# Simons Collaborations in Mathematics and the Physical Sciences

Reopens Summer 2018
Maximum Budget

## Allowable Expenses

The funding provided under a Simons Collaboration in MPS may be used to support research expenses in the following categories:

• Up to one month of summer salary support and related benefits for the collaboration director and each PI/co-PI — These salary funds are not substitutional (cannot be used to relieve a university of salary costs) and cannot be used to reduce teaching loads below the departmental norm. They can only be used to supplement the salary similarly to a summer salary in the U.S. system.
• Conferences and working meetings appropriate to the needs of the collaboration.
• Teaching reduction down to the level of only one course/semester for the collaboration director — Teaching reduction for other collaboration members is not an allowable expense.
• Salary support and related benefits, including tuition support, for staff/research scientists and postdoctoral, graduate and/or undergraduate research assistants.
• Support for visitors and collaborators, including travel, meals and lodging expenses.
• Research equipment, supplies and other expenses directly related to the research, including computers, computer support, professional literature, publication expenses and professional membership dues.
• Collaboration-related domestic or international travel for collaboration members per the institution’s travel policies — Parking, hotel, taxi, registration and other related travel & conference costs are allowable.
• Support costs for a Collaboration administrator.
• Other expenses related to the support and administration of the Collaboration (i.e., web design).

Expenditures in other expense categories may be possible but must be approved in advance by the foundation.

Please see the foundation’s grant policies on our website for further guidelines:
https://www.simonsfoundation.org/funding-opportunities/policies-and-procedures/.

Please note that travel expenses are not capped at $4,000 per year per individual for this program. The collaboration budget must include discretionary funds, amounting to at least 10 percent of the collaboration budget, to be held at the foundation and made available to be used at the discretion of the director for the annual meeting, workshops, the addition of PIs to the collaboration and other related collaboration expenses. Please note that typical annual collaboration meetings hosted at the Simons Foundation with around 60 participants cost$100,000. Please factor this in when preparing the budget. Costs for meetings and workshops held at the foundation will be paid directly by the foundation from the discretionary funds.

## Unspent Funds

Funds allocated for postdoctoral fellows, graduate students or other junior researchers may be carried over from year to year, as appropriate, until the end of the collaboration. Unspent funds at the end of the collaboration must be returned to the foundation. The director and PIs may apply for up to a 12-month no-cost extension request for non-PI salary and fringe benefit funds unexpended at the conclusion of the collaboration.

## Reporting

The director will provide the foundation with one overall progress report for the entire collaboration within 60 days after the completion of each grant year. The institution of each PI will be responsible for submitting a separate financial statement for each award within 60 days after the completion of each grant year.

## Eligibility

The collaboration director should hold a faculty, or equivalent, position at a U.S. or Canadian institution with a Ph.D. program. PIs must also hold a faculty, or equivalent, position at an educational institution. There are no restrictions on the department and/or discipline of the director or PIs. PIs and other collaboration participants may be from non-U.S. institutions.

An individual may be part of more than one letter of intent (LOI) or full proposal, as long as all eligibility requirements are met. There is no LOI limit per institution or individual. For-profit institutions are not eligible to receive grant funds.

## Number of Awards

The foundation expects to make up to two awards in 2018.

## How to Apply

Please coordinate submission of the LOI and full proposal with the appropriate officials in accordance with institution policies. Please refer to the Application Instructions for further information on and requirements for submitting an application.

## Letter of Intent

Collaboration directors must submit an LOI through proposalCENTRAL (https://proposalcentral.altum.com/default.asp). LOIs are due by October 3, 2017, at 11:59:59 p.m. EST.

LOI Requirements Include:

• A project narrative, signed by the collaboration director on letterhead, outlining the topic, scientific approach and any relevant preliminary results — The project narrative should explain the logistics of the collaboration, including a brief discussion of the role of each founding PI. (Three-page limit, plus up to one page for references and figures, which can be embedded within the text.)
• An NIH- or NSF-style biosketch for each founding PI, which should include:
• information about professional preparation, positions held and honors and awards;
• a list of current and former collaborators, postdoctoral fellows supervised and Ph.D. students trained within the past five years; and
• a list of up to ten relevant publications.
• A statement of current and pending support for all founding PIs (current and pending support should not be submitted for non-funded collaborators) — NSF format is sufficient. The statement should at least provide the award number, source of funding, title of award, dates of project and annual direct costs for each support item listed.

