Funding Available for Synthetic Plant Biology Research
The Simons Foundation’s Life Sciences division is accepting applications for its Synthetic Plant Biology program. This program is intended to support research that applies engineering principles and techniques to advance our understanding of how plants function. The application deadline is July 30, 2026, at 12 p.m. (noon) Eastern time.
Proposed projects can address a variety of goals, such as developing sensors to study plant physiological responses, engineering plants to withstand inhospitable environments and testing genetic modifications to reveal the trade-offs inherent in plant growth and development. We are interested in both generating fundamental insights in plant biology and developing innovative tools and techniques that will empower future plant biological research.
Research funded under this initiative is expected to be exploratory, and there is no requirement to have preliminary data at the application stage. Instead, we are seeking high-risk investigations that, if successful, would enable highly impactful future research in the synthetic biology of plants. Generation of preliminary data is one of the anticipated objectives of these awards.
All investigators must hold a Ph.D. or equivalent degree and have a faculty position at a college or university or the equivalent (eligible for receiving grant funding as a PI) at a research institute or other research facility that does not have faculty positions. In addition, eligible applicants must have research space at their institution. Applications may be submitted by U.S. nonprofit organizations; public and private institutions, such as colleges, universities, laboratories, institutes and units of state and local government; and research-oriented agencies of the federal government. There are no citizenship requirements for PIs.
See the full request for applicants (RFA) for more details and further eligibility requirements.
