Synthetic Plant Biology

Deadline for Full Application Submission: 12:00 p.m. (noon) Eastern time on July 30, 2026.

Create an Application:

Applications must be submitted via the Simons Award Manager (SAM). Please click on the Funding Opportunities icon and navigate to Synthetic Plant Biology. Click the Create Application button to begin. Applications should be started and submitted under the applicant’s own account in SAM.

Application Submission:

To submit an application, the following sections must be completed in SAM:

• Record Summary:
  • 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 that 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.
• Proposal Tab:
  • Applicant Details: Enter all required fields, including your ORCID iD. The applicant may edit information via the ‘Edit Profile’ button as needed. To add your ORCID iD, navigate to the ORCID tab of the user profile, and select the ‘Create or connect your ORCID iD’ button to link to your ORCID profile. Applicants must complete their profiles by clicking the ‘Complete Profile’ button on the user profile in order to submit.
  • Degrees: Click the ‘Add/Modify Degree(s)’ button to provide this information.
  • Application Details:
    • Enter a title, start and end date. Start dates must occur on the first of the month, and end dates must be on the last day of the month. Please refer to the RFA guidelines for any restrictions on award period lengths and dates.
  • Proposal:
    • Current Position: Does the Principal Investigator (PI)’s current position meet the eligibility requirements of this RFA? If you are not sure, reach out to [email protected] before applying.
    • Proposal Narrative: Upload a PDF adhering to the prompt, formatting requirements and page limits provided in SAM and below:
      • Five-page scientific narrative: Provide an overview of the scientific questions and research goals that would be enabled by the completion of the work proposed in this application; how the proposed work will enable this larger projects; and a description of the planned research, including preliminary results (if relevant).
        • Figures are permitted but must be included within the five pages.
        • Include references following the narrative. References do not count toward the page limit.
        • Use single-spaced size 11 Times New Roman text and 0.5-inch margins.
    • Biosketch: Upload a PDF of the applicant’s biosketch. Biosketches must be in SciENcv, NIH or NSF-style format.
    • Indicate the extent to which, if any, generative AI technology was used and how it was used to develop your proposal.
    • Indicate if the PI or any project personnel listed on this application are affiliated with the Simons Foundation or the Flatiron Institute as visiting scholars, independent contractors or employees.
    • Data & Renewable Reagents: If applicable, indicate your plan for generating and sharing data and/or renewable reagents.
• Contacts & Personnel Tab:
  • Institution Administrative Contacts: At least one Signing Official and one Financial Officer must be added to this section.
  • Project Personnel: All project personnel — including, but not limited to, additional PIs, co-Is, collaborators, consultants and postdoctoral research associates — must be added to this section. Please do not include the applicant in this section.
  • Subcontracts: Applications with multiple PIs from different institutions that would like to be paid by the main institution must be added to the Project Personnel section in order to generate separate budgets for each PI, as follows:
    • Will there be a subcontract? (Indicate Yes.)
    • Click the ‘Add/Modify’ button to add the Subcontract PI.
    • If the Subcontract PI should be given access to the application to complete their own budget, please add them in the role ‘Subcontract Lead – With Application Access.’ This will send an email to the Subcontract PI notifying them that they have been granted access to the application, and a subcontract budget will be created for them in the Budget tab.
    • If the Subcontract PI should not be given access to the application, please add them in the role of ‘Subcontract Contact – Without Access.’ Once added to the table, click the ‘Add More Details’ button and select the role ‘Subcontract Lead’ from the dropdown. In this case, a subcontract budget will be created for them in the Budget tab; however, they will not receive a notification. The main PI will be responsible for completing the subcontract budget on behalf of the Subcontract PI.
    • Please click the ‘Save Draft’ button in order for the newly added personnel to be displayed in the table.
• Budget Tab: Click the ‘Edit/Modify’ button to complete a budget for the proposed project. Please adhere to all budget guidelines listed in the RFA and the detailed instructions provided within the budget window. The total amount requested for each individual budget period must be a whole number.
  • You must first enter the start and end dates in the ‘Proposal’ tab to open the budget window.
  • If there is a subcontract, you must first add the subcontract lead to the ‘Project Personnel’ section of the ‘Contacts & Personnel’ tab. Once added, a subcontract budget will be created and must be completed.
  • If including personnel costs, you must add the relevant personnel to the ‘Project Personnel’ section of the ‘Contacts & Personnel’ tab. If personnel have not been hired at the time of submission, you may report their costs under TBD.
• Abstract & Keywords Tab:
  • Abstract: Please provide a technical abstract of your proposed project.
• Publications & Other Support Tab:
  • Other Support: Upload 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 organizational assurances are required for the project, such as IRB, IACUC and/or biosafety approvals. If yes, you will be prompted to provide additional information. There is a ‘pending’ option for assurances that are in process, and to-be-determined dates can be left blank.

Check Application Progress: Click the ‘Check Application Progress’ button to verify that all required information and files have been submitted. Any missing requirements will be listed at the top of the screen and must be corrected before the application can be submitted.

Institutional Sign-off and Application Submission: When the application is complete, please click the ‘Send for Sign-off’ button to send the application to your Signing Official for signature. You will not be able to send the application for sign-off if any application requirements are missing. The Signing Official will receive an email from [email protected] notifying them that an application requires their signature. The Signing Official must electronically sign the application via the Submission tab of the application. Once their signature is entered and saved, the Signing Official must click the ‘Submit Signature’ button. This will officially submit the application to the foundation. A confirmation page will appear to 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.

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.