Simons Collaborations in Ecology and Evolution
- Vision Statement (LOI) Available
- Vision Statement (LOI) Deadline
- Invitation to Submit Full Proposal
- Full Proposal Deadline
- Invitation to Present (Finalists Only)
- Presentations (Estimate)
During the week of December 7, 2026 - Award Notification
- Funding Start Date
- Vision Statement (LOI) Available
- Vision Statement (LOI) Deadline
- Invitation to Submit Full Proposal
- Full Proposal Deadline
- Invitation to Present (Finalists Only)
- Presentations (Estimate)
During the week of December 7, 2026 - Award Notification
- Funding Start Date
- Inquiries
[email protected] - Technical Assistance
[email protected] - Office Hours
Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Eastern time - Office Closures
August 29, 2025, and September 1, 2025
Simons Collaborations
The Simons Foundation seeks to create strong collaborations and foster the cross-pollination of ideas between investigators, as these interactions often lead to unexpected breakthroughs. Towards this end, in 2012 the foundation launched a new collaborative funding model, the Simons Collaborations, which funds groups of investigators — often from different disciplines — to work together on a timely and important problem. To date, Simons Collaborations have been launched in and across our Life Sciences, Mathematics and Physical Sciences and Neuroscience divisions.
Their goal is to bring together groups of outstanding scientists to address topics of fundamental scientific importance, with a focus on fields in which significant new developments have created novel opportunities for exploration.
Call for Vision Statements for New Ecology & Evolution Collaborations
The Simons Foundation’s Life Sciences division is now seeking vision statements to identify new, emerging breakthrough areas of ecology and evolution that are poised for high-impact funding by the Simons Foundation. We are interested in idea-generating research that focuses on basic principles of ecological and evolutionary dynamics, especially their interface, and that may be overlooked or too risky for other funding organizations. To enable bold, cutting-edge and innovative research, each collaboration will be funded for five years, with the potential of one renewal.
We will prioritize cross-disciplinary collaborations that integrate levels of scale, for example from genes to species to communities, from local to global processes, or across ecological and evolutionary time scales. We are particularly interested in projects that cut across boundaries, whether these boundaries entail fields and subfields, diverse methodological approaches and/or the geographical regions from which investigators work. We expect that outstanding collaborations will catalyze impactful conversations by bringing together unique combinations of expertise to generate fundamental understanding of the genetic, ecological and evolutionary factors that shape the dynamics of organisms and/or the communities in which they are embedded.
Investigators in a Simons Collaboration are expected to openly share data, code, analysis pipelines, protocols and reagents. We expect proposals to include investigators at multiple levels of seniority and across academic disciplines.
Vision statements should clearly outline the big idea and hypotheses that the proposed collaboration will address, including high-level overviews of the methods and approaches that will be used. Which disciplines and subdisciplines will be brought together, and how will the research efforts extrapolate across scales to address your research challenge? Why is this work uniquely suited for Simons Collaboration funding and why would its initiation be timely? Why would it be difficult to obtain funding to investigate this question from other funding agencies and foundations? Vision statements should address why and how the support of a collaborative research project from the Simons Foundation will transform our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of organisms, communities and/or ecosystems in the natural world. Please propose investigators who may be included in the collaboration and an estimated anticipated overall yearly total cost, although these may be refined at a later stage.
Funding Levels and Period
The total budget for 1-3 new Ecology and Evolution Collaborations will be $8 million USD per year. We anticipate identifying up to three collaborations, with the funding level of each collaboration determined by the proposed scope and aims of the project. As a guideline, we suggest budgets of between $1–4 million USD per year, inclusive of twenty percent indirect costs.
Process for Selection
Vision statements will be reviewed by the Simons Foundation with input from outside reviewers. 10–20 spokesperson PIs will be invited to submit a full proposal including a more detailed scientific narrative, finalized list of investigators and a detailed budget. Full proposals will be reviewed with input from outside reviewers, and finalists will be invited to make a presentation to the review committee, after which awardees will be selected.
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.
Eligibility
All investigators must hold a Ph.D. or equivalent degree and have a faculty position or the equivalent (eligible for receiving grant funding as a PI) at a college, university, research institute or other research facility. In addition, eligible applicants must have research space at their institution.
