All Funding 

Fellows-to-Faculty – 2026 Request for Applications

Closed
Program Areas
Autism & Neuroscience, Autism Research Initiative (SFARI), Neuroscience
Award Program
Fellows-to-Faculty
Type
Early Career Award, Investigator Award
Career Stage
Junior Faculty Level (Early Career), Postdoctoral Researcher

The Fellows-to-Faculty Award program supports talented early career scientists and their research vision as they transition into tenure-track or equivalent faculty positions. Fellows engage in a larger community of investigators, and receive funding toward the end of their postdoctoral career and a three-year faculty research grant.

All Funding 

  1. Informational Webinar

    November 5, 2025

  2. Applications and Letters Due

    January 14, 2026

  3. Finalists Invited for Interviews

    April 29, 2026

  4. SCPAB Interviews

    May 11, 2026

  5. SFARI Interviews

    May 18–20, 2026

  6. Applicants Notified of Funding Decisions

    June 30, 2026

  7. Postdoctoral Award Start Date

    September 1, 2026

The Simons Foundation’s Autism & Neuroscience division offers the program to nurture new talent and broaden the community of scientists contributing to our scientific mission. We drive innovation and collaboration by supporting scientists with a diverse mix of minds, backgrounds and experiences.

Applicants must hold a Ph.D. and/or M.D., or equivalent doctoral degree, be in a mentored research training position, and be actively seeking faculty appointments. We seek to support early career scientists whose scientific vision for their future independent laboratory is within following scientific areas:

We welcome applications from scientists with a previous background in these areas and those newly applying their expertise to these areas.

Applicants are required to focus their scientific proposal on their plans for their future laboratory.

The scope of the application is similar to a faculty job application.

Applicants may submit to more than one scientific area, but should tailor applications to each program.

Applicants are limited to submitting applications to the Fellows-to-Faculty Award for a maximum of two (2) years (including its predecessor Simons Foundation Independence Programs). Applicants may submit to more than one science area each year.

2026 Awardees

SFARI spotlight image.

Announcing the Recipients of the 2026 Fellows-to-Faculty Awards

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Apply by January 13, 2027

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