About this opportunity
Most funding calls tell an early career scientist to wait. This one pays you to move. The Simons Foundation built the Fellows-to-Faculty Award around a single moment in a research career: the stretch when you are still supervised, still publishing from someone else's lab, and about to argue your way into a tenure track job.
The commitment is a $600,000 USD faculty research grant, delivered as $200,000 USD a year for three years and inclusive of 20 percent indirect costs. If you still need runway while you are on the job market, an optional postdoctoral award of $110,000 USD a year can run for up to two years before that, which is how the program reaches five years of support. Awards are activated at your institution, and the Foundation is explicit that fellows may take them to research institutions inside or outside the United States. There are no citizenship requirements, which is what makes this worth reading if you are building a neuroscience career from Nigeria or anywhere else on the continent.
The three scientific homes are the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, the Simons Collaboration on Plasticity and the Aging Brain, and the Simons Collaboration on Ecological Neuroscience. Your application is a vision document for the laboratory you intend to run, and it has to advance one of those missions. Note that this is the final round for the plasticity and aging brain collaboration. You can apply to more than one area, but each needs its own tailored submission, and the Foundation welcomes proposals from clinicians as well as from theorists and computational scientists.
The clock is the part to plan around. Applications opened on 13 October 2026 and close at 12 p.m. Eastern time on 13 January 2027, submitted through the Simons Award Manager under your own account rather than your supervisor's. You will need a proposal, a budget, contacts and personnel, letters of reference, a publications and other support record, and institutional sign-off. Interviews run from mid May to mid June 2027, decisions land in early to mid July, and awards start on 1 September 2027.
What you receive
- $200,000 USD per year for three years of faculty research funding
- Optional postdoctoral support of $110,000 USD per year for up to two years
- Career development, mentorship and peer support through the move to a faculty role
- Access to the SFARI, SCPAB and SCENE communities of investigators
- The award can be activated at a research institution inside or outside the United States
Who can apply
- Hold a Ph.D., M.D., M.D./Ph.D. or an equivalent doctoral degree
- Be in a non-independent mentored research training position in a faculty member's lab, such as a postdoctoral position or a physician scientist research fellowship
- Have a scientific vision for your future independent laboratory that advances the mission of SFARI, SCPAB or SCENE
- Be competitive for a faculty job now, since most successful applicants have at least one publication or preprint from their current position
- Plan to apply to tenure track or equivalent faculty positions in September 2027 and begin that role in the 2028 to 2029 academic year
- There are no citizenship requirements for this award
Who should not apply
- You may not accept a formal offer for a tenure track faculty position or equivalent before receiving an award notification
- Not eligible if you hold substantial federal grant funding as a Principal Investigator, such as an NIH R01, or other PI level faculty funding including a SFARI Pilot Award
- Not eligible if you hold another career development award that supports the transition to an independent research career
- Simons Foundation employees who receive a W-2, including Flatiron Institute employees, may not apply as Principal Investigator
- No funding goes to institutions in China, including Hong Kong, or to fiscal sponsors and agents of those institutions
- Applications are limited to a maximum of two years across this program and its predecessor independence programs
Documents to prepare
- A completed Record Summary in the Simons Award Manager
- A Proposal covering your scientific vision for the independent laboratory
- A Contacts and Personnel section
- A Budget section
- At least one letter of reference submitted through the Letter of Reference section
- A Publications and Other Support section
- Institutional sign-off before final submission
How to apply
- Read the 2027 Fellows-to-Faculty Request for Applications and check that your laboratory vision fits SFARI, SCPAB or SCENE
- Start and submit your application under your own Simons Award Manager account at https://sam.simonsfoundation.org/
- Open the Funding Opportunities icon and select your call, for example Autism Research Fellows-to-Faculty Postdoctoral Award
- Submit a separate tailored application for each scientific area if you want to be considered by more than one
- Complete the Record Summary, Proposal, Contacts and Personnel, Budget, Letter of Reference and Publications and Other Support sections
- Check your application progress and arrange institutional sign-off
- Submit by 12 p.m. Eastern time on 13 January 2027
Selection process
- Applications are assessed against the scientific missions of SFARI, SCPAB and SCENE, with openness to clinicians and to theoretical and computational work
- Shortlisted applicants interview online: SCPAB on 14 May 2027, SCENE on 26 May 2027 and SFARI on 14 to 16 June 2027
- Decision notifications go out in early to mid July 2027
- Awards begin on 1 September 2027
Sources and verification
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Questions applicants ask
Do I need to be based at a United States institution?
No. The request for applications states there are no citizenship requirements, and fellows may activate their awards at research institutions inside or outside the United States. Institutions in China, including Hong Kong, are the stated exception because the Foundation does not fund them.
How much funding is involved?
The program is built around a $600,000 USD three year faculty research grant, paid as $200,000 USD per year and inclusive of 20 percent indirect costs. An optional postdoctoral award of $110,000 USD per year for up to two years can come first, which is how the program reaches five years of support.
I already have a faculty position, can I still apply?
No. You must be in a non-independent mentored research training position when you apply, and you may not accept a formal tenure track offer before an award notification reaches you.
Can I be considered by more than one scientific area?
Yes. You may apply to SFARI, SCPAB, SCENE or all three, but each area needs its own tailored application submitted separately.
When will I hear back?
Interviews run from 14 May to 16 June 2027 depending on your scientific area, notifications arrive in early to mid July 2027, and awards start on 1 September 2027.
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