Simons Fellows in Theoretical Physics

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The Simons Fellows in Theoretical Physics program made sabbatical research leaves more productive by extending them from a single term to a full academic year. Sabbatical research leaves from classroom teaching and administrative obligations can provide strong intellectual stimulation and lead to increased creativity and productivity in theoretical research.

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Please see the general instructions for application submission.

Please be sure to submit a proposal using the appropriate application (Mathematics and Physical Sciences — Simons Fellows in Theoretical Physics).

Proposal attachments should be single-spaced and in typeface no smaller than 10-point font. Margins must be at least half an inch in all directions.

Please complete the application as follows:

  1. Title Page:
    1. Enter the title of the application.
    2. Answer sabbatical certification questions. Sabbatical approval is not required at the time of application but must be provided to the foundation at least three months prior to the start of the applicant’s award.
  2. Enable Other Users to Access this Proposal: This screen allows users to give other users access to the grant application, if necessary.
  3. Applicant: This information is preloaded from the applicant’s professional profile. Please indicate the applicant’s website, if applicable.
  4. Organization/Institution: This information is preloaded from the institutional profile. The Simons Foundation requires the provision of contact information for institutional officials for both pre- and post-award management. Please select names from the list of officials supplied with your proposalCENTRAL’s institution profile and click the Add button. If the contact you need is not on the list, enter the contact’s email address and click the Add button. Note that the officials added here are the only individuals who will automatically have access to this grant if the application is awarded. All other officials not listed in the application (including primary signing officials and primary financial officers) must request access to a grant after an application is awarded. Also, note that proposalCENTRAL’s institution profile is not tied to the Simons Foundation’s institutional profile. Officials added at the application stage are not automatically added to the Simons Foundation’s institutional profile. Please see the Simons Foundation’s grant policies for more information regarding institutional contacts.
  5. Abstract & Field Selection: Please provide a brief summary of where the applicant’s requested leave will take place and the main scientific goals during this time. Also, select the applicant’s field(s) as it applies to the applicant’s research in the last five years.
  6. Budget Summary & Justification: Enter start and end dates for the proposed full year leave period and all requested budget amounts in U.S. dollars. Please round up to the nearest dollar. In the justification section, provide the applicant’s known or expected academic-year salary for the full year of the leave period. If this is not yet finalized, please include the expected date of salary increase. Please also provide a detailed description of how the leave-related expense funding will be used. An insufficient budget justification may result in the proposal not being considered further.
  7. Proposal Attachments (attachments must be uploaded as unlocked PDFs; please confirm this before uploading):
    • Statement of Recent Work (two-page limit, plus up to one page for references and figures, which can be embedded within the text): A statement explaining the candidate’s most significant scientific work over the previous five years.
    • Statement of Sabbatical Plans (two-page limit, plus up to one page for references and figures, which can be embedded within the text): A statement summarizing the applicant’s plans for the entire leave period, the institution or institutions at which the leave is to be spent and the main scientific goals.
    • Curriculum Vitae (two-page limit): Must include Ph.D. year, institution, advisor and positions held.
    • Current and Pending Support: The list of current and pending support should include all financial resources — whether federal, nonfederal, commercial or institutional — available in direct support of the applicant’s research endeavors. Each support item listed should include the following:
      • indication of active or pending,
      • award number,
      • source of support,
      • title of project,
      • dates of approved/proposed project,
      • annual direct costs and
      • notification date (if known and only for proposed projects).
    • Publications List: A list of up to five publications from the past five years and up to five other publications.
    • Students List: Current or recent (past five years) graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and Ph.D. students, as applicable, including their dissertation topics and likely date of completion.
    • Letter from Other Institution (if applicable):
      • If the leave is to be taken at another institution or institutions and will last longer than one month, confirmation must be submitted from the host institution(s) in the form of a letter signed by relevant department chairs or other appropriate university authorities stating that the visit is approved and briefly describing the facilities that will be made available to the applicant.
      • If the letter of confirmation from the prospective host institution(s) cannot be obtained, then the application must include a backup plan describing what would be done if the visit(s) were not possible. The location of the sabbatical must be confirmed, in the form of the above-mentioned letter, to the foundation at least three months prior to the start of the applicant’s award.
      • The location must be at either the originally proposed host institution or at the institution(s) specified in the backup plan, unless explicit permission is obtained from the foundation no later than three months before the start of the leave. Please use the Letter from Other Institution as the attachment type if including a backup plan.
    • 501(c)(3) Equivalency Determination Letter from the IRS or Equivalency Certificate from NGOsource (if applicable):
      • See Simons Foundation’s grant policies for requirements for grants to international institutions. The Simons Foundation requires that an institution is the equivalent of a U.S. public charity before making the award.
      • If a Canadian institution has been issued a determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States stating exemption under 501(c)(3) and, furthermore, either a 509(a)(1), (2) or (3) classification, a copy of this letter must be uploaded to the application.
      • If a Canadian institution has previously been approved as equivalent of a U.S. public charity via NGOsource, a copy of the issued certificate must be uploaded to the application.
      • If a Canadian institution does not have the letter or certificate at the application stage, do not upload anything for this attachment type.
      • If a Canadian institution is selected for funding and does not have one of the aforementioned documents, the foundation will require that the institution complete an equivalency determination with NGOsource. 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:
      • Must be downloaded in the Signature Page(s) section of the application, signed by the designated signing official from the institution’s sponsored research office (or equivalent) and then re-uploaded as a proposal attachment.
      • Please note that not all fields on the generated signature page will be populated and those fields should be left blank.
      • Only the signed first page of the signature page PDF file needs to be uploaded for this requirement.
      • An application should not be submitted without a signature on the signed signature page.
  8. PI Demographics: Please enter demographic data for the applicant. For required responses, the applicant can select Prefer Not to Disclose. Please click on Edit Professional Profile and navigate to Personal Data for Applications to update or change selections.

