships play a vital role in extending the reach, relevance, and impact of the University of Minnesota’s State Fair Research Building. We welcome collaboration with community-based organizations and external institutions when they are integrated into a project led by a University of Minnesota investigator.

How to Get Involved

The State Fair Research Program supports projects that bridge academic research with community priorities. To maintain alignment with facility guidelines, all projects must be anchored and led by a University of Minnesota investigator. University of Minnesota faculty are encouraged to integrate community and institutional collaborators into their State Fair research teams.

Collaborations enrich research by:

Co-developing research questions that reflect community priorities, lived experiences, or real-world challenges.
Partnering on data collection or public engagement activities conducted at the State Fair Research Building.
Contributing unique expertise, networks, or resources that strengthen research design, implementation, or dissemination.
Supporting translation and impact, helping ensure findings are meaningful and accessible to broader audiences.

Steps for Collaborative Projects:

Anchor the Project with a UMN Lead: The project must be initiated and submitted by a University of Minnesota faculty member. Collaborative teams are formed around the UMN investigator’s research agenda and expertise.
Align Project Goals: The UMN investigator and collaborators should discuss project goals, roles, and expectations to ensure alignment with the State Fair Research Program’s public engagement model.
Contact Our Team: The UMN Principal Investigator should contact the State Fair Research team at [email protected] to explore feasibility, timelines, and project requirements.

Supporting State Fair Research Program

The State Fair Research Building is a signature public engagement platform of the University of Minnesota, housed within the Office for Public Engagement (OPE) and advanced in partnership with University of Minnesota Foundation (UMF). Philanthropic and partner support is essential to sustaining the program’s impact, ensuring broad public access, and advancing the University’s land-grant mission.

Support for this program aligns with institutional priorities around research excellence, community engagement, student success, and accessibility.

Philanthropic Support & Sponsorship Opportunities

Gifts and sponsorships to the State Fair Research Program help sustain core operations and enable innovation. Opportunities include:

Programmatic Support
Unrestricted or broadly designated gifts support the overall operation of the facility, including staffing, infrastructure, compliance, accessibility, and participant experience. This flexible support is critical to long-term sustainability.
Mission- or Theme-Aligned Support
Donors may choose to support research aligned with shared priorities, such as public health, youth and families, environmental sustainability, community wellbeing, or other important subjects. These funds expand access for research teams and increase the number of studies that can be offered to the public.
Student & Workforce Development
Philanthropic investment supports paid student roles, training, and mentorship in community-engaged research, helping prepare the next generation of scholars and professionals.

All philanthropic support is managed in accordance with University and UMF guidelines and may include stewardship, reporting, and recognition opportunities.

In-Kind Support

In-kind contributions enhance capacity while aligning with University policies and values. Examples include:

Equipment or technology that supports research, demonstrations, or accessibility.
Materials or supplies that improve participant experience and learning.

All in-kind support is reviewed to ensure appropriate alignment, transparency, and non-commercialization of the research environment.

Program Support:

Advances research with real-world impact, generating data that inform policy, practice, and future funding.
Builds public trust in the University, positioning research as transparent, ethical, and responsive to community needs.
Strengthens the land-grant mission, bringing University knowledge directly to Minnesotans in a highly visible public setting.
Leverages philanthropic dollars, using the scale of the Minnesota State Fair to maximize reach and impact.
Sustains institutional capacity, enabling pilot projects, interdisciplinary collaboration, and long-term program growth.

Expanding Across Minnesota

Philanthropic support is critical to extending the reach of the program beyond the Minnesota State Fair and into communities across the state—advancing University of Minnesota systemwide priorities and deepening engagement in Greater Minnesota.

Targeted investment can help:

Advance systemwide impact, enabling collaboration across UMN campuses and units to bring public-facing research experiences to communities statewide.
Reach Greater Minnesota, including rural regions where access to research participation and higher education engagement opportunities is often limited.
Partner locally, working alongside community organizations, Extension, local fairs and events, tribal nations, and cultural gatherings to build trusted, place-based research experiences.
Increase participation from underrepresented populations, including communities of color, Indigenous communities, and rural residents, ensuring research reflects Minnesota’s full diversity.
Support culturally responsive and inclusive engagement, through community liaisons, multilingual materials, accessibility supports, and locally relevant study design.
Pilot scalable, replicable models, allowing successful approaches developed in one region to be adapted and sustained across multiple communities and campuses.

By investing in geographic expansion and inclusive engagement, donors help ensure that research opportunities—and the benefits of discovery—are shared equitably across Minnesota and aligned with the University’s land-grant mission.

Philanthropic and partner support ensures we remain a nationally recognized model for public-facing, community-engaged research—created with and for Minnesotans.

Aug 27 - Labor Day, Sept 7, 2026

Partners & Collaborators

How to Get Involved

Supporting State Fair Research Program

State Fair Research Building