Notification of the status of the LOI will be sent by December 31, 2017.

Please note that the volume of interest in this program is such that the foundation is not able to provide advance guidance on potential proposals. We use the LOI stage to assess suitability and novelty. The foundation recommends submitting an LOI if an applicant believes his/her research meets the criteria outlined in the RFA.

## Full Proposal

A review of the LOI may lead to a request for a full proposal, which will be due by February 15, 2018, at 11:59:59 p.m. EST.

The collaboration director and his/her institution must submit the full proposal via proposalCENTRAL. The applicant PI/director will be the designated contact for the collaboration. The applicant will be responsible for coordinating all proposal attachments.

If awarded, each collaboration PI will be given an individual award and his/her institution paid separately. For each PI, a signed signature page, budget template and budget justification must be submitted with the application. The signed signature page will indicate that the program terms and applicable proposal attachments have been reviewed and approved by each PI and his/her institution.

NOTE: A submitted LOI will remain in the IN PROGRESS queue of the MANAGE PROPOSALS tab in proposalCENTRAL. If an LOI is approved, the full proposal application can be accessed under the IN PROGRESS queue. If the LOI status changes to LOI: APPROVED, click the EDIT button to gain access to the full application. See the Application Instructions for further information.

Full Proposal Requirements Include:

• A summary of the scientific questions and research goals, including an outline of relevant previous work of each founding PI and others involved in the proposal, as well as a description of the planned research, including preliminary results (if relevant) and an organizational plan describing how the collaboration of PIs will be engendered and coordinated (12-page limit, plus up to two pages for references and figures, which can be embedded within the text).
• A detailed four-year budget and justification completed for the director and each founding PI and his/her institution (excludes non-funded collaborators). For founding PIs with subcontracts, a subcontract budget and budget justification for each subcontract must be included. All budgets must be in U.S. dollars.
• A summary budget, showing the annual amounts allocated to each PI and the director’s discretionary fund, which should amount to at least 10 percent of the collaboration budget and will be held at the foundation for future use.
• An NIH- or NSF-style biosketch for each founding PI, which should include:
• a list of current and former collaborators, postdoctoral fellows supervised and Ph.D. students trained within the past five years; and
• a list of up to ten relevant publications.
• A statement of current and pending support for all founding PIs (current and pending support should not be submitted for non-funded collaborators). NSF format is sufficient. It should at least provide the award number, source of funding, title of award, dates of project and annual direct costs for each support item listed.
• 501(c)(3) equivalency determination letter from the IRS for international institutions, if available. Please see Application Instructions for further information on this requirement.

Funding decisions will be announced by July 1, 2018, and funding will begin on September 1, 2018.

## Contact Information

mps@simonsfoundation.org

Elizabeth Roy
Senior Program Manager, Mathematics and the Physical Sciences
212-524-6966
eroy@simonsfoundation.org

