Funding
Opportunities

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

Mathematics and Physical Sciences

Title

Status

Description

Collaboration Grants for Mathematicians

The goal of the program is to support the “mathematical marketplace” by substantially increasing collaborative contacts between mathematicians. The foundation will make a large number of collaboration grants to accomplished, active researchers in the United States who do not otherwise have access to funding that allows support for travel and visitors.

Targeted Grants in MPS

The program is intended to support high-risk theoretical mathematics, physics and computer science projects of exceptional promise and scientific importance on a case-by-case basis.

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.

Simons Collaborations in Mathematics and the Physical Sciences

The aim of the Simons Collaborations in MPS program is to stimulate progress on fundamental scientific questions of major importance in mathematics, theoretical physics and theoretical computer science.

Targeted Grants to Institutes

The program is intended to support established institutes or centers in the mathematics and physical sciences through funding to help strengthen contacts within the international scientific community.

Simons Fellows in Theoretical Physics

The Simons Fellows program in Theoretical Physics provides funds to faculty for up to a semester-long research leave from classroom teaching and administrative obligations.

Simons Fellows in Mathematics

The Simons Fellows program in Mathematics provides funds to faculty for up to a semester-long research leave from classroom teaching and administrative obligations.

NSF-Simons MathBioSys Initiative

The purpose of the NSF-Simons Research Centers for MathBioSys is to support innovative, collaborative research at the intersection of mathematics and molecular, cellular and organismal biology, to establish new connections between mathematical sciences and biological sciences and to promote interdisciplinary education and workforce training.

Life Sciences

Title

Status

Description

2019 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 Collaboration on the Origins of Life 2019 Postdoctoral Fellowships

Overview The origin of life is among the great unsolved scientific problems of our age. To advance our knowledge of… Read More

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…

Autism Research (SFARI)

Title

Status

Description

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…

2019 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. Unlike SFARI Pilot Awards, risk and novelty are welcome but are not required criteria for the proposal to be considered meritorious. Competitive applications will have…

Winter 2019 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…

Bridge to Independence Award Request for Applications

Grants awarded through the Bridge to Independence Award program are intended to invest in the next generation of top autism investigators by identifying talented early-career scientists interested in autism research and facilitating their transition to independent research careers. This request for applications (RFA) is aimed at senior postdoctoral fellows who intend to seek tenure-track faculty…

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…

2015 Novel Outcome Measures for ASD Clinical Trials request for applications

Grants awarded through this RFA are intended to develop and validate objective outcome measures for use in clinical trials targeting core symptoms of ASD (i.e. social communication impairments and restricted, repetitive behaviors) and disruptive behavioral symptoms (e.g. anxiety, tantrums). Such outcome measures should be objective and yield quantitative data, be feasible and not unduly burden…

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…