Applications may be submitted by domestic and foreign nonprofit organizations; public and private institutions, such as colleges, universities, laboratories, institutes, units of state and local government; and research-oriented agencies of the federal government. There are no citizenship requirements for PIs.
Simons Foundation employees who receive a W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement) from the Simons Foundation, including employees of the Flatiron Institute, may not apply as a principal investigator (PI) to any Simons Foundation or Simons Foundation International Requests for Applications (RFAs) released by the Simons Foundation. PIs and any project personnel listed on the application who will receive funding for salary, travel, support for students, postdocs or research staff, lab equipment, computing time or other individual expenses may not be employees of the Simons Foundation, which includes the Flatiron Institute.
Instructions for Submission
Vision statements must be submitted electronically via the Simons Award Manager (SAM) by the Spokesperson PI for the proposed collaboration.
The deadline for vision statement submission is October 16, 2025, at 12:00 p.m. (noon) Eastern time.
Please refer to the How to Apply instructions and FAQ for further details.
Our Commitment to Expanding Pathways to Science and Opportunities for All
Many of the greatest ideas and discoveries come from a diverse mix of minds, backgrounds and experiences. The Simons Foundation is committed to advancing basic science and mathematics to benefit humankind and expand our collective understanding of our world. As part of our mission, we support partners, programs and initiatives that seek to broaden the scientific community and open pathways to science and mathematics careers.
The Simons Foundation provides equal opportunities to all applicants for funding without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, pregnancy, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic disposition, neurodiversity, disability, veteran status or any other protected category under federal, state and local law.
- Vision Statement (LOI) Available
- Vision Statement (LOI) Deadline
- Invitation to Submit Full Proposal
- Full Proposal Deadline
- Invitation to Present (Finalists Only)
- Presentations (Estimate)
During the week of December 7, 2026 - Award Notification
- Funding Start Date
- Inquiries
[email protected] - Technical Assistance
[email protected] - Office Hours
Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Eastern time - Office Closures
August 29, 2025, and September 1, 2025
The deadline for Vision Statement submission is 12:00 p.m. (noon) Eastern time on October 16, 2025.
Applications must be submitted via the Simons Award Manager (SAM). Please click on the Funding Opportunities icon and navigate to the Life Sciences – Simons Collaborations in Ecology and Evolution call. Click the Create Application button to begin. Vision statements 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. (“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.
Vision Statement/Letter of Intent (LOI) Submission: Vision Statements will be submitted as Letters of Intent (LOIs) in SAM.
Applicant: The vision statement must be submitted under the Spokesperson PI’s SAM user account. The Spokesperson PI is the designated contact for the collaboration and will be responsible for coordinating the vision statement submission as outlined below. If the vision statement is approved, the Spokesperson PI must coordinate the full application submission.
- Proposal Tab:
- Applicant Details & Personal Data: Complete all required fields, including academic rank, position/title and ORCID iD. This information should be completed in the user’s profile. The applicant may use the Edit Profile button to update their information as needed.
- Degrees: Click the Add/Modify Degrees(s) button to provide this information.
- Application Details: Enter a title.
- Proposal: The following information must be provided:
- LOI Narrative: Upload using the template provided in SAM. The template includes further instructions, including page limits. The main components are:
- Vision Statement Narrative: This must clearly outline the big idea and hypotheses that the proposed collaboration will address.
- List of PIs with Summaries of Expertise, beginning with the Spokesperson PI.
- LOI Narrative: Upload using the template provided in SAM. The template includes further instructions, including page limits. The main components are:
- Number of PIs: Enter the number of PIs included in this LOI, including the spokesperson PI.
- Note that all PIs other than the spokesperson PI must be listed in the Project Personnel section of the Contacts & Personnel tab, as described below.
- This number must match the number of PIs for whom summaries of expertise are included in part C of the vision statement narrative.
- Biosketch: The spokesperson PI must upload a SciENcv or fillable PDF NIH- or NSF-style biosketch. Biosketches are not requested from the other PIs at this stage.
- Indicate the extent to which, if any, generative AI technology was used and how it was used to develop your proposal.
- Budget: Please input the estimated yearly cost of the collaboration.
- Contacts & Personnel Tab:
- Institution Administrative Contacts: Institution contacts are not required at the vision statement stage. However, if you would like to grant an institutional official or administrator access to assist in the completion of the submission, please add them to this section.