    The demographic data provided by applicants to the Simons Foundation will serve multiple purposes: to help us understand how our grantmaking reflects the communities we seek to serve and to equip our staff with critical data to help create equitable funding opportunities as one part of our overall commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Demographic data will not be shared with reviewers or otherwise used during the application review process. Aggregate data may be used publicly. Demographic data may be visible to a subset of Simons Foundation staff, such as programmatic and grantmaking staff. If you wish to review our data collection and use practices, please refer to the Simons Foundation’s privacy policy.

  9. Validate: Click the Validate button to check for any missing required information or files. All missing required information will be listed on the screen and must be corrected before the application can be submitted.
  10. 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 institution’s sponsored research office (or equivalent) and then re-uploaded as a proposal attachment.
  11. Submit: This section will only appear if the deadline has not passed.
Contact Info
  1. My university does not call leaves “sabbatical,” but rather “leave without pay” or “research leave.” Am I still eligible to apply?plus--large

    You are eligible to apply for the Simons Fellows program if you are eligible for a leave equivalent to a sabbatical, you will be granted a yearlong leave and at least 50 percent of the year’s salary is provided by your university.

  2. I have a tenure-track position. Am I eligible to apply?plus--large

    No, only those with tenured positions are eligible for the fellowship.

  3. Can the Simons Fellowship support a sabbatical in which the recipient remains at his or her home institution?plus--large

    Yes, the fellowship can support this type of sabbatical.

  4. Can my sabbatical location be outside of the United States or Canada?plus--large

    Yes, this is allowable.

  5. Although I will not be teaching any classes during my sabbatical, I will have graduate students. Is this acceptable?plus--large

    Yes, this is acceptable.

  6. My research area is biological physics. Will the program consider my application?plus--large

    It is not our intention to support biological physics with this program. However, if your work is within the theoretical biophysics area, you would be eligible to apply.

  7. If I am not appointed in a physics department, am I eligible for a Simons Fellowship in Theoretical Physics?plus--large

    Applicants will be evaluated as theoretical physicists and in terms of their potential contributions to physics, and they must fulfill all of the eligibility requirements, but there is no restriction on the home department.

  8. Will the foundation accept applications from computer scientists?plus--large

    It is not our intent to support computer science with this program.

  9. Can the Simons Fellowship be used to match another external fellowship? plus--large

    No, the Simons Fellowship cannot be used to match another external fellowship.

  10. If my total academic salary for the foundation-supported term is greater than $100,000, am I allowed to make up the difference from other sources?plus--large

    Yes, as long as your total salary, including foundation support for the period of the leave, is less than or equal to your academic year salary.

  11. Is there a limit to the number of applicants per university?plus--large

    No, there is no limit.

  12. Are emeriti faculty eligible? plus--large

    Retired and emeriti faculty are not eligible.