## Further Information

Maximum Budget

$2,000,000 per year Important Dates • Application Available • LOI Deadline • LOI Notification • Full Proposal Deadline • Award Notification • Award Start Date Contact Info Letters of Intent (LOI) Deadline: October 3, 2017, at 11:59:59 p.m. EST Full Proposal Deadline: February 15, 2018, at 11:59:59 p.m. EST Important Note: The collaboration director and his/her institution must submit the LOI and full proposal via proposalCENTRAL. The applicant/director will be the designated contact for the collaboration. The applicant will be responsible for coordinating all proposal attachments as outlined below. Applications should be started and submitted under the applicant’s own account on proposalCENTRAL. Applicants are encouraged to submit in advance of the deadline to ensure they have time to make any application corrections that might be necessary for successful submission. Additionally, all applicants must work with their institutional officials to register their institution with proposalCENTRAL or ensure their existing proposalCENTRAL account is up-to-date. New applicants and their institutions are strongly encouraged to start the registration process at least four weeks prior to the application due date. Please note that all deadlines are in Eastern Standard Time. If the deadline has expired, an applicant will not be able to see the SUBMIT button and will not be able to submit his/her application. For NEW proposalCENTRAL Users: Step 1: Register as a proposalCENTRAL user: • Go to https://proposalcentral.altum.com/default.asp. • Select the CREATE ONE NOW button (Please see the proposalCENTRAL instructions for “How to Register as a proposalCENTRAL user” at https://proposalcentral.altum.com/review/InfoRequest.asp). • Once you have completed the required information and agreed to the Terms of Service and the Acceptable Use Policy, click on SAVE. An email will be sent to your email address containing a confirmation number. Note: This email will also contain both your username and password. • Log in (https://proposalcentral.altum.com/default.asp) using APPLICATION LOGIN, enter your confirmation number in the box provided on the next screen, and click on SUBMIT CONFIRMATION NUMBER. • You will then be directed to your PROFESSIONAL PROFILE, where you will need to select a primary institution. • If your institution is already registered on proposalCENTRAL, you will see it listed in the search results. • If you do not see your institution listed, please ask your grants and contracts office (or equivalent) to create a profile for your institution on the system. (Please see proposalCENTRAL instructions on “How to Register your Institution with proposalCENTRAL” at https://proposalcentral.altum.com/review/InfoRequest.asp). • It is not a requirement for you to complete the other sections of your PROFESSIONAL PROFILE at this time. It is recommended that you do enter your degrees and personal data for applications (sections 2 and 4). Please be sure to save after completing each section. • Within the application, a red asterisk will indicate the required PROFESSIONAL PROFILE and INSTITUTIONAL PROFILE fields (see Applicant and Organization/Institution sections below). Step 2: Navigate to the GRANT OPPORTUNITIES tab. • Select SIMONS FOUNDATION from the drop-down list and click on the FILTER LIST BY GRANT MAKER. • You will then see the list of current Simons Foundation grant opportunities. • Click on APPLY NOW to access the MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES-SIMONS COLLABORATIONS IN MATHEMATICS AND THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES application. • Enter a title in the TITLE PAGE section and click the SAVE button. This creates your application, stores it under the MANAGE PROPOSALS tab and allows you to navigate to the other sections of the application. • Please be sure to save after completing each section. • You can navigate to each section by clicking on the NEXT button or by clicking on the section’s hyperlink in the left-hand navigation. • For further information, please see the proposalCENTRAL instructions on “How to Create an Application using proposalCENTRAL” at https://proposalcentral.altum.com/review/InfoRequest.asp. For EXISTING proposalCENTRAL Users: Step 1: Log in using APPLICATION LOGIN at https://proposalcentral.altum.com/default.asp. Step 2: Navigate to the GRANT OPPORTUNITIES tab. • Select SIMONS FOUNDATION from the drop-down list and click on the FILTER LIST BY GRANT MAKER. • You will then see the list of current Simons Foundation grant opportunities. • Click on APPLY NOW to access the MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES-SIMONS COLLABORATIONS IN MATHEMATICS AND THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES application. • Enter a title in the TITLE PAGE section and click the SAVE button. This creates your application, stores it under the MANAGE PROPOSALS tab and allows you to navigate to the other sections of the application. • Please be sure to save after completing each section. • You can navigate to each section by clicking on the NEXT button or by clicking on the section’s hyperlink in the left-hand navigation. • For further information, please see the proposalCENTRAL instructions on “How to Create an Application using proposalCENTRAL” at https://proposalcentral.altum.com/review/InfoRequest.asp. LOIs Contain the Following Elements: 1. Title Page: Enter your APPLICATION TITLE. 2. Enable Other Users to Access this Proposal: This screen allows you to give other users access to your grant application, if necessary. 3. Applicant: This information is pre-loaded from the applicant PI’s PROFESSIONAL PROFILE. The applicant’s name should reflect the name of the collaboration director. 