Solar Radiation Management

Deadline for Letter of Intent (LOI) Submission: October 6, 2026 at 12 p.m. (noon) Eastern time. Late applications will not be accepted.

Create a LOI:

LOIs must be submitted via the Simons Award Manager (SAM), https://sam.simonsfoundation.org/. Please click on the Funding Opportunities icon. Applications should be started and submitted under the applicant’s own account in the Simons Award Manager (SAM). For the Solar Radiation Management application, please click on Create Application and then on Begin Application. After creating an application, navigate to the Awards and Applications table on your homepage to access the in-progress application.

Informational videos on submitting applications in SAM can be found here.

LOI and proposal attachments should be single-spaced and in a common typeface and font size no smaller than 10 points. Margins must be at least half an inch in all directions.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The role type co-Investigator should not be used for this proposal. Please only use the role type Additional PI for non-Applicant PIs.

Letter of Intent (LOI) Submission:

1. Record Summary:
   1. The applicant’s name and institution will appear in this section. The institution will default to the user’s primary affiliation in their SAM profile. Please ensure the listed institution is the one to which funds must be administered if selected for funding. If the institution or applicant must be changed, please refer to the SAM Frequently Asked Questions for assistance.
2. Proposal Tab:
   1. Applicant Details:
      1. Complete all required fields, including academic rank, position/title and ORCID iD.
      2. This information should be completed in the applicant’s profile. The applicant may use the Edit Profile button to update their information as needed.
      3. To add the applicant’s ORCID iD, navigate to the ORCID tab of the user profile, and select the ‘Create or connect your ORCID iD’ button to link to the applicant’s ORCID profile.
      4. Applicants must complete their profiles by clicking the ‘Complete Profile’ button on the user profile in order to submit.
   2. Degrees: Add/modify applicant degrees (required).
   3. Application Details: Enter the title of the LOI application.
   4. Proposal – Upload required files as follows:
      1. LOI Narrative:
         1. Introduce the problem statement, including a brief statement of planned work, anticipated outcomes and relevant expertise and expected contribution of each member of the team (two-page limit, plus up to one page for references and figures, which can be embedded within the text).
         2. Statement from Current Awardees Only: Provide an additional one-page statement describing notable outcomes from your current award and explaining how the planned work continues the work on your current project or, if it does not, how you plan to pivot in your next award. Please also address the planned team structure and any differences from your current team structure. If this team is seeking the possibility of $1M per year, please explain, within an additional half page, how this increased funding would be justified. An additional half page for references may be included in this statement.
      2. Personnel Biosketches: Upload a PDF of the biosketch for each Applicant PI and Additional PI (including subcontract PIs). Biosketches must be in SciENcv, NIH, or NSF-style format or a two- to three-page CV. Please name each PDF as Last Name_First Name_Biosketch.
   5. Indicate the extent to which, if any, generative AI technology was used and how it was used to develop your proposal.
3. Contacts & Personnel Tab:
   1. Institution Administrative Contacts: While a Signing Official and Financial Officer are not required to submit an LOI, it is possible that your institutional officials would request to be added at this stage.
   2. Project Personnel – IMPORTANT NOTE: The role type co-Investigator should not be used for this proposal. Please only use the role type Additional PI for non-Applicant PIs:
      1. Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to ‘Will there be a subcontract?’, as applicable and Add/modify as needed.
      2. Under Project Personnel, indicate all other non-subcontract project personnel, including additional PIs, collaborators, consultants, postdoctoral research associates and others.

      Note: Additional PIs must be added in either the ‘Subcontract Personnel’ or ‘Project Personnel’ section in a ‘Subcontract Lead – With or Without Application Access’ or ‘Project Personnel – With or Without Application Access’ role, respectively; then, once the application has been saved, click on the Add More Detail button and select Additional Principal Investigator.
       
      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.

