Targeted Grants in MPS

Applicants must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) via the Simons Award Manager (SAM), https://sam.simonsfoundation.org/. The deadline is rolling, and an LOI can be submitted at any time. 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 Targeted Grants in MPS application, please click on Create Application, then Begin Application. Informational videos on submitting applications in SAM can be found here.

For projects with more than one PI, the LOI should be submitted by the PI designated as the main PI and his/her institution. LOI and proposal attachments should be single spaced and in typeface no smaller than 10-point font. Margins, in all directions, must be at least one-half inch.

Please note that in the event of budgetary or other considerations The Simons Foundation, Inc. reserves the right to refer an application to The Simons Foundation International, Ltd. (SFI) for consideration and funding, in which case SFI’s grant policies would apply.

Please complete the application as follows:

LOI:

1. Proposal Tab:
   1. Applicant Details & Personal Data: Complete all required fields for the applicant/PI, including academic rank, demographic data, position/title and ORCID iD. This information should be completed in the applicant’s profile. The applicant may use the Edit Profile button to update their information as needed.
   2. Academic Degrees: Enter degrees (optional).
   3. Application Details:
      1. Enter the title of the LOI application.
      2. Enter the requested budget total.
   4. Proposal – Upload required files as follows:
      1. Letter of Intent Narrative (two-page limit, plus up to one page for references and figures, which can be embedded within the text): Signed by the main PI on letterhead and which includes a brief summary of the support requested, including the names of the other PIs involved, if applicable, the scientific goals, background relevant to the application and a brief budget justification.
      2. Budget (one-page limit): A tentative yearly budget, indicating total amount and major expense categories with proposed start and end dates.
      3. Personnel Biosketches: A SciENcv or fillable PDF NIH- or NSF-style biosketch is to be uploaded for each PI and co-Investigator (co-I). 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.
2. Contacts & Personnel Tab: Please refer to the instructions provided in SAM. Under Project Personnel, indicate all project personnel, other than the applicant PI, including additional PIs, co-Is, collaborators, consultants, postdoctoral research associates and others. 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. Please note that the Simons Foundation does not use the role type co-PI.
3. 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.
4. Submit Application: When the LOI application is complete, please click on the Submit Application button to submit to the foundation. Please note that you will not be able to submit an application if the deadline has passed. A submitted LOI will appear in the Submitted queue of the Applications in Progress table on the applicant’s SAM home page. 

LOI Approval:

If an LOI is approved, the status changes to In Progress. Click on the record to gain access to the full proposal application.

Full Proposal:

1. Proposal Tab:
   1. Applicant Details & Personal Data: Complete all required fields for the applicant/PI, including academic rank, demographic data, position/title and ORCID iD. This information should be completed in the applicant’s profile. The applicant may use the Edit Profile button to update their information as needed.
   2. Academic Degrees: Enter degrees (optional).
   3. Application Details:
      1. The application title will be prepopulated with the title entered in the LOI section.
      2. Enter the requested Start and End Dates.
   4. Proposal – Upload required files as follows:
      1. Proposal Narrative (six-page limit, plus up to two pages for references and figures, which can be embedded within the text): A summary of the support requested, names of the PI(s) involved, if applicable, scientific goals, background relevant to the application and the significance of the requested support.
      2. Personnel Biosketches: A SciENcv or fillable PDF NIH- or NSF-style biosketch is to be uploaded for each PI and co-I. 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.
2. Contacts & Personnel Tab: Please refer to the instructions provided in SAM. Under Project Personnel, indicate all key personnel, other than the applicant PI, including additional PIs, co-Is, collaborators, consultants, postdoctoral research associates and others. Key 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. Please note that the Simons Foundation does not use the role type co-PI.
   
   Note: Demographic Data is required for all project personnel with the role of Additional Principal Investigator or Subcontract Lead – Additional Principal Investigator. For each individual in these roles, within their SAM profile, a response must be provided for all required fields; however, “Prefer not to disclose” is an available option for each required question. Disclosing demographic data is voluntary.
3. Budget Tab: Click the Edit/Modify button to add an up to five-year budget in U.S. dollars. Please refer to the allowable expenses outlined in the RFA. In projects where there is more than one PI at different institutions, all but one of the budgets should be entered as a subcontract.
   1. Please enter each PI on each proposal in the Personnel Costs section of that proposal budget even if not requesting salary.
   2. For PIs and co-Is 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 the base salary corresponding to this appointment type.
   3. For PIs and co-Is requesting summer salary at non-U.S. institutions and/or those receiving 12 months of salary, the program allows them to request up to 1/12 of their calendar year salary as a contribution to research time on the project, provided that the summer salary request is not in violation of their institution’s policies of more than 100% effort per year. Please only select Annual for the Appt Type (which refers to the individual’s institutional appointment) and 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 is 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.
4. Publications & Other Support Tab: Please provide other support as indicated.
   1. Publications: Provide a list of up to 10 relevant publications for each PI and co-I via PDF upload or SAM profiles. Please name each PDF as Last Name_First Name_Publications.
   2. Other Support: Please follow instructions for providing current and pending support for each PI and co-I via PDF upload or via SAM profiles. If providing via SAM profile, reporting overlap is required to submit an application. While overlap is not a consideration for funding in this program, please click on the Report Overlap button for each entry and select Yes or No as appropriate. If using PDF upload, NSF or other format is sufficient and should at least provide the award number, source of funding, title of award, dates of project and total costs for each support item listed. Please name each PDF as Last Name_First Name_Support.
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. Send for Sign-off: When the application is complete, please click on the Send for sign-off button to send to your signing official for signature. You will receive a notification when the application is signed.
7. Submit Application: When the full proposal application is complete and signed, please click on the Submit Application button. A confirmation page will appear once the application is successfully submitted. The application will now appear in the Submitted queue of the Applications in Progress table on the applicant’s SAM home page. Please note that you will not be able to submit an application if the deadline has passed.