Funding
Opportunities

Our grantmaking efforts focus on mathematical and physical sciences, life sciences and autism research.

Mathematics and Physical Sciences

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NSF-Simons Research Collaborations on the Mathematical and Scientific Foundations of Deep Learning

The NSF-Simons Research Collaborations on the MoDL initiative awarded two collaborations designed to support research activities focused on a particular set of topics involving some of the most challenging questions in the general area of mathematical and scientific foundations of deep learning.

Simons Symposia

Each Simons Symposia series brings together mathematicians, theoretical physicists and/or theoretical computer scientists to interact and collaborate in a series of up to three symposia, held every second year and focusing on one topic or a tightly connected group of topics.

Life Sciences

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2021 Simons Early Career Investigator in Marine Microbial Ecology and Evolution Awards

The purpose of these awards is to help launch the careers of outstanding investigators who will advance our understanding of marine microbial ecology and evolution through experiments, modeling or theory. Projects focusing on the microbiomes of invertebrates or vertebrates or on paleontological records will not be considered this year. Investigators with backgrounds in different fields…

Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Marine Microbial Ecology

The Simons Foundation invites applications for postdoctoral fellowships to support research on fundamental problems in marine microbial ecology. The foundation is particularly interested in applicants with training in different fields who want to apply their experience to understanding the role of microorganisms in shaping ocean processes, and vice versa, as well as applicants with experience…

Moore-Simons Project on the Origin of the Eukaryotic Cell

The Simons Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation are pleased to announce the Moore–Simons Project on the Origin of the Eukaryotic Cell. The Simons Foundation’s Life Sciences division and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s Symbiosis in Aquatic Systems Initiative are jointly soliciting proposals for research on the origin of the eukaryotic cell.

Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain 2019 Courses and Conferences Request for Applications

The Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain (SCGB) is accepting applications for funding of courses, conferences, and workshops relevant to the SCGB mission.

Autism Research (SFARI)

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Bridge to Independence Award Program

SFARI is invested in supporting the next generation of top autism researchers. The Bridge to Independence Award program engages talented early-career scientists in autism research by facilitating their transition to research independence and providing grant funding at the start of their professorships at a U.S. or Canadian research institution. Request for applications (RFA) open each…

SFARI Supplement to Enhance Equity and Diversity (SEED) — Request for Applications

The SFARI Supplement to Enhance Equity and Diversity (SEED) is a new program that provides supplements to existing grants for the recruitment of new lab members from American underrepresented minority groups at the postdoctoral level. For the purposes of this supplement, eligible groups include the following: African American/Black; Latin American/Hispanic; Native American/Alaskan Native; Native Hawaiian/other…

2020 SFARI Collaboration on Sex Differences in Autism — Request for Applications

SFARI Collaborations are a new funding mechanism that will provide substantive and stable funding support to multidisciplinary teams of investigators tackling critical issues in the autism research field. Collaborations will be led by a director who oversees interdisciplinary, synergistic research efforts across multiple laboratories. Investigative groups within a Collaboration will focus on the same conceptually…

Summer 2020 Pilot Award – Request for Applications

Grants awarded through this RFA are intended to provide early support for exploratory ideas, particularly those with novel hypotheses for autism. Appropriate projects for this mechanism include those considered higher risk with less assurance of ultimate impact, but with the potential for transformative results. Investigators new to the field of autism are encouraged to apply…

2020 Research Award – Request for Applications

Grants awarded through this RFA are intended to provide support for the investigation of key unresolved research questions in autism, particularly those that connect etiology to brain function and behavior. SFARI welcomes risk and novelty in Research Award proposals, but potential impact on the autism research field will be the most important criterion. Competitive applications…

2019 Novel Outcome Measures in ASD Request for Applications

Grants awarded through this request for applications are intended to develop and validate outcome measures that are suitable for use in intervention studies that target the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder. Such measures should provide objective data with strong psychometric properties, be scalable for use in large, multisite studies, not be unduly burdensome to…

2019 SPARK Clinical Site Network Request for Applications

SPARK is a SFARI initiative intended to recruit, engage and retain a community of 50,000 individuals with autism, and their family members, in the United States. This research cohort includes children and adults who span the full autism spectrum and individuals of all socio-demographic backgrounds. Through this RFA, SFARI will add additional clinical sites to…

Genomic Analysis for Autism Risk Variants in SPARK – Request for Applications

Grants awarded through this RFA are intended to advance our understanding of the genetic basis of autism. Investigators who are interested in analyzing genomic data in innovative ways from thousands of SPARK families are encouraged to apply. Available data will include whole-exome and genome-wide genotyping data from approximately 4,500 individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)…

‌Explorer Awards RFA

Application type for proposals requesting support of exploratory experiments that will strengthen hypotheses and lead to the formulation of competitive applications for subsequent larger-scale funding by SFARI or other organizations. Innovative, high-risk/high-impact proposals are encouraged. We especially encourage applications from investigators who are new to the field of autism, but who have expertise that could…

Whole-Genome Analysis for Autism Risk Variants Request for Applications

Grants awarded through this RFA are intended to advance our understanding of the genetic basis of autism, and in particular, to begin to assess genetic variants conferring risk in non-coding regions and in coding regions of the genome that may be less accessible to whole-exome sequencing. Investigators who are interested in developing innovative and efficient…

Functional Screen of Autism-Associated Variants Request for Applications

Grants awarded through this RFA are intended to advance our understanding of the genetic basis of autism, and in particular the potential role of missense and in-frame deletion variants in conferring risk. Investigators who are interested in developing medium- or high-throughput screens to test the functional effects of missense and in-frame deletion variants identified in…

Innate Immune System Impact Request for Applications

Grants awarded through this RFA are intended to advance our understanding of the impact of activation of the innate immune system on behavioral, circuit, synaptic and neuronal functions in order to understand the consequences of infection and immune activation on autism-related behaviors. Experiments should include physiologically relevant activation/inhibition of the innate immune system in animal…

Circuit Dynamics Request for Applications

Grants awarded through this RFA are intended to advance our understanding of the circuit basis for behavioral and cognitive alterations relevant to autism spectrum disorders. The goal is to determine the downstream consequences of autism-associated genetic perturbations on neural circuitry, with an emphasis on how collections of neurons operate in concert during autism-relevant behaviors. Experiments…

Analysis of Simons VIP Biospecimens Request for Applications

This RFA seeks proposals that take advantage of the unique combination of biospecimens and rich phenotypic information collected by the Simons Variation in Individuals Project (Simons VIP). Although SFARI is open to many different approaches, we will likely give priority to those that aim to accomplish a comprehensive characterization of RNA expression differences and correlate…

Mouse phenotyping request for applications

This RFA seeks proposals that aim to comprehensively analyze the behavior of mouse models that have been generated with targeted genetic mutations based on strong human genetic evidence implicating them in autism spectrum disorders. We expect investigators will test at least three genetic models in the same background strain (C57BL/6). In addition, investigators should analyze…