Junior Fellows of the Simons Society of Fellows Request for Nominations

The Simons Foundation invites nominations for Junior Fellows of the Simons Society of Fellows. This year’s call is open to any individual who meets the nominator eligibility requirements outlined below and is interested in nominating a candidate for a Junior Fellowship.

Deadline for Nomination Submission: September 10, 2026, 12 p.m. (noon) Eastern time

Basis for Awards

The Simons Society of Fellows strives to create a community of scholars and to encourage intellectual interactions across disciplines and research centers in New York City. This is a prestigious, competitive program through which less than 10 percent of nominees are selected.

Junior Fellows are outstanding young scientists who receive support from the foundation for up to three years to conduct independent research at an educational institution in New York City. The foundation requires Junior Fellows to attend weekly lectures and dinners at the foundation during the academic year, as well as an annual conference and a four-day weekend retreat.

Funding

• Award Amount: In 2027/28, a Junior Fellow will receive a stipend of $102,799, funds for fringe benefits based on the host institutional fringe rate, as well as a $10,000 research allowance. The Junior Fellow’s New York City host institution will receive an additional 20 percent in indirect costs. A Junior Fellow’s salary support automatically increases by three percent each funding year.
• Award Duration: Junior Fellows are appointed for up to three years. A fellowship must begin on July 1, August 1 or September 1, 2027.
• Number of Awards: In 2027, the foundation expects to appoint up to 15 Junior Fellows.

Allowable Expenses

The research funds provided to the Junior Fellow may be used to support expenses in the following categories:

• Scientific domestic or international travel by the Junior Fellow.
• Small equipment, supplies and other expenses directly benefiting the Junior Fellow’s research.
• Expenses related to travel or hosting scientific visitors and collaborators.

Junior Fellow Eligibility

To be a Junior Fellow, one must be engaged in research in one of the following areas of science:

• pure and applied mathematics;
• computer and information science;
• life sciences, including genetics, cellular and organismic biology, neurosciences and basic aspects of biomedical research;
• physical and engineering sciences, including astronomy, chemistry, engineering, earth sciences, physics and related disciplines.

For 2027, a Junior Fellow must have fulfilled the requirements of a Ph.D. no earlier than May 2025 and no later than August of 2027. A Junior Fellowship cannot be held concurrently with another fellowship or a tenure-track faculty appointment.

Junior Fellows cannot hold Simons Foundation or Simons Foundation International grants during their appointment but may work on research projects funded by other grants and, if permitted by their institution, may apply for or hold grants from non-foundation sources. Junior Fellows may not receive salary support from grants. If salary support from other sources, such as voluntary teaching, is accepted, the fellowship award amount will be correspondingly reduced.

Junior Fellows may transfer their award to another educational institution in New York City (i.e., in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island, Queens or the Bronx), including any medical institution that is affiliated with such an institution. Junior Fellows are expected to be in residence in New York City during the academic year. Residency in New York City outside of the academic terms is not required.

Periods of sabbatical or research leave are not allowed during the Junior Fellowship. A Junior Fellowship may be interrupted and resumed for reasons that would normally justify a leave from the individual’s institution, such as illness, the need to care for family members or time off for national service.

The award will be interrupted or terminated at the foundation’s discretion if the Junior Fellow takes up a primary, long-term position at a research institute, national laboratory, non–New York City or for-profit organization or accepts a major administrative responsibility that significantly reduces the time available for research.

Host Institution Eligibility

A host institution must be an educational institution in New York City (i.e., in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, or Staten Island or the Bronx), including any medical institution that is affiliated with such an institution. Institutions outside New York City are not eligible.

Host institutions will be required to designate a scientific mentor for the Junior Fellow. The Flatiron Institute is not an eligible host institution, although Fellows may spend time at the institute. Additionally, the host institution must agree to appoint the Junior Fellow as an employee of the institution with a postdoctoral research associate, or equivalent, title with no teaching obligations and to provide the standard benefits package that this institution provides to equivalent titles.