  13. I have an adjunct appointment. Am I eligible?plus--large

    The intent of the program is to support scientists at academic institutions. A scientist whose primary appointment (as determined by source of salary and level of teaching commitments) is at a national laboratory or other research institute but who has an adjunct, courtesy or backup appointment at an academic institution is not eligible. An adjunct faculty member whose primary employer is an academic institution and who is eligible on the basis of his or her research is eligible for the Simons Fellowship.

  14. I am not a U.S. or Canadian citizen; am I eligible to be a Simons Fellow?plus--large

    U.S. or Canadian citizenship is not required, but a grantee’s primary appointment must be at a U.S. or Canadian institution in order to apply to or hold the grant.

  15. If I am not awarded a Simons Fellowship this year, may I reapply next year?plus--large

    There is no limit on the number of times one can apply, as long as one is eligible for a sabbatical.

  16. To whom is the grant awarded?plus--large

    The grant is awarded to the Simons Fellow’s home institution.

  17. How do I get reimbursed for eligible expenses?plus--large

    As the grant is made through the awardee’s institution, one should submit requests for reimbursement and purchases as prescribed by the awardee’s department.

2022

Simon Caron-Huot, Ph.D.

McGill University

Csaba Csáki, Ph.D.

Cornell University
Portrait photo of Csaba Csaki

Aida El-Khadra, Ph.D.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Daniel Fisher, Ph.D.

Stanford University

2022

Eanna Flanagan, Ph.D.

Cornell University

Eun-Ah Kim, Ph.D.

Cornell University

Yong Baek Kim, Ph.D.

University of Toronto

David Lubensky, Ph.D.

University of Michigan

Richard O’Shaughnessy, Ph.D.

Rochester Institute of Technology

2021

Glennys Farrar, Ph.D.

New York University

Alexander Kusenko, Ph.D.

University of California, Los Angeles

Finn Larsen, Ph.D.

University of Michigan

Rahul Nandkishore, Ph.D.

University of Colorado Boulder

2020

Lea Ferreira dos Santos, Ph.D.

Yeshiva University

Eric Ford, Ph.D.

Pennsylvania State University

Lam Hui, Ph.D.

Columbia University

Christopher Jarzynski, Ph.D.

University of Maryland, College Park

Mehran Kardar, Ph.D.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Aaron Pierce, Ph.D.

University of Michigan

Andrew Strominger, Ph.D.

Harvard University

2019

Tony Gherghetta, Ph.D.

University of Minnesota

David Huse, Ph.D.

Princeton University

Renata Kallosh, Ph.D.

Stanford University

Andrei Linde, Ph.D.

Stanford University

Brian Metzger, Ph.D.

Columbia University
A photo of Brian Metzger

Elena Pierpaoli, Ph.D.

University of Southern California

Mark Robbins, Ph.D.

Johns Hopkins University

Di Xiao, Ph.D.

Carnegie Mellon University

2018

Thomas Baumgarte, Ph.D.

Bowdoin College

Raphael Bousso, Ph.D.

University of California, Berkeley

Bulbul Chakraborty, Ph.D.

Brandeis University

Marc Favata, Ph.D.

Montclair State University

Gregory Fiete, Ph.D.

University of Texas at Austin

Julian Krolik, Ph.D.

Johns Hopkins University

Anna Krylov, Ph.D.

University of Southern California

Emil Martinec, Ph.D.

University of Chicago

David Morrison, Ph.D.

University of California, Santa Barbara

Gil Paz, Ph.D.

Wayne State University

Jesse Thaler, Ph.D.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
A portrait photo of Jesse Thaler.

Todd Thompson, Ph.D.

Ohio State University

2017

Philip Argyres, Ph.D.

University of Cincinnati

Robijn Bruinsma, Ph.D.

University of California, Los Angeles

Robert Caldwell, Ph.D.

Dartmouth College

Claudio Chamon, Ph.D.

Boston University

Aashish Clerk, Ph.D.

University of Chicago
A portrait photo of Aashish Clerk.

Eric D’Hoker, Ph.D.

University of California, Los Angeles

Andrew Jordan, Ph.D.

University of Rochester

Alice Quillen, Ph.D.

University of Rochester

Lisa Randall, Ph.D.

Harvard University

Marcus Spradlin, Ph.D.

Brown University

Neal Weiner, Ph.D.

New York University
Portrait photo of Neal Weiner

2016

Zoltán Haiman, Ph.D.

Columbia University

Lawrence Hall, Ph.D.

University of California, Berkeley

Jeffrey Harvey, Ph.D.

