The Office of Foundations Relations is pleased to share these two open calls for funding from the Simons Foundation.
UCSC Contact: Samantha Forde|forde@ucsc.edu
Funder: Simons Foundation
Programs:
1. Fellows in Mathematics – DUE October 1, 2025
2. Collaborations in Math and Physical Sciences – LOI DUE October 31, 2025
(1) Fellows in Mathematics
Overview
The Simons Foundation’s Mathematics and Physical Sciences (MPS) division invites applications for the Simons Fellows in Mathematics program to make sabbatical research leaves more productive by extending them from a single term to a full academic year.
Awards will be based on the applicant’s scientific accomplishments in the five-year period preceding the application and on the potential scientific impact of the work to be done during the leave period.
Please see FAQs here.
Award Amount & Terms
- A Simons Fellowship in Mathematics provides salary replacement (inclusive of both salary and fringe benefits) for up to 50% (up to a maximum of $125,000) of the Fellow’s current academic-year salary.
- Funding will support up to an additional $10,000 for expenses related to the leave.
- The Fellow’s home institution will receive an additional 20 percent overhead on allowable direct cost expenditures, per the foundation’s indirect cost policy.
- The Simons Fellowship will fund up to 50 percent of the 2026–2027 academic year.
- Fellowship awards and sabbatical periods may begin no earlier than January 1, 2026, and no later than January 1, 2027.
Eligibility
- Eligibility is restricted to sabbatical or equivalent leave-eligible faculty who wish to use the Simons Fellowship award for the purpose of extending at least a single-term sabbatical research leave to a full academic year without teaching or administrative responsibilities.
- Applied mathematics and statistics disciplines are eligible as long as the applicant resides within the mathematics, and not statistics, department.
- Fellows must have an active, current research program.
See here for a list of previous Fellows.
Timeline
- October 1, 2025: Application deadline
- December 31, 2025 Applicants notified
- January 1, 2026: Earliest award start date
(2) Simons Collaborations in Mathematics and the Physical Sciences
Overview
A Simons Collaboration in MPS should address a mathematical or theoretical topic of fundamental scientific importance, where a significant, new development creates a novel area for exploration or provides a new direction for progress in an established field. The project should have clearly defined initial activities and goals by which progress and success can be measured. The support from the foundation should be seen as critical for the objectives of the project.
The project should involve outstanding researchers in a range of career stages. Excellence of the scientific leadership is one of the main criteria in the selection process. The project should be organized and managed in a manner engendering a high level of collaboration.
Please see FAQs here.
Award Amount & Terms
- Up to $2 million per year for an initial period of four years, including indirect costs as outlined in Simons’ grant policies.
- The budget may vary from $2 million as long as the total four-year budget is no more than $8 million.
- Please consult the website for Allowable Expenses.
- The MPS division expects to award up to three new collaborations in 2026.
Eligibility
- The collaboration director must hold a tenured faculty, or equivalent, position at a U.S. or Canadian educational institution, on a campus within these countries, with a Ph.D. program in the director’s department at the time of application and for the duration of the award.
- PIs and co-Investigators (co-Is) must hold a tenured or tenure-track faculty, or equivalent, position at an educational institution at the time of application and for the duration of the award.
- There are no restrictions on the department and/or discipline of the director or PIs/co-Is. PIs, co-Is and other collaboration participants may be from non-U.S. institutions.
Timeline
- October 29, 2025 LOIs due
- January 1, 2026 LOI notifications
- February 25, 2026 Full proposals due
- July 1, 2026 Award notifications
Special Instructions
Please notify the Office of Foundation Relations if you are interested in applying to this opportunity (fr@ucsc.edu). Please submit a proposal intake form prior to UCSC’s internal Institutional Deadlines. For support developing your proposal, please contact the Research Development Specialist assigned to your unit or send a request to resdev@ucsc.edu.
The Office of Foundation Relations is a unit of University Advancement. The FR team creates and maintains mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with private organizations, matching grant initiatives with educational and research programs and centers. FR supports faculty and staff to identify and approach these and other private foundations for funding, to assist in strategic positioning of the grant application, and to facilitate funder campus visits. For a list of recent funding opportunities, please visit the