4. Organization/Institution: This information is pre-loaded from the INSTITUTIONAL PROFILE. For both pre- and post-award management, select the appropriate signing official and financial officer from the drop-down list or enter the email address of a new official and click on ADD. Click on the SAVE or CLOSE WINDOW link — the official will now be listed as the assigned signing official or financial/fiscal officer. Please see the Simons Foundation grant policies for a description of the responsibilities of the signing official and financial officer. 5. Key Personnel: Indicate all key personnel other than the applicant PI, including additional founding PIs, co-investigators, collaborators, consultants, postdoctoral research associates and others. 6. LOI Attachments: Please be sure that the following attachments are uploaded as unlocked PDFs: • Project Narrative: Signed by the collaboration director on letterhead and outlining the topic, scientific approach and any relevant preliminary results, the project narrative should explain the logistics of the collaboration. It should be single spaced and in typeface no smaller than 10-point font. Margins, in all directions, must be at least ½ inch. (three-page limit, plus up to one page for references and figures, which can be embedded within the text) • An NIH- or NSF-style Biosketch: A biosketch is to be submitted for each founding PI and must include: • professional preparation, positions held and honors and awards; • a list of current and former collaborators, postdoctoral fellows supervised and Ph.D. students trained within the past five years; and • a list of up to ten relevant publications. NOTE: Any biosketches uploaded in the PROFESSIONAL PROFILE will NOT be included as part of the LOI. • Statement of Current and Pending Support: A statement should be submitted for each founding PI (current and pending support should not be submitted for non-funded collaborators). NSF format is sufficient. The statement should at least provide the award number, source of funding, title of award, dates of project and annual direct costs for each support item listed. 7. Validate: Click the VALIDATE button to check for any missing required information or files. All missing required information will be listed on the screen. Please provide any missing information before submitting your application. 8. Submit: This section will only appear if the deadline has not passed. LOI Approval: After evaluation of the LOIs, the Simons Foundation will invite the most qualified applicants to submit full proposals. When the LOI is administratively accepted, the full proposal application can be accessed through proposalCENTRAL. Navigate to the MANAGE PROPOSALS tab, which contains a list of applications IN PROGRESS. The LOI status will change to LOI: APPROVED. Click the EDIT button to gain access to the full proposal application. Format of the Full Proposal: Proposal attachments should be single-spaced and in typeface no smaller than 10-point font. Margins, in all directions, must be at least ½ inch. Full Proposals Contain the Following Elements: 1. Title Page: The APPLICATION TITLE will be pre-populated with the title entered in the LOI section. 2. Download Templates & Instructions: • A SIGNED SIGNATURE PAGE template is provided for each non-applicant founding PI to use. All non-applicant founding PI institutions should complete the blank signature page available as appropriate. The signing official name and contact information should be provided in the signing official placeholder on the first page. Each institution must also provide the name and contact information of the financial officer on the second page of contacts. Please see the Simons Foundation grant policies for a description of the responsibilities of the signing official and financial officer. Completed and signed signature pages should then be re-uploaded as proposal attachments in the Proposal Attachments section of the application. Only the signature of the signing official is required for each institution. • A COLLABORATION SUMMARY BUDGET template is provided, to be completed by the director, showing the annual amounts allocated to each PI and the director’s discretionary fund, which should amount to at least 10 percent of the collaboration budget and will be held at the foundation for future use. Please add additional lines as necessary for the founding PIs. • A PI BUDGET & JUSTIFICATION template is provided and must be completed by each non-applicant founding PI and his/her institution (excludes non-funded collaborators). For founding PIs with subcontracts, a subcontract budget and budget justification for each subcontract must be included. All budgets must be in U.S. dollars. The “Complete 1st-Detail Yr1” worksheet should be completed first. The “PI Budget Summary” worksheet will auto-populate with the amounts provided in the corresponding worksheets. The consortium and contractual costs in the detail yearly budgets will auto-populate with the total costs in the sub-budget yearly worksheets. 3. Enable Other Users to Access this Proposal: This screen allows users to give other users access to the grant application, if necessary. 4. Applicant: This information is pre-loaded from the applicant’s PROFESSIONAL PROFILE. The applicant’s name should reflect the name of the collaboration director. 5. Organization/Institution: This information is pre-loaded from the INSTITUTIONAL PROFILE. For both pre- and post-award management, select the appropriate signing official and financial officer from the drop-down list or enter the email address of a new official and click on ADD. Click on the SAVE or CLOSE WINDOW link — the official will now be listed as the assigned signing official or financial/fiscal officer. Please see the Simons Foundation grant policies for a description of the responsibilities of the signing official and financial officer. 