Simons Fellows in Mathematics – Request for Applications 2027

The Simons Foundation’s Mathematics and Physical Sciences (MPS) division invites applications for the Simons Fellows in Mathematics program to make sabbatical research leaves more productive by extending them from a single term to a full academic year. Sabbatical research leaves from classroom teaching and administrative obligations can provide strong intellectual stimulation and lead to increased creativity and productivity in theoretical research.

Awards will be based on the applicant’s scientific accomplishments in the five-year period preceding the application and on the potential scientific impact of the work to be done during the leave period.

Eligibility is restricted to sabbatical or equivalent leave-eligible faculty who wish to use the Simons Fellowship award for the purpose of extending at least a single-term sabbatical research leave to a full academic year without teaching or administrative responsibilities. The fellowship program will not support the extension of a full year of sabbatical research leave to an additional term. In order to receive the fellowship, you must be approved by your institution for a full year of sabbatical research leave, consisting of two consecutive semesters or three consecutive quarters with at least 50 percent of the year fully paid by the home university and no more than 50 percent fully or partly supported by the fellowship.

Note: A research leave provided by a unit of a university, rather than the university-level sabbatical leave, would not normally be considered as equivalent to a sabbatical. Please contact [email protected] with any questions.

If funds from the foundation are insufficient to cover the salary needs for the period supported by the fellowship, other resources can be used for this purpose. The foundation will consider circumstances where, for example, the university covers 80 percent of a full year of leave and the fellowship covers the remaining 20 percent.

Verification of sabbatical approval is not required at the time of application but must be provided to the foundation at least three months prior to the start of the applicant’s award. Please see the How to Apply tab for further information.

A Simons Fellow in Mathematics must have a teaching or administrative tenured position at the same U.S. or Canadian college or university within the mathematics department at the time of application, throughout the course of the sabbatical research leave and in the term following the leave. This must be the applicant’s primary position. Applied mathematics and statistics disciplines are eligible as long as the applicant resides within the mathematics, and not statistics, department. Those doing primarily mathematical education research are not eligible. In addition, a Fellow must have an active, current research program. Fellows cannot simultaneously hold a Simons Investigator award.

Previous fellowship awardees are allowed to apply for another fellowship as long as they follow their universities’ rules on sabbatical or equivalent leave eligibility.

Simons Foundation employees who receive a W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement) from the Simons Foundation, including employees of the Flatiron Institute, may not apply as a principal investigator (PI) to any Simons Foundation or Simons Foundation International requests for applications (RFAs) released by the Simons Foundation. PIs and any project personnel listed on the application who will receive funding for salary, travel, support for students, postdocs or research staff, lab equipment, computing time or other individual expenses may not be employees of the Simons Foundation, which includes the Flatiron Institute.

• Award Amount: A Simons Fellowship in Mathematics provides salary replacement (inclusive of both salary and fringe benefits) for up to 50 percent (up to a maximum of $125,000) of the Fellow’s current academic-year salary, whether normally paid over 9, 10 or 12 months, and up to an additional $10,000 for expenses related to the leave. The Fellow’s home institution will receive an additional 20 percent overhead on allowable direct cost expenditures, per the foundation’s indirect cost policy. The maximum total budget request should not exceed $162,000 USD.
• Award Duration: The Simons Fellowship will fund up to 50 percent of the full-year sabbatical period. Fellowship awards and sabbatical periods may begin no earlier than July 1, 2027, and no later than January 1, 2028. For example, the full leave year period could be July 1, 2027, through June 30, 2028; September 1, 2027, through August 31, 2028; or January 1, 2028, through December 31, 2028. Fellowship funding must be contiguous to the university-supported portion of the leave.
• Number of Awards: The foundation expects to award up to 50 mathematics fellowships this cycle.

Salary replacement funds:

• May be used only to replace or partly replace academic year salary, whether normally paid over nine or twelve months, during academic terms in which the recipient does not engage in classroom teaching, academic administration or other departmental or university committee work.
• May not be used for summer salary (if salary is paid over nine months) or to increase the recipient’s academic year salary beyond the university rate.
• May be used for fringe benefits as required by the home institution.
• May be paid out over the course of the full leave.
• May not exceed the maximum allowed ($125,000).

Leave-related expense funds:

• Can only be used to support expenses related to the leave, in a manner consistent with the approved sabbatical or equivalent leave plans.
• Can be incurred at any time during the award period; they are not restricted to the terms in which salary is provided by the foundation.
• May be used toward equipment, travel (including the Fellow and the Fellow’s family members to and from the sabbatical or equivalent leave location(s) and the Fellow’s travel to meetings and collaborators), housing (for the Fellow and the Fellow’s family), automobile rental, childcare and support for visitors (including meals).
• Travel for family members for short-term visits (under one month) is not an allowable expense.
• Salaries for students or research associates will not be supported, but funds may be used to help transport members of the Fellow’s research group to the sabbatical location (if different from the home institution) to attend conferences and meetings relevant to the sabbatical plan and to provide housing.
• May not exceed the maximum allowed ($10,000).

Applicants must submit a full application via Simons Award Manager (SAM) by October 1, 2026, 12 p.m. (noon) Eastern Time.

No-cost extension requests will typically not be considered.

Please note that in the event of budgetary or other considerations, The Simons Foundation, Inc. (“the Foundation” or “SF”) reserves the right to refer an application to The Simons Foundation International, Ltd. (“SFI”) for consideration and funding. SFI and SF have entered into an agreement pursuant to which SF provides program operations and administration services, including payment processing, to SFI. SFI grant recipients are subject to SF Policies & Procedures.

Many of the greatest ideas and discoveries come from a diverse mix of minds, backgrounds and experiences. The Simons Foundation is committed to advancing basic science and mathematics to benefit humankind and expand our collective understanding of our world. As part of our mission, we support partners, programs and initiatives that seek to broaden the scientific community and open pathways to science and mathematics careers.

The Simons Foundation provides equal opportunities to all applicants for funding without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, pregnancy, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic disposition, neurodiversity, disability, veteran status or any other protected category under federal, state and local law.