- Project Personnel: List all PIs other than the spokesperson PI in the role of Principal Investigator (Collaboration).
- It is not necessary to include other personnel, such as collaborators, consultants and postdoctoral research associates, at this stage.
- This list is not binding and may change at the full application stage, if your vision statement is approved to proceed to a full proposal.
- Abstract & Keywords Tab:
- Abstract: Include a one-paragraph abstract of your project proposal.
- Impact: Include one to two sentences that answer the question: “If your project is successful, how will it impact the field(s) of ecology and/or evolution?”
- 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 vision statement (LOI) can be submitted.
- Submit Application: When the vision statement (LOI) is complete, please click on the Submit Application button. A confirmation page will appear once the vision statement 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 a vision statement if the deadline has passed.
Vision Statement Approval:
A submitted vision statement will appear in the Submitted queue of the Applications in Progress table on your SAM home page. If a vision statement is approved, the status will change to In Progress. Click on the record to gain access to the full proposal application. For all key personnel who were added as a Principal Investigator (Collaboration) in the vision statement, a full proposal application will have been created. All Principal Investigator (Collaboration) proposals must be submitted first to the Spokesperson PI application for submission to the foundation. The spokesperson PI can add or remove PIs during the full proposal application stage. Please see the instructions below under the Contacts & Personnel section.
FULL PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
The deadline for full proposal submission is April 30, 2026, 12:00 p.m. (noon) Eastern time. Please plan carefully with all PIs and their institutions to meet this deadline.
- Principal Investigators Tab: This section gives a summary of all collaboration applications. For the spokesperson PI only, before submitting to the foundation, please confirm that the total collaboration budget is correct.
- Proposal Tab:
- Applicant Details: Complete all required fields for the applicant/PI, including academic rank, position/title and ORCID iD. This information should be completed in the applicant’s profile. The applicant may use the Edit Profile button to update their information as needed.
- Academic Degrees: Enter degrees
- Application Details:
- Title: The title of the spokesperson/director full proposal application will be the same as in the vision statement. If appropriate, the spokesperson PI can update the title for the full proposal application, as long as the title is substantially similar to the vision statement title. The title must follow this nomenclature: Simons Collaboration on [Insert subject matter].
- All PI application titles should match the title the director has specified.
- Start Date
- End Date
- Proposal: On the spokesperson PI application only, upload the collaboration’s proposal. Further instructions, including page limits, will be provided to groups invited to submit a full proposal.
- Biosketches: Each PI, including the spokesperson PI, must upload a SciENcv or fillable PDF NIH- or NSF-style biosketch.
- Indicate the extent to which, if any, generative AI technology was used and how it was used to develop the proposal.
- Title: The title of the spokesperson/director full proposal application will be the same as in the vision statement. If appropriate, the spokesperson PI can update the title for the full proposal application, as long as the title is substantially similar to the vision statement title. The title must follow this nomenclature: Simons Collaboration on [Insert subject matter].
- Data & Renewable Reagents: Complete all required fields.
- 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: Please refer to the instructions provided in SAM. Under Project Personnel, indicate all project personnel on each collaboration application, including additional PIs, co-Is, collaborators, consultants, postdoctoral research associates and others. Project personnel include individuals who contribute to the scientific development or execution of a project in a substantive, measurable way, whether or not they request salaries or compensation. Please note that the Simons Foundation does not use the role type co-PI.
- All PIs who will receive their own award must be added to the Contacts of the Spokesperson PI’s application in the role of Principal Investigator (Collaboration) to be able to access their own full proposal application.
- The other project personnel on the spokesperson PI’s application should reflect only those project personnel specific to the spokesperson PI’s project and not that of any PI in the Principal Investigator (Collaboration) role.
- PIs and co-Is who will not receive separate awards must be added in the role of Project Personnel – With or Without Application Access; then, in Add More Details, select either Non-Contact Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator.
- Budget Tab: Click the Edit/Modify button to add a detailed budget. Please provide justification as appropriate using the provided template.
- Abstract & Keywords Tab:
- Abstract: On the spokesperson PI application only, include a one-paragraph abstract of your project proposal.
- Publications & Other Support Tab:
- Other Support: Upload a list of other support using the NSF, NIH or SciENcv template. Please include an indication of overlap for each award. If there is no overlap, please write ‘no overlap.’