4. Publications & Other Support Tab:
   1. Publications: Provide a list of up to five relevant publications for each Applicant PI and Additional PI (including subcontract PIs) via their SAM profile or PDF upload. Please name each PDF as Last Name_First Name_Publications.
5. 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.
6. Submit Application: When the LOI application is complete, click on the Submit Application button to submit to the foundation. A confirmation page will appear once the application is successfully submitted. The applicant will also receive an email confirming its submission. Please note that a LOI cannot be submitted if the deadline has passed. A submitted LOI will appear in the Submitted queue of the Awards and Applications table on your SAM home page.

LOI Approval:

A notification will be sent to the PI listed on the application, inviting them to submit a full application in SAM. If an LOI is approved, the status changes to In Progress and the record appears in the ‘Draft’ column of the ‘Applications and Awards’ table. Click on the record to gain access to the full proposal application.

Full Proposal Submission: Please adhere to any additional guidelines that may be included in your LOI Approval notification.

1. Record Summary:
   1. The applicant’s name and institution will appear in this section. The institution will default to the user’s primary affiliation in their SAM profile. Please ensure the listed institution is the one to which funds must be administered if selected for funding. If the institution or applicant must be changed, please refer to the SAM Frequently Asked Questions for assistance.
2. Proposal Tab:
   1. Applicant Details
      1. Complete all required fields, including academic rank, position/title and ORCID iD.
      2. This information should be completed in the applicant’s profile. The applicant may use the Edit Profile button to update their information as needed.
      3. To add the applicant’s ORCID iD, navigate to the ORCID tab of the user profile, and select the ‘Create or connect your ORCID iD’ button to link to the applicant’s ORCID profile.
      4. Applicants must complete their profiles by clicking the ‘Complete Profile’ button on the user profile in order to submit.
   2. Degrees: Add/modify applicant degrees (required).
   3. Application Details:
      1. Title: The title of the full proposal application will be the same as in the LOI proposal. The title for the full proposal application can be updated as long as the title is substantially similar to the LOI title.
      2. Enter start and end dates. The three-year award will commence August 1, 2027.
   4. Proposal:
      1. Narrative (five-page limit, including references and figures, which can be embedded within the text): The narrative should contain a clear description of the work plan, including materials to be tested, where applicable, and a summary of the goals and milestones for each year of the project, including the groups/individuals responsible for each task. A management plan describing the coordination of the participating research groups must also be included.
      2. Personnel Biosketches: Upload a PDF of the biosketch for each Applicant PI and Additional PI (including subcontract PIs). Biosketches must be in SciENcv, NIH, or NSF-style format for a two- to- three-page CV. Please name each PDF as Last Name_First Name_Biosketch.
      3. Other Upload: Use this optional upload for additional budget justification related documentation (e.g., equipment quotes and tables). This upload should not substitute for justification entered in the budget, which is required for every line item entered.
      4. Indicate the extent to which, if any, generative AI technology was used and how it was used to develop your proposal.
      5. Indicate whether the PI or any project personnel listed on the application are affiliated with the Simons Foundation or the Flatiron Institute as a Visiting Scholar / Independent Contractor or Employee.
      6. Data & Renewable Reagents: Select ‘Data’ for the ‘Will data and/or renewable reagents be generated by your research?’ question. Provide your data sharing plan, addressing what data will be generated by your research and your policies for access and sharing the data during the life of your award and after award closeout.
3. Contacts & Personnel Tab:
   1. Please refer to the instructions provided in SAM for adding Institution Administrative Contacts. At least one Signing Official and one Financial Officer must be added to this section.
   2. Project Personnel – IMPORTANT NOTE: The role type co-Investigator should not be used for this proposal. Please only use the role type Additional PI for non-Applicant PIs:
      1. Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to ‘Will there be a subcontract?’, as applicable, and Add/modify as needed.
      2. Under Project Personnel, indicate all other non-subcontract project personnel, including additional PIs, collaborators, consultants, postdoctoral research associates and others.

   Note: Additional PIs must be added in either the ‘Subcontract Personnel’ or ‘Project Personnel’ section in a ‘Subcontract Lead – With or Without Application Access’ or ‘Project Personnel – With or Without Application Access’ role, respectively; then, once the application has been saved, click on the Add More Detail button and select Additional Principal Investigator.

   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.