University of Chicago
Portrait photo of Jeffrey Harvey

Wick Haxton, Ph.D.

University of California, Berkeley

Petr Hořava, Ph.D.

University of California, Berkeley

Clifford Johnson, Ph.D.

University of Southern California

Catherine Kallin, Ph.D.

McMaster University

Eun-Ah Kim, Ph.D.

Cornell University

Dong Lai, Ph.D.

Cornell University

Tom Lubensky, Ph.D.

University of Pennsylvania

Mark Newman, Ph.D.

University of Michigan

Maxim Perelstein, Ph.D.

Cornell University

Andrew Strominger, Ph.D.

Harvard University

Timo Thonhauser, Ph.D.

Wake Forest University

2015

Robert Brandenberger, Ph.D.

McGill University

Eugene Demler, Ph.D.

Harvard University
A portrait photo of Eugene Demler.

Veit Elser, Ph.D.

Cornell University

Steven Furlanetto, Ph.D.

University of California, Los Angeles

Charles Gammie, Ph.D.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Michael Gutperle, Ph.D.

University of California, Los Angeles

Elizabeth Jenkins, Ph.D.

University of California, San Diego

Patrick Lee, Ph.D.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Aneesh Manohar, Ph.D.

University of California, San Diego

Adilson Motter, Ph.D.

Northwestern University

Stephen Naculich, Ph.D.

Bowdoin College

Frank Timmes, Ph.D.

Arizona State University

Nandini Trivedi, Ph.D.

Ohio State University

Paul Wiegmann, Ph.D.

University of Chicago

2014

Zvi Bern, Ph.D.

University of California, Los Angeles

Eric G. Blackman, Ph.D.

University of Rochester

Piers Coleman, Ph.D.

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Keshav Dasgupta, Ph.D.

McGill University

Benjamin Davidovitch, Ph.D.

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Andrei Derevianko, Ph.D.

University of Nevada, Reno

Charles Doering, Ph.D.

University of Michigan

Glennys Farrar, Ph.D.

New York University

Paul Ginsparg, Ph.D.

Cornell University

Michael Hermele, Ph.D.

University of Colorado Boulder
Portrait photo of Michael Hermele

Liam McAllister, Ph.D.

Cornell University

Sonia Paban, Ph.D.

University of Texas at Austin

Christopher Reynolds, Ph.D.

University of Maryland, College Park

David Vanderbilt, Ph.D.

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Thomas Weiler, Ph.D.

Vanderbilt University

2013

Roger Blandford, Ph.D.

Stanford University

Eric Braaten, Ph.D.

Ohio State University

Mirjam Cvetic, Ph.D.

University of Pennsylvania

Yuval Grossman, Ph.D.

Cornell University

F. D. M. Haldane, Ph.D.

Princeton University

Erika Birgit Kaufmann, Ph.D.

Purdue University

M Cristina Marchetti, Ph.D.

Syracuse University

Roberto Merlin, Ph.D.

University of Michigan

Kimball Milton, Ph.D.

University of Oklahoma

Aditi Mitra, Ph.D.

New York University

Witold Skiba, Ph.D.

Yale University

Nicholas Warner, Ph.D.

University of Southern California

2012

Brett Esry, Ph.D.

Kansas State University

Katherine Freese, Ph.D.

University of Michigan

Steven Giddings, Ph.D.

University of California, Santa Barbara

Tin-Lun Ho, Ph.D.

Ohio State University

Vassiliki Kalogera, Ph.D.

Northwestern University

Hong Liu, Ph.D.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Steven Louie, Ph.D.

University of California, Berkeley

Ian Low, Ph.D.

Northwestern University

Maxim Lyutikov, Ph.D.

Purdue University

Chung-Pei Ma, Ph.D.

University of California, Berkeley

Cole Miller, Ph.D.

University of Maryland, College Park

Gregory Moore, Ph.D.

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Yasunori Nomura, Ph.D.

University of California, Berkeley

Warren Pickett, Ph.D.

University of California, Davis

Anatoli Polkovnikov, Ph.D.

Boston University
Portrait photo of Anatoli Polkovnikov

Mark Robbins, Ph.D.

Johns Hopkins University

John Toner, Ph.D.

University of Oregon

Salvatore Torquato, Ph.D.

Princeton University

Yaroslav Tserkovnyak, Ph.D.

University of California, Los Angeles

Smitha Vishveshwara, Ph.D.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Shoucheng Zhang, Ph.D.

Stanford University
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