6. Key Personnel: Indicate all key personnel other than the applicant PI, including additional founding PIs, co-investigators, collaborators, consultants, postdoctoral research associates and others. 7. Budget Period Detail: Provide a detailed four-year budget for the director’s funds. This does not include the discretionary funds held at the foundation. All other budgets, for founding PIs and the collaboration summary budget, must be uploaded in the PROPOSAL ATTACHMENTS section using the provided templates. All budgets must be in U.S. dollars. 8. Budget Summary & Justification: This section summarizes the director’s four-year budget entered in the Budget Period Detail section. Please provide justification for categories noted. The character limit for each box is 8,000. 9. Proposal Attachments: Please be sure that the following attachments are uploaded as unlocked PDFs: • Scientific Questions and Research Goals: A summary of the scientific questions and research goals, including an outline of relevant previous work of each PI and others involved, and a description of the planned research, including preliminary results (if relevant) and an explanation of how the research of the different PIs will be coordinated (12-page limit, plus up to two pages for references and figures, which can be embedded within the text). • Collaboration Summary Budget: A summary budget to be completed by the director showing the annual amounts allocated to each PI and the director’s discretionary fund, which should amount to at least 10 percent of the collaboration budget and will be held at the foundation for future use. • PI Budget & Justification: A detailed four-year budget and justification to be completed by each founding PI and his/her institution (excludes non-funded collaborators). For founding PIs with subcontracts, a subcontract budget and budget justification for each subcontract must be included. All budgets must be in U.S. dollars. • An NIH- or NSF-style Biosketch: A biosketch is to be submitted for each founding PI and must include: • professional preparation, positions held and honors and awards; • a list of current and former collaborators, postdoctoral fellows supervised and Ph.D. students trained, within the past five years; and • a list of up to ten relevant publications. • Statement of Current and Pending Support: A statement should be submitted for each founding PI (current and pending support should not be submitted for non-funded collaborators). NSF format is sufficient. It should at least provide the award number, source of funding, title of award, dates of project and annual direct costs for each support item listed. • 501(c)(3) Equivalency Determination Letter from the IRS (if applicable): All collaboration international institutions must upload a copy of the institution’s 501(c)(3) equivalency determination letter, as the Simons Foundation requires an equivalency determination letter from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stating exemption under 501(c)(3) and, furthermore, either a 509(a)(1), (2) or (3) classification. If an international institution does not have this letter at the application stage, do not upload anything for this attachment type. However, if an international institution is selected for funding and does not have the aforementioned documentation, the foundation will require that the institution complete an equivalency determination with NGOsource (see Simons Foundation policies). The foundation will handle all administrative and financial aspects of this determination. IRS letters should not be uploaded for U.S. institutions. • Signed Signature Page: A signature page must be submitted from all founding PI institutions. The signature page for the applicant/director can be downloaded in the SIGNATURE PAGE(S) section of the application. It should be signed by the designated signing official from the applicant’s institution’s sponsored research office (or equivalent). Please note that not all fields on the generated signature page will be populated. All other founding PI institutions must also submit a signature page. A blank signature page is available in the DOWNLOAD TEMPLATES & INSTRUCTIONS section and should be completed and signed as appropriate by each institution and then re-uploaded as proposal attachments. The signed signature page will indicate that the program terms and applicable proposal attachments have been reviewed and approved by each PI’s institution. 10. Validate: Click the VALIDATE button to check for any missing required information or files. All missing required information will be listed on the screen. Please correct any missing information before submitting your application. 11. Signature Page(s): Once all sections are completed, the signed signature page is to be downloaded in this section of the application, signed by the signing official from the applicant’s institution’s sponsored research office (or equivalent) and then re-uploaded as a proposal attachment. Only the signed first page of the applicant’s signature page PDF file needs to be uploaded. 12. Submit: This section will only appear if the deadline has not passed. Simons Foundation Division for Mathematics and the Physical Sciences Contact Information: mps@simonsfoundation.org 212-524-6966 proposalCENTRAL Contact Information: pcsupport@altum.com 800-875-2562 Download the Simons Collaborations in Mathematics and the Physical Sciences Application Instructions PDF here. Maximum Budget$2,000,000 per year