- Organization Assurances Tab:
- Indicate if the application requires organizational assurances (IRB and/or IACUC).
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 & Submit Application: When each application is complete, each PI, including the spokesperson PI, must click on the Send for sign-off button on their own application to send to their institution’s signing official for signature. The signing official will sign and then click submit. For the spokesperson PI, this will move their application to a status of Signed – Pending Submission. For a PI, this will submit to the spokesperson PI’s application move their application to a status of Submitted to Spokesperson PI.
- For PIs: After the full proposal application is completed and signed by their signing official, a confirmation page will appear noting it has been successfully submitted to the spokesperson PI by the signing official.
- For the Spokesperson PI: After the full proposal application is completed and signed by their signing official, a confirmation page will appear noting it has been successfully signed by the signing official. When the spokesperson PI’s application has a status of Signed – Pending Submission and all of the PI applications are completed, signed and have a status of Submitted to Spokesperson PI, the spokesperson PI must click on the Submit Application Package button to submit to the foundation. Please note that the spokesperson PI’s institutional official cannot submit the collaboration package to the foundation – this must be done by the spokesperson PI. A confirmation page will appear once the collaboration package is successfully submitted, and the application will appear in the Submitted tab of the Applications in Progress table.
- Please note that you will not be able to submit any collaboration application if the deadline has passed.
- Vision Statement (LOI) Available
- Vision Statement (LOI) Deadline
- Invitation to Submit Full Proposal
- Full Proposal Deadline
- Invitation to Present (Finalists Only)
- Presentations (Estimate)
During the week of December 7, 2026 - Award Notification
- Funding Start Date
- Inquiries
[email protected] - Technical Assistance
[email protected] - Office Hours
Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Eastern time - Office Closures
August 29, 2025, and September 1, 2025
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Vision Statement / Letter of Intent (LOI) FAQ
Is the Vision Statement the same as a Letter of Intent (LOI)?
Yes, the vision statements will be submitted as a Letter of Intent (LOI) in the Simons Award Manager (SAM).
How much detail is needed for the vision statements?Vision statements should clearly outline the big idea and hypotheses that the proposed collaboration will address, including high-level overviews of the methods and approaches that will be used. Which disciplines and subdisciplines will be brought together, and how will the research efforts extrapolate across scales to address your research challenge? Why is this work uniquely suited for Simons Collaboration funding and why would its initiation be timely? Why would it be difficult to obtain funding to investigate these questions from other funding agencies and foundations? Vision statements should address why and how the support of a collaborative research project from the Simons Foundation will transform our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of organisms, communities and/or ecosystems in the natural world.
All of the details of a proposed collaboration do not need to be worked out at the vision statement stage. We are interested in the big idea and the scientific vision. A subset of the vision statements will be invited to submit a full application, which will include a detailed proposal.
What is the page limit for the vision statement/LOI narrative?The vision statement/LOI narrative must use the provided template, which can be downloaded from the application in SAM. In that template, there are specific instructions for multiple sections with individual length limits. The scientific vision statement narrative must not exceed two (2) pages of single-spaced size 11 text, 0.5 margins. One (1) additional page may be used for figures, if needed. Specific questions that the scientific vision statement should address are included in the full instructions in the template.
Is this call for Vision Statements for new Simons Foundation Ecology and Evolution Collaborations intended for applied work?For this call, we are interested in bold and cutting-edge, idea-generating research that focuses on a fundamental understanding of the genetic, ecological and evolutionary factors that shape the dynamics of organisms and/or the communities in which they are embedded. Applied research that does not seek fundamental insights is not appropriate.
What systems can be used for research in Simons Collaborations?We have no restrictions on the biological systems used for research in Simons Collaborations on Ecology and Evolution. We are open to vision statements that include research across biological systems, including plants, microbes, invertebrates and vertebrates, as well as purely theoretical or computational research.
Does the Simons Foundation consider human infectious disease-related projects to be within the purview of the call for Simons Collaborations in Ecology and Evolution?Projects that incorporate disease-related research to understand basic principles of eco-evolutionary dynamics are within the call’s purview. However, projects whose aim is to develop treatment strategies for specific diseases are not within scope.
