Junior Fellows of the Simons Society of Fellows – Request for Nominations 2027: How to Nominate

1. Nominator should identify a nominee; it may also happen that a potential nominee identifies a nominator first. Note that a nominator can only be involved in one nomination per year.
2. Elements of a nomination package are as follows. The nominator is expected to work with the nominee to prepare the required material. Be cognizant of the eligibility of the nominator, mentor and recommender (see Request for Nominations for details).
   1. Nomination letter
   2. Recommender letter
   3. Host institution letter
   4. Mentor letter
   5. Nominee’s statement of recent work
   6. Nominee’s biosketch (note that the provided template must be used)
3. At least a week in advance of the deadline, the nominator should log in to SAM or create a new account if one does not exist for the nominator. The nominator should start a draft Junior Fellows application and familiarize themselves with the application and with SAM. Please reach out to [email protected] with any questions regarding this process.
4. Nominators are strongly encouraged to submit in advance of the deadline of September 10, 2026, 12 p.m. (noon) Eastern time. There is no institutional sign-off involved in a Junior Fellows application. No late submissions will be permitted, and no extensions will be provided.

Nominations must be started and submitted via the Simons Award Manager (SAM), https://sam.simonsfoundation.org/, under the nominator’s SAM account. Only one nomination per nominator is permitted. Click on the Funding Opportunities icon. For the Society of Fellows – Junior Fellows application, click on Create Application and then on Begin Application. Submissions by nominees will not be accepted. This is a nominator driven process, and the responsibility of submitting the nomination in SAM resides with the nominator.

Proposal attachments should be single spaced and in a common typeface and font size no smaller than 10 points. Margins must be at least half an inch in all directions.

Important Notes:

• There will be no project title associated with the nomination application.
• Any additional letters of support appended to the nomination, recommendation and host institution letters, or the mentor statement will render the nomination ineligible.
• Any uploaded documents exceeding the noted page limits below will also render the nomination ineligible.

1. Enter the nominee’s name in this format: Last Name, First Name.
2. Enter the nominee’s email.
3. Enter the nominee’s current institution name.
4. Enter the host institution name.
5. Enter the name of the recommender.
6. Enter the name of the nominee’s mentor at the host institution.
7. Please select the nominee’s general research category (Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Computer and Information Science, Other). Please select Other if the nominee’s research category comprises more than one of the listed categories.
8. Enter the nominee’s research field in 2–3 words.
9. Enter the month and year the nominee has fulfilled or will fulfill the requirements of a Ph.D. degree.
10. Statement of Recent Work (one-page limit, plus up to an additional half page for links to published work and references): Upload a statement written by the nominee summarizing the nominee’s Ph.D. thesis work and research plan if the fellowship is awarded. This statement should specifically address the contribution of the host institution and mentor to the candidate’s plan. It should be written for a general scientific audience.
11. Nomination Letter (two-page limit): Upload a nomination letter written and signed by the nominator, explaining the distinctive scientific contributions of the nominee.
12. Recommendation Letter (two-page limit): Upload a recommendation letter written and signed by an expert that is not the nominator, explaining the distinctive scientific contributions of the nominee.
13. Mentor Statement (one half-page limit): Upload a statement from the mentor confirming that the mentor has agreed to serve as the nominee’s mentor and will provide the nominee with all necessary resources and facilities to carry out their research. The mentor must also describe their past experience in mentoring junior scientists, how they would mentor/train this specific nominee, and what professional skills they might relay to the nominee.
14. Letter of support from institution (one-page limit): Upload a letter of support from the New York City host institution signed by a relevant institutional official, confirming the following:
    1. The provision of space and resources and the designation of a scientific mentor for the nominated Junior Fellow.
    2. Agreement to appoint the Junior Fellow as an employee of the institution with a postdoctoral research associate, or equivalent, title with no teaching obligations and provide the standard benefits package that this institution provides to equivalent titles.
    3. The names and email addresses of a signing official and financial officer who would be involved if an award is made. See foundation policies for more information regarding these roles.
15. Nominee Biosketch:
    1. Upload a biosketch for the nominee using the template provided. No other template can be used.
    2. Font size must be 10 points or larger. Smaller text in graphics, figures, graphs, diagrams, and charts is acceptable, as long as it is legible when the page is viewed at 100 percent. Margins should remain as they are in the provided template.
    3. Do not exceed three pages.
    4. Please also provide a URL to a full list of the nominee’s published work as found in a publicly available digital database, such as SciENcv, My Bibliography, or Google Scholar.
16. Indicate the extent to which, if any, generative AI technology was used and how it was used to develop this proposal.

Click the Check Application Progress button to check for any missing required information or files. All missing required information will be listed at the top of the screen and must be corrected before the application can be submitted.

When the nomination is complete, please click on the Submit Application button. A confirmation page will appear once the nomination application is successfully submitted, and the nomination application will now appear in the Submitted tab of the Awards and Applications table. Additionally, the nominator will receive an email from [email protected] when the nomination application is submitted. Please note that one will not be able to submit a nomination application if the deadline has passed. No institutional sign-off is required for submission.

Once your nomination application has been submitted, the Simons Foundation staff will be in touch if we require any additional information or revisions to your nomination application.