Important Dates
• Application Available
• Award Start Date
Contact Info
1. One of the proposed founding PIs is at a national lab that is not an institution with a Ph.D. program. Is he eligible to receive funds as a PI?

Our policy is that we do not provide funding to U.S. national labs. Scientists employed at national labs may be collaboration members, and collaboration funding may be used to support travel or local expenses related to the participation of the lab-based scientist in collaboration activities, or students or postdocs appointed at universities who work with collaboration members at national labs. However, direct funding to national labs or salary support of scientists employed is not allowed.

2. Can the director upload the proposal attachments for the founding PIs, or do the individual PIs/institutions need to do this?

It does not matter who uploads the required information to the application, as long as the required signatures are present on the signature pages.

3. What discretionary funds must be held at the foundation?

At least 10 percent of the collaboration annual budget must be held at the foundation and included by the director in the summary budget. The discretionary fund can be used, for example, to recruit new members or take advantage of unanticipated opportunities, and will also be used to cover local expenses associated with collaboration activities at the foundation, such as the collaboration annual meeting. All PI travel, as well as conferences and meetings expenses administered by a PI’s institution, should be reflected as appropriate in the PI budget.

4. How will discretionary funds held at the foundation be made available to the director or PIs?

Depending on the proposed use, the funds will be provided to the director and/or one or more PIs, as supplements to existing grants, or can be used to fund new awards. Funds will be disbursed on request of the director after approval by the foundation.

5. Is this program explicitly or implicitly aiming to fund multi-institutional collaborations?

There is no explicit or implicit aim to fund multi-institutional collaborations. There is no requirement that at least one of the PIs be from a different department, university, state or nation. However, this is the likely scenario for many of the proposals.

6. How important is it to have the full group of PIs in place for the LOI or full proposal? Can we add more PIs if we are selected to submit a full proposal or if our proposal is funded?

More PIs can be added at the full proposal stage or after the award is made as long as it is within the budget guidelines. However, LOIs and full proposals will be judged in part on the quality of the proposed PIs.

7. Can the collaboration project include an experimental component?

The foundation would allow experimental components if they are essential to the science. A proposal primarily for experiment would not be appropriate.

8. To whom is the collaboration project awarded?

The institutions for director of the collaboration and each founding PI will receive individual awards as part of the collaboration.

9. Is there a typical number of founding PIs that is envisioned?

No, but we would suggest at least three to four is necessary.

10. If my LOI is not approved this year, may I reapply next year?

Yes, there is no limit on the number of times one can reapply.

11. I currently hold a Simons Fellowship or a Simons Investigator award. Am I eligible to be a collaboration director or founding PI?

Yes, being a Simons Fellow or a Simons Investigator (in either math, physics, astrophysics, computer science or MMLS) does not disqualify you from applying as part of a collaboration project. However, Math+X Investigators cannot be funded PIs in a collaboration.

12. Where do I submit my letter of intent (LOI) and full proposal?

Log in to proposalCENTRAL (https://proposalcentral.altum.com/default.asp). You will find the MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES-SIMONS COLLABORATIONS IN MATHEMATICS AND THE PHYSICAL SCIENCESapplication in the list of Simons Foundation funding opportunities. Click APPLY NOW to start the application. Please see the Application Instructions for further information.

13. Does the letter of intent (LOI) submission require institutional signature(s)?

In the LOI section of the application, the applicant needs to select the signing official and financial officer from a list of officials associated with his/her university or add a new official by entering in his/her email address. The signature page is only required for the full proposal. The project narrative component of the LOI requires a signature by the collaboration director on institutional letterhead.

14. Do I need approval from the grants office at my institution to submit an application?

To submit an application, the Simons Foundation requires the signature of a signing official in your institution’s sponsored projects office or equivalent office. Please check with your institution’s policies regarding application submission.

15. How do I get in touch with proposalCENTRAL for technical questions?

Email pcsupport@altum.com or call 800-875-2562.

No. Please be advised that deadlines on the application are in Eastern Standard Time. We highly recommend registering early and submitting applications with ample time for corrections prior to the deadline hour.

17. I cannot find the SUBMIT button. Where is it?

If the submission deadline has not passed, use the VALIDATE button to check for missing requirements. If the problem persists, please contact proposalCENTRAL customer support at pcsupport@altum.com. If the deadline has passed, the submission period has closed and you will not be able to submit. The foundation reviews requests for extensions on a case-by-case basis.

18. I get an error message citing a missing section when I try to submit.

Please click the VALIDATE button to review the application for missing requirements. If you are still receiving error messages after completing and saving the indicated sections, please contact proposalCENTRAL customer support at pcsupport@altum.com.

19. Is validating my application sufficient for submission?

No. Validating the application will only check for errors and alert you to missing requirements. If the application is complete, you must hit SUBMIT. After successful submission, your application will now be listed under the IN PROGRESS tab with the status SUBMITTED.

20. Is a confirmation email sent when I submit my letter of intent (LOI) and full proposal?

A confirmation email is sent upon submission. Please contact proposalCENTRAL customer support at pcsupport@altum.com, if you have submitted an application and have not received a confirmation email from proposalCENTRAL within ten minutes. Make sure that spam filters allow emails from pcsupport@altum.com. The status of an application can also be checked within the MANAGE PROPOSALS tab in proposalCENTRAL.

21. Further information

If you have questions regarding your proposal that are not answered in these FAQs, the Simons Collaborations in MPS RFA or Application Instructions, please contact the Simons Foundation Division for Mathematics and the Physical Sciences at mps@simonsfoundation.org.