4. Budget Tab: Click the Edit/Modify button to add a detailed, three-year budget in USD and corresponding justification. Please refer to the RFA for funding levels and allowable expenses.
   1. Please enter the applicant PI and every Additional PI in the Personnel Costs section even if not requesting salary in order to reflect each PI’s percent effort.
   2. For PIs requesting summer salary, please only select Academic (referring to 9 or 10 months) for the Appt Type (which refers to the individual’s institutional appointment) and input the base salary corresponding to this appointment type.
   3. For PIs requesting summer salary at non-US institutions and/or those receiving 12 months of salary, the program allows them to request an additional 1 month of summer salary for their research effort on the project, provided that the summer salary request is not in violation of their institution’s policies of more than 100 percent effort per year. Please only select Annual for the Appt Type (which refers to the individual’s institutional appointment) and input the base salary corresponding to this appointment type.
   4. Important: In order for known project personnel to display in the Personnel column drop-down list, you must add them as Project Personnel in the Contacts & Personnel tab of the application, as well as add an application role to each personnel using the Add More Details button. You will need to close and reopen the budget for the changes to populate.
   5. Do not select TBD in the Personnel drop-down list if the personnel are known. They must be first entered in the Project Personnel section as outlined above.
   6. Do not combine personnel on one budget line (e.g., multiple postdocs must be itemized individually).
   7. Provide justification for each budget line item entered, including all Personnel Costs requested. Please note that the budget justification should be detailed and appropriate for the funds being requested. An insufficient budget justification will result in the proposal not being considered further.
   8. The addition of subcontract budgets is handled via the Project Personnel section in the Contacts & Personnel tab. Please click on the ‘Add/modify project personnel’ button in that section for additional instructions.
   9. Within each budget period, you have the ability to copy the budget and justification from the previous period and then make edits as needed. Important note: If content has already been entered in year 2 or 3, for example, copying from the previous year will not replace the content – it will only add the previous year’s content, potentially duplicating the budget the next year. Duplicated entries can only be deleted individually by line item.
5. Publications & Other Support Tab:
   1. Publications: Provide a list of up to five relevant publications for each Applicant PI and Additional PI (including subcontract PIs) via PDF upload or SAM profiles. If selecting from the SAM profile, users can import data from other publication databases such as ORCID, PubMed, or OpenAlex. Please name each PDF as Last Name_First Name_Publications.
   2. Other Support: Please follow instructions for providing current and pending support for each Applicant PI and Additional PI (including subcontract PIs) via PDF upload or via SAM profiles.
      1. Provide all current and pending external Applicant and Additional PI support, which includes all financial resources, whether federal or nonfederal, available in direct support of the PIs and their research. It is not necessary to include internal funding or this current application.
      2. If providing via SAM profile, select Yes. Then select the Select Other Support from Profile option. Click the Assign Other Support for This Proposal button to add other support to this application. This will display all other support related to the applicant that was previously added to their SAM profile. Reporting overlap is required to submit an application. Please click on the Report Overlap button for each entry and select Yes or No as appropriate. Add description of overlap, as applicable.
      3. If using PDF upload, NSF format is sufficient and should at least provide the award number, source of funding, title of award, dates of project and total direct costs for each support item listed. Please name each PDF as Last Name_First Name_Support.
6. 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.
7. Send for Sign-Off & Submit Application: When the application is complete, click on the ‘Send for sign-off’ button to send to your institution’s signing official for signature. The Signing Official will receive an email from [email protected] notifying them that an application requires their signature. The Signing Official must provide an electronic signature in the Submission tab of the proposal. Once their signature is entered and saved, the Signing Official must click on the Submit Signature button which will submit the application to the foundation. A confirmation page will appear for the Signing Official once the application is successfully submitted, and the application will now appear in the Submitted tab of the ‘Applications and Awards’ table. The applicant, Signing Official and Financial Officer will receive an email from [email protected] when the application is signed and submitted. Please note that you will not be able to submit an application if the deadline has passed.

Once your application has been submitted, the Simons Foundation staff will be in touch if we require any additional information or revisions to your application.

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.