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Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution

Simons Foundation

The Simons Foundation’s Life Sciences division is now accepting applications for its Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution. The deadline for receipt of fellowship applications (termed LOI in Simons Award Manager) is July 31, 2025, 12:00 p.m. (noon) Eastern time.

Opportunity

The purpose of these awards is to provide support for students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs with a plan to perform research in ecology and evolution. While we will consider all projects in ecology and evolution, we are particularly interested in interdisciplinary research that jointly considers processes on both ecological and evolutionary timescales, or that links studies of ecology and evolution to other STEM fields, including physics, computer science, mathematics, chemistry and other areas of biology, especially genetics.

Level and Duration of Funding

Grant funding will be for a maximum of three years of financial support usable over a five-year fellowship period. Awards will total $265,800, including indirect costs (limited to 20 percent of modified total direct costs). This covers three years’ worth of full-time support within a five-year period.

For each year of full-time support, the budget is set as follows: $50,000 stipend ($4,166.66 per month); a maximum of $25,000 cost of education allowance; $3,000 research funds; and up to $10,600 in indirect costs. The cost of education allowance may be used for tuition, tuition-related fees, health insurance for the fellow and their family, and other benefits as required by the institution. Indirect costs are not permitted on the cost of education allowance. Any funds remaining from the cost of education allowance must be made available to the fellow as additional research funds. Research funds may be used for: research supplies, small equipment (including computers), publication costs, attendance at scientific meetings and other research-related travel. Although fellows will be expected to attend and present their research at an annual meeting in New York City, these costs will be covered by the foundation outside of grant funds and should not be charged to the fellowship. Costs for new student visas (including expenses incurred for visas prior to the award start date) and for student visa renewals within the award period are an allowable expense under the research funds category. Up to $2,000 of the cost of education allowance may be used for relocation of the fellow and family to the host institution. Relocation costs must be in accordance with the policies of the host institution. Payment cannot be made directly to fellows.

Prior to each grant year, the host institution must certify how much support is requested from the fellowship for that year, by number of months. The stipend and cost of education allowance for that grant period will be prorated based on the number of months of support required from the fellowship. The research funds can be budgeted in any grant year, regardless of whether stipend and cost of education allowance are budgeted.

Reallocation: Funds may not be reallocated to or from the stipend. Funds may be reallocated from the cost of education allowance to the research allowance, but not from the research allowance to the cost of education allowance.

Grant transfers: Transfers to another institution are permitted with prior approval from the foundation.

No-Cost extensions: No-cost extensions will not be permitted.

Awards will begin August 1, 2026; September 1, 2026; or October 1, 2026. Please see our grant policies for further guidelines.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

🌟 1. Outstanding Fundamental Research and Investigator Excellence

Founded in 1994 by Jim and Marilyn Simons, the foundation supports discovery-driven mathematics and basic science research via core programs including individual investigator grants and collaborative awards  .

The prestigious Simons Investigators awards (targeting mid-career faculty) provide $150K–192K/year over five years to foster deep, sustained theoretical research and mentorship  .

🔗 2. Long-Term, Collaborative Funding Model

The Simons Collaborations are large, multidisciplinary grants (often lasting 10 years and totaling $5–12M/year) designed to foster novel, team-based research across disciplines — mathematics, life sciences, and computational neuroscience  .

🎓 3. Support for Early-Career Independence

Programs such as Early Career Investigator Awards (e.g., in aquatic microbial ecology) help launch independent labs in emerging fields by funding early-stage faculty within their first few years on the tenure track  .

🧩 4. Eligibility Aligned with Career Stage and Role

Simons Investigators are mid-career, tenured faculty (typically in the U.S., Canada, U.K., or Eire), chosen through institutional nomination (up to two per subfield)  .

Early career awards require independent faculty appointments within ~5 years (e.g., aquatic microbial ecology award: appointment between 2018–2023 for the 2024 cycle)  .

📋 5. Institutional Nomination & Blinded LOI Review

Simons Investigator nominations come from institutions and emphasize diversity of nominees; initial LOI review is typically single-blind or blinded to reduce bias .

⚙️ 6. Flexible, Investigator-Driven Use of Funds

Grants allow usage across salaries, trainees, travel, visitors, equipment, and supplies—but explicitly exclude sabbatical/teaching relief, giving scientists freedom to allocate resources responsibly  .

🔄 7. Structured, Standards-Driven Application Process

Submissions and budgets go through proposalCENTRAL/SAM, institutional sign-off and compliance checks, with strict deadlines and standard formatting rules for pages, fonts, biosketches, justification, etc. .

🌍 8. Strong Emphasis on Equity & Inclusion

The foundation proactively encourages nominations from underrepresented groups, and maintains equity principles across all divisions.

✅ Winning Strategies: What Successful Applicants Do

Predictor	Actionable Tip
Appropriate career stage	Mid-career faculty aim for Investigator awards; early career faculty for specific Investigator programs.
Institution nomination	Coordinate with your department ahead of limited internal selections.
Bold, fundamental questions	Frame proposals as paradigm-shifting, engaging cross-disciplinary curiosity.
Planning for long-term impact	Propose multi-year programs with mentorship and community engagement in mind.
Institutional compliance	Ensure proposalCENTRAL/SAM submission, deadlines, and format are tightly followed.
Equity-focused nomination	Encourage departments to nominate diverse, high-potential candidates.
Innovative, data-driven budget	Allocate funds flexibly to advance research ambitions.

Specialties

Environmental Health

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants must be entering or applying for Ph.D. programs in biology or a subfield of the life sciences during fall 2025, with matriculation to start no later than October 1, 2026. It is permissible for applicants to hold a master’s degree, and it is encouraged that they hold a master’s degree in physics, mathematics, computer science or engineering. Individuals who already hold a Ph.D. or other terminal degree, or who have enrolled in a Ph.D. program prior to fall 2025, are not eligible. Fellowships must be hosted at United States institutions, at a campus within the United States. In order to hold the fellowship, the fellow must maintain enrollment at the host institution throughout the award period. Individuals may not receive salary support from this fellowship concurrently with salary support from any other source.

There are no citizenship requirements. Fellows are responsible for obtaining and maintaining the appropriate visa, if applicable.

Simons Foundation employees who receive a W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement) from the Simons Foundation, including employees of the Flatiron Institute, may not apply as a principal investigator (PI) to any Simons Foundation or Simons Foundation International Requests for Applications (RFAs) released by the Simons Foundation.

Eligible Countries:

United States

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: Simons Foundation

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 160 Fifth Avenue, 7th Floor New York, New York 10010

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