The Simons Foundation Fellows-to-Faculty Award is for early-career scientists ready to move from a mentored research position into a tenure-track faculty job. It offers up to five years of support: an optional postdoctoral award while you are on the job market, followed by a three-year faculty research grant worth $600,000. If you hold a PhD or MD and currently work in someone else’s lab, this award is built for that step.
This is not an extension of your postdoc. It is designed to carry you across the hardest gap in an academic career: proving you can run your own lab before you actually have one.
What the award gives you
The support comes in two parts, and you do not have to take both. The faculty grant is the core of the award, meant to sit alongside a full start-up package from your new institution, not replace it.
| Part of the award | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Faculty research award | $200,000 per year for three years, $600,000 in total, including 20 percent indirect costs |
| Optional postdoctoral award | $110,000 per year for up to two years: $85,000 stipend, $10,000 career development allowance, $15,000 health and benefits allowance, no indirect costs |
| Total support | Up to five years, at institutions within or outside the United States |
Two clocks matter. The faculty grant must be activated within the first 12 months of starting your faculty position. The postdoctoral award ends when you leave your postdoctoral position or at the end of its two-year window, whichever comes first.
Three science areas, and one final call
Your vision for your future lab must advance one of three Simons Foundation programmes. SFARI supports basic science related to autism. SCPAB studies how the brain changes with age. SCENE looks at neuroscience in ecological context.
Note this carefully: this is the last request for applications for SCPAB, so scientists in plasticity and the aging brain will not get another round of this award. You may apply to more than one area, but each needs its own tailored application. Newcomers to the area, and clinical, theory and computational approaches, are welcome.
Who can apply, and who should not
You must hold a PhD, MD, MD/PhD or equivalent doctoral degree, and be in a non-independent mentored research training position, such as a postdoctoral post or physician-scientist fellowship. There are no citizenship requirements, although funding is not provided to institutions in China, including Hong Kong, or to their fiscal sponsors or agents. Most successful applicants have at least one publication or preprint from their current position.
You should not apply if any of these apply to you:
- You have accepted a formal tenure-track faculty offer, or equivalent, before the award notification
- You hold substantial federal funding as a principal investigator, such as an NIH R01, or other PI-level faculty funding
- You hold another career development award supporting a transition to independent research, now or at the same time as this award
- You have already applied to this award, including its predecessor programmes, for the maximum of two years
- You are a Simons Foundation employee, including at the Flatiron Institute, applying as a principal investigator
The offer rule deserves a second read. It does not ban you from the job market; it bans accepting a formal offer before the award notification. Think through your negotiating position before you apply, not after an offer lands.
Write a lab vision, not a project plan
The most common mistake here is writing the application like a normal research grant. Its scope should resemble a faculty job application, focused on your future lab rather than a specific three-year project, and your postdoctoral aims and training goals should not be included at all.
Reviewers want the scientist you will become, not only the experiments you can already do. Name two or three directions your lab will pursue in its first years, explain why they matter for your chosen area, and show you can choose questions and set priorities alone. An application that reads like a polished continuation of your supervisor’s programme misses the point.
Test yourself before drafting: if your supervisor disappeared tomorrow, could you still describe your lab’s programme in a page? If not, you need more thinking time. Talk it through with mentors outside your lab, and share your draft vision with referees early.
How to apply
Applications go through the Simons Award Manager, known as SAM. The deadline is 13 January at 12:00 noon Eastern time:
- Choose your scientific area or areas, remembering each needs its own tailored application
- Draft your future-lab vision, with research directions and a clear link to your chosen area’s mission
- Check every eligibility rule against your situation, including funding, other awards and any faculty offer
- Prepare your application in SAM well before the deadline, and confirm it is submitted, not merely saved
What happens after you apply
Applications are reviewed by Simons Foundation scientific staff and an expert review committee, who judge your lab vision, research plan, relevance to your chosen area, readiness for the job market, and potential to contribute to the community. Selected finalists are invited to a virtual interview.
Fellows are then expected to apply for tenure-track faculty positions in September and begin their faculty role the following academic year. That is the whole point: funding on the market, and research support once you land. If you are early in your postdoc or unsure about a tenure-track lab, another fellowship may suit you better.
FAQ
Q: Is there a citizenship requirement?
A: No. The official page states there are no citizenship requirements, and awards may be activated at institutions within or outside the United States.
Q: Can I apply to more than one scientific area?
A: Yes, but you must submit a separate application for each area, tailored to that area’s focus.
Q: Must I accept the postdoctoral award?
A: No. It is optional, and fellows are not required to accept it. It is intended to support you while you are on the academic job market.