For Junior Fellow candidates that will be hosted in a research group, only one current Junior Fellow is allowed per group at any given time.

Nomination Application Roles

A complete nomination package involves three distinct individuals: the nominator, the recommender, and the mentor, each playing a different role. No individual may serve in more than one of these roles for a given nomination, and none of these individuals may be the nominee themselves.

• The nominator is the individual who formally submits the nomination on behalf of the candidate. The nominator takes responsibility for assembling the nomination package in collaboration with the nominee and submits it through SAM.
• The recommender provides an independent letter of support for the nominee, separate from the nomination letter.
• The mentor is the scientist at the NYC host institution who will work directly with the Junior Fellow during the fellowship. The mentor is not permitted to write either the nomination letter or the recommendation letter.

Nominator Eligibility

• A nominator must have tenured or equivalent position at an educational or research institute.
• Nominees cannot be their own nominators.
• The individual who is intended to be the nominee’s mentor at the host institution cannot write the nomination letter.
• A nominator may submit only one nomination per year.
• Either the nominator or the recommender must be from an institution outside the nominee’s current institution.
• Active Senior Fellows of the Society of Fellows cannot nominate.

Recommender Eligibility

• A recommender must have tenure-track or tenured or equivalent position at an educational or research institute. Nominees cannot be their own recommenders.
• The individual who is intended to be the nominee’s mentor during the fellowship cannot write the recommendation letter.
• Either the nominator or the recommender must be from an institution outside the nominee’s current institution. Active Senior Fellows of the Society of Fellows cannot write a recommendation letter.

Mentor Eligibility

• A mentor must have a tenure-track or tenured or equivalent position at an eligible NYC host institute.
• A scientist can be listed as a mentor in at most one nomination in any year, and a scientist can mentor at most one Junior Fellow at a time.
• A mentor can only be involved in one nomination if they are currently not mentoring a Junior Fellow or, if the Junior Fellow they are mentoring will have their award ending before the start date of nominee’s award.
• The individual who is intended to be the nominee’s mentor at the host institution cannot write the nomination letter or recommendation letter.
• Active Senior Fellows of the Society of Fellows cannot be a current or future mentor of a nominee.

Selection Procedure

Junior Fellows are selected by Senior Fellows of the Simons Society of Fellows, distinguished scientists based in New York City. Senior Fellows will decide on a short list of Junior Fellow nominees to be invited for interviews at the foundation and will conduct these interviews on October 7, 14, 21 and 28 and November 4 and 11, 2026, from 1:20–5:50 PM Eastern time.

Nominees must be available to attend an in-person interview on one of these dates. The schedule will be made at the discretion of the foundation. Additionally, the nominees are strongly encouraged to attend the Simons Foundation Presidential Lecture on the day of their interview and the corresponding dinner which follows the lecture and is held at the foundation.

The nominees invited to interview should be prepared to talk for 15 minutes, with approximately five minutes on the background and state of the nominee’s field, five minutes on the nominee’s previous work and five minutes on research plans. The presentation should be accessible to a general scientific audience, while providing enough specificity to allow scientists in the nominee’s own field to judge the past and proposed research.

Nomination Process

Nominations must be submitted via the Simons Award Manager (SAM) under the nominator’s SAM account. Only one nomination per individual is permitted. The deadline to submit nominations is September 10, 2026, 12 p.m. (noon) Eastern time. Please refer to the How to Apply tab for instructions on submitting a nomination.

Late submissions will not be accepted and no extensions will be provided. Submissions by nominees will also not be accepted.

Notifications will be sent by December 31, 2026.

Award Policies

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.

Additional award terms may be included in the official award notification. Grantees are subject to the conditions outlined in their official award notification.

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.

Resources

• Instructions for How to Nominate
• Frequently Asked Questions
• SAM Frequently Asked Questions and Instructional Videos