Fellows-to-Faculty Award 2027: Perspectives

Applications for the 2027 Fellows-to-Faculty Award are now open. This program supports exceptional early-career scientists as they transition from mentored training to independent tenure-track faculty positions. In these positions, investigators will establish labs that advance basic science aligning with the research priorities of the Simons Foundation’s Autism & Neuroscience division.

At its center is a $600,000, three-year faculty research award, complemented by support for fellows as they end postdoctoral fellowships and navigate the academic job market. 

The Simons Foundation launched the Fellows-to-Faculty Award to expand and enrich the scientific communities working on autism science, healthy cognitive aging or ecological neuroscience by bringing in new talent and new ideas. The strongest applications pair a bold, novel research vision with a clear case for how it aligns with a program’s mission and how a two-way exchange with that community will strengthen the applicant’s science.

Advancing Basic Science Across Program Areas

Three programs will offer Fellows-to-Faculty awards this cycle, each with a distinct scientific mission:

• The Simons Collaboration on Ecological Neuroscience (SCENE) seeks to uncover general principles of brain function through an ecological perspective, studying perception, cognition and action in the context of the affordances available to different agents.
• The Simons Collaboration on Plasticity and the Aging Brain (SCPAB) seeks to discover mechanisms of resilience and functional maintenance in the aging brain and establish a baseline for changes in plasticity with age across diverse model systems. This will be the final RFA cycle in which SCPAB offers Fellows-to-Faculty awards.  
• The Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) advances the basic science of autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders through research in humans and model systems.

Each program conducts a separate review focused on its scientific mission. Applicants are welcome to apply to more than one program, but each application must be tailored to the relevant mission to be competitive. 

Bold Ideas and Fresh Perspectives

We seek novel, bold ideas with the potential to move these fields forward. We welcome scientists who are new to these scientific areas and can bring fresh perspectives, approaches and expertise.  

We remain committed to supporting researchers with theoretical, computational and clinical backgrounds whose future labs will pursue basic scientific research within the program areas detailed above. Although we have retired the application’s track structure, we strongly encourage researchers across these disciplines to apply, as we believe their perspectives and expertise enrich our scientific communities.

Articulating Your Scientific Vision

Applicants should familiarize themselves with the mission and ongoing work of the program to which they are applying, as well as the broader field. They should explain clearly and specifically both how their independent research program will contribute to that scientific community and how participation in it will strengthen and advance their own science. Both directions of this exchange matter: what applicants bring to the field and what engagement with SFARI, SCPAB or SCENE will make possible for their research.

The award and its review focus on the early years of the faculty position. We want to understand applicants’ visions for their future laboratories: the questions they will pursue, the independent research programs they will build and how those programs will advance the mission of SCENE, SCPAB or SFARI. The application should read like a faculty job application, articulating a compelling, independent scientific direction.

Assessing Your Readiness

Readiness for the faculty job market at the time of application is essential. Applicants should be prepared to apply for tenure-track positions in September 2027 and to start their faculty roles during the 2028–2029 academic year. Most successful applicants have at least one publication or preprint from their current position. 

Because applicants are limited to two submission years, prospective candidates should assess their readiness carefully and consult their mentors before applying.

We believe that basic science builds the foundation for translational and clinical advances. We welcome basic science research using theoretical and computational approaches, diverse model systems, and human populations. If you are ready to build an independent lab that advances the mission of SCENE, SCPAB or SFARI, we encourage you to apply. 

Applications are due at 12 p.m. Eastern time on January 13, 2027, through the Simons Award Manager.