How often will the Simons Foundation announce calls for vision statements for new collaborations?We anticipate that we may host another call for ecology and evolution collaborations in three to five years.
A proposed list of PIs involved in a potential collaboration is requested. Is this list final? Can this list change?The list of PIs requested for this vision statement call is intended to give us an idea of the investigators you may approach about being a part of a collaboration if you are invited to submit a full proposal. This list is proposed and may change between the LOI and full proposal stages of this process. Specifically, we anticipate that vision statements will be submitted by a small group of PIs but may expand to a larger number of investigators if the vision statement is selected for full proposal submission.
Is there a typical number of PIs envisioned for a proposed collaboration?No. The number of PIs involved in a proposed collaboration should be driven by the needed expertise for the scientific question that will be investigated. We will consider smaller or larger proposed collaborations. PIs may be grouped into smaller teams to facilitate deeper collaboration. Teams should be organized in a manner that facilitates communication and sharing of data, methods and information across the collaboration. Details of the administrative and organizational structure of the collaboration is not necessary at this time; guidelines will be provided when a subset of vision statements are invited to submit a full proposal.
Is this program explicitly or implicitly aiming to fund multi-institutional collaborations?We expect that the scope of the proposed collaboration will involve PIs from multiple institutions. We encourage all investigators to assemble the strongest scientific team to address the goals of the proposed collaboration, without restriction based on geographical location or institutional affiliation. This call is not intended for single-institution support.
Will the PIs in a given collaboration be fixed for the duration of the program?The composition of PIs involved in a Simons Collaboration will be dictated by the scientific questions investigated. This may mean a fixed or evolving group of PIs over time, depending on the scope and goals of the program. However, while new PIs may be recruited to bring on new areas of expertise, the overall budget envelope will remain largely fixed over the span of the collaboration.
Is there a minimum percent effort for Principal Investigators (PIs)?We seek applications from independent investigators who can devote a substantial portion of time to this project. While we do not require a minimum PI effort, we expect the PI to commit to a level of effort that reflects a leading role and significant engagement in the project.
Can a PI be listed as participating in multiple submissions?An individual may be listed as a non-spokesperson PI on multiple submissions but may be the spokesperson PI on only one submission.
Are individuals employed by the Simons Foundation, which includes the Flatiron Institute, eligible to apply?Simons Foundation employees who receive a W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement) from the Simons Foundation, including employees of the Flatiron Institute, may not apply as a principal investigator (PI) to any Simons Foundation or Simons Foundation International Requests for Applications (RFAs) released by the Simons Foundation. PIs and any project personnel listed on the application who will receive funding for salary, travel, support for students, postdocs or research staff, lab equipment, computing time or other individual expenses may not be employees of the Simons Foundation, which includes the Flatiron Institute.
Can foreign institutions (non-U.S.) apply?Yes, foreign institutions may apply. Please refer to the Simons Foundation policies regarding international awards.
Do I need institutional sign-off to submit a vision statement?No, institutional sign-off is not required for the vision statement stage. If the vision statement is approved and the collaboration is invited to submit a full proposal, institutional sign-off will be required in order to submit the full proposal.
Do I need to submit biosketches with the vision statement?A biosketch is only required from the spokesperson (primary) PI at this stage.
Do I need to submit a budget with the vision statement?No, a full budget is not required at this stage. Only an estimate of the anticipated annual cost of the collaboration is required. If you are invited to submit a full proposal, all PIs participating in the collaboration will be asked to submit a detailed budget with their full proposal.
Does the Simons Foundation grant extensions for vision statement submissions?No extensions will be given. If you have any difficulties, please email [email protected].
Can I make changes to the LOI once it has been submitted?Before you can make changes to your submitted LOI, you must first contact the Simons Foundation for assistance. Please email [email protected]. LOIs can only be changed prior to the deadline.
The application status notification date has passed. What is the status of my Vision Statement/LOI?You should receive a notification within 24 hours of the application status notification date. Please check your spam filter settings if you have not received a notification by then.
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Full Proposal FAQ
Can PIs who were not added in the Vision Statement/LOI be included at the full application stage?
Yes.
Can PIs who were included in the Vision Statement/LOI be removed at the full application stage?Yes.
Note regarding potential referral of an application to The Simons Foundation International, Ltd. (SFI)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.