The submission deadline for LOIs is January 23, 2025, 12:00 p.m. (noon) Eastern time. Please plan carefully with your institution and references to meet this deadline.
Applications must be submitted via the Simons Award Manager (SAM). Please click on the Funding Opportunities icon and navigate to the Simons Early Career Investigator in Aquatic Microbial Ecology and Evolution call. Click the Create Application button to begin. Applications should be started and submitted under the applicant’s own account in SAM. Informational videos on submitting applications in SAM can be found here.
Please note that in the event of budgetary or other considerations The Simons Foundation, Inc. reserves the right to refer an application to The Simons Foundation International, Ltd. (SFI) for consideration and funding, in which case SFI’s grant policies would apply.
LETTER OF INTENT (LOI) SUBMISSION:
- Proposal Tab:
- Complete all fields in this section. Note that you are required to use the provided template for the LOI Narrative. Please download by clicking the link in the field instructions, then upload the completed document using the Upload button.
- Please enter the descriptive title from the LOI Narrative.
- Contacts & Personnel Tab: Institution contacts are not required at the LOI stage. However, if you need to add an administrator or other contact to assist with completion of the LOI, you would add that person on this tab. Each person added with application access must have their own SAM user account.
- Letter of Reference Tab:
- Two confidential letters of recommendation from former mentors or other scientists, preferably not from your current institution, who work in your field and are familiar with your research, are required with LOI submission.
- Instructions for navigating this tab are included within SAM. Note that you should enter a date in the Response Date and click Save Draft prior to sending reference invitations, so that the email invitation sent by the system contains the due date you set.
- You will not be able to submit your LOI until two references are uploaded. Please plan accordingly with your references.
- NOTE: References will not have access to any portion of your LOI during the upload process. References who are also an approved Institution Official at your institution, or who are added as an Institution Administrative Contact in the Contacts & Personnel section, will be able to see the LOI via their regular system login. If your references do not have either of these roles, they will not have access to your LOI.
- Publications & Other Support Tab:
- Include a list of all (not selected) publications with the complete reference (up to 10 authors; if greater than 10, give the number of authors and list the senior author) and with asterisks marking members of your lab.
- Include a list of past, current, and pending other support, including names of PI and co-PIs and total award amount to your lab.
- Communications Tab: Nothing is required in this tab.
- Check Application Progress: 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.
Submit Application: When the LOI application is complete, please click on the Submit Application button to submit to the foundation. Please note that you will not be able to submit an application if the deadline has passed.
LOI Approval:
A submitted LOI will appear in the Submitted queue of the Applications in Progress table on your SAM home page. If an LOI is approved, the status changes to In Progress. Click on the record to gain access to the full proposal application.
FULL PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
The deadline for full proposal submission is May 1, 2025, 12:00 p.m. (noon) Eastern time. Please plan carefully with your institution to meet this deadline.
NOTE: Fields that were required for LOI submission will not be editable during full application submission.
- Proposal Tab: Please complete the Data & Renewable Reagents section.
- Contacts & Personnel Tab:
- Institution contacts are required at the full application stage. You must add at least one institution signing official and financial officer to the Institution Administrative Contacts section before you will be able to submit.
- Project personnel who will be named in the budget must be added to the Project Personnel section on this tab before they will display as available options in the budget module. ORCID iDs are required for salaried research personnel. This does not apply to TBD personnel.
- Budget Tab: Click the Edit/Modify button to add a detailed budget. Please refer to the allowable expenses outlined in the RFA and provide justification as appropriate.
Check Application Progress: 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.
Send for Sign-off: When the application is complete, please click on the Send for sign-off button to send to your signing official for signature. You will receive a notification when the application is signed.
Submit Application: When the full proposal application is complete and signed, please click on the Submit Application button. A confirmation page will appear once the application is successfully submitted. It will appear in the Submitted tab of the Applications in Progress table. Please note that you will not be able to submit an application if the deadline has passed.