Life Sciences
The Simons Foundation division of Life Sciences seeks to advance basic research on fundamental questions in biology. The division currently focuses on origins of life, microbial oceanography, microbial ecology and evolution, and support of early career scientists.
Research Areas

Supports the Simons Collaboration on the Origins of Life
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Supports two Simons Collaborations — on Ocean Processes and Ecology and on Computational Biogeochemical Modeling of Marine Ecosystems — and other programs
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Supports the Simons Collaboration on Principles of Microbial Ecosystems and other programs
View MoreAwards
Awards to individuals support research in microbial oceanography, microbial ecology and evolution, and areas related to origins of life and early evolution.
Read MoreThe division provides support for outstanding early-career investigators through Simons Early Career Investigator in Aquatic Microbial Ecology and Evolution Awards.
Read MoreThe Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Marine Microbial Ecology support entry of talented scientists into this field. The division also sponsors fellowships in partnership with the Life Sciences Research Foundation.
Read MoreSupport is provided for the Microbial Diversity Course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, the International Geobiology course, based at the California Institute of Technology, the MIT Integrative Microbiology Initiative, and other programs.
Read MoreData on diverse human populations from the Simons Genome Diversity Project are available.
Read MoreThe NSF-Simons Research Centers for Mathematics of Complex Biological Systems (MathBioSys) program is a partnership of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Simons Foundation divisions of Mathematics and Physical Sciences and of Life Sciences. The program has launched four new centers to bring mathematical perspectives to the search for the underlying principles that govern how life functions.
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