Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution – Request for Applications 2027: FAQs

LOI stands for Letter of Intent. For this program, the Letter of Intent is the fellowship application that the prospective fellow submits. If the fellow is selected as a finalist, a second stage application (“Full Application”) will be required in order to accept and activate the fellowship. Full Applications require sign-off from the host institution.

No. However, successful finalists will need an institutional sign-off for the full proposal.

Fellowships may only be hosted by U.S. institutions on a campus within the U.S. There are no citizenship requirements for the fellows.

If you are starting earlier than the summer term of 2026, you are not eligible to apply.

No. If the Ph.D. program is in another field–even if your intended project relates to ecology and evolution–you are not eligible to apply.

This funding cannot be used to solely pursue a master’s degree. However, if your university transitions their master’s students into Ph.D. candidates, then this would be the year you would be eligible to apply.

If you will be applying for a separate Ph.D. program, at a different institution, you are eligible to apply.
If you are applying for a Ph.D. program at your current institution, you are only eligible if that program is unrelated to the program in which you are obtaining your master’s degree. The important point here is that to be eligible, you must be competing against all other candidates applying to this Ph.D. program.

Yes, you are eligible to apply.

No extensions will be given. If you have any difficulties, please email [email protected].

The grant is awarded to the fellow’s host institution.

The foundation will not supplement the salary/stipend beyond the amount listed in the RFA. The host institution may choose to supplement the salary to meet the required rate of pay; however, in that case, the source of other funds must not require a percent effort commitment from the fellow. The fellow must be free to devote 100% effort to their fellowship project during the periods of time they are receiving salary/stipend support from the fellowship.

With an accepted LOI, you gain access to the full proposal application in the Simons Award Manager (SAM). Log in and go to the Draft tab of the Applications in Progress table. Click the application you want to complete. Once all sections are complete, click the Send for Sign-off button to indicate the application is ready for institution sign-off. An institution Signing Official must sign and submit the application by the deadline.

You should receive notification within 24 hours of the deadline. Please check your spam filter settings if you have not been notified by then.

Please note that in the event of budgetary or other considerations, The Simons Foundation, Inc. (“the Foundation” or “SF”) reserves the right to refer an application to The Simons Foundation International, Ltd. (“SFI”) for consideration and funding. SFI and SF have entered into an agreement pursuant to which SF provides program operations and grant administration services, including payment processing, to SFI. SFI grant recipients are subject to SF Policies and Procedures.