The deadline for Letter of Intent (LOI) submission is 12:00 p.m. (Noon) Eastern Time on Tuesday, February 13, 2024.
Applications must be submitted via the Simons Award Manager (SAM). LOIs should be started and submitted under the applicant’s own account in SAM.
Please click this link to create an LOI in SAM. Once the LOI has been created, navigate to the SAM website and find the application in the Drafts tab of the Applications in Progress table.
You can view instructional videos and answers to frequently asked questions about submitting applications in SAM here. A step-by-step introduction to SAM can be found here, using a previous year’s application. Please note that the 2024 LOI includes requirements not part of the 2023 LOI. The video may be useful for those navigating SAM for the first time, but all labs should refer to the detailed instructions below in order to submit their LOI.
Informational Session
Principal Investigators and lab members interested in the SURFiN host lab opportunity are encouraged to attend a virtual information session on Thursday, January 11, 2024, from 12:00–1:00 p.m. Eastern Time and may register here. A recording of this session can be provided upon request to [email protected].
Important Information:
The invited Principal Investigator (PI) of the hosting lab must submit one (1) LOI on behalf of all the potential mentors (e.g., graduate students or postdoctoral researchers) in their lab who are interested in participating in the 2024–2025 SURFiN program. A host lab may submit an LOI listing multiple SURFiN mentors and if each is paired with a fellow, host multiple SURFiN fellows.
In the instructions below, “applicant” refers to the PI/head of the lab. “Mentor” refers to the lab member who will be directly overseeing the fellow’s work during the academic year. We encourage host laboratories to identify early career scientists, such as graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, to serve as mentors. We encourage interested individuals belonging to groups underrepresented in science to serve as mentors.
Letter of Intent (LOI) Submission: Full step-by-step instructions for the LOI are provided within the application in SAM. Applicants must download and read the instructions provided within the LOI carefully. You will be required to provide information about your lab, the lab members interested in serving as mentors for the 2024–2025 SURFiN program, and their proposed projects among other application requirements.
Answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) are available to download in SAM.
- Record Summary: Please make sure that the PI listed is the Principal Investigator of the lab, not the mentor. If you need assistance updating the PI, please contact [email protected].
- Proposal Tab: Complete all required fields in this section by uploading or entering the required information. Specific information provided in this section will be published on our website as part of the list of available SURFiN lab opportunities. Applicants must download the instructions and templates in SAM for certain LOI requirements. Please be attentive to page limits noted in the instructions in SAM. If a LOI field includes a link to a template, you must use the template provided.
For the application title, enter “2024–2025 Shenoy Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Neuroscience”. The application includes the following items, among other application requirements: Lab Website; Institution Confirmation of Ability to Administer Funds (download the template provided in SAM and collaborate with your institution’s signing official to complete this letter); and a Curriculum Vitae, Brief Biography, Project Title, and Project Description for each lab member interested in serving as a SURFiN mentor. - Contacts & Personnel Tab: Refer to the instructions provided in SAM to add institution administrative contacts and project personnel. Institution contacts are strongly encouraged at the LOI stage. We suggest you add at least one (1) Institution signing official (SO) and one (1) financial officer (FO) to the Institution Administrative Contacts section.
For personnel, you must list each mentor and indicate if they are a graduate student, postdoctoral researcher or other position. A mentor may have a pre-existing SAM account. If so, please confirm with them the email address currently associated with their SAM account. That is the email you should use when adding them to the personnel section. If the mentor does not have a SAM account, you can create an account for them. - 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 LOI can be submitted.
- Submit Application: When the LOI is complete, please click on the Submit Application button. A confirmation page will appear once the LOI is successfully submitted. A confirmation email is also sent upon submission. Please make sure that spam filters allow emails from [email protected]. Please contact [email protected] if you did not receive a confirmation email and it is not in your spam folder. The submitted application will appear in the Submitted tab of the Applications in Progress table. Please note that you will not be able to submit an LOI if the deadline has passed.
Once your application has been submitted, the Simons Foundation will be in touch if we require any additional information or revisions for your submission. Please monitor your inbox and make sure that spam filters allow emails from [email protected] and [email protected]. Applicants are encouraged to monitor the status of the submission through SAM periodically.
LOI Approval: In July 2024, labs successfully paired with at least one undergraduate student through our matching process will be invited to submit a budget and institutional sign-off via a full application in SAM.
Potential SURFiN lab opportunities will be posted online when the undergraduate request for applications (RFA) opens on March 26, 2024. It is our intent to have all labs that apply listed on our website as potential SURFiN lab opportunities the undergraduate students can apply for. However, if there are any questions or concerns about your lab’s proposed project(s), our staff will contact you to request additional information.
When undergraduate students apply to the program, they will be required to indicate at least one (1) laboratory opportunity from the list of potential SURFiN host laboratories as their preferred choice. Based on recommendations from an external review committee, we will select undergraduate finalists for interview(s) with potential mentors. Potential mentors will have the opportunity to interview the finalists selected for their lab in June 2024. Our staff will assign final pairings based on mentor and finalist feedback from these interviews. We will attempt to make as many mentor-fellow pairings as possible. Please note that not all potential mentors are guaranteed to be paired with an undergraduate fellow. Typically, we expect one (1) undergraduate student to be assigned to one (1) mentor. However, if the mentor agrees, they may be paired with more than one (1) fellow. Host laboratories that are successfully paired with a fellow(s) will have their LOI approved and will be invited to submit a budget and institutional sign-off via a full application in SAM.
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.
Contacts
Administrative Inquiries: [email protected]
Scientific Inquiries: [email protected]
Technical Assistance: [email protected]
Office Hours: Monday–Friday 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Office Closures: The Simons Foundation offices will be closed December 23, 2023–January 1, 2024, and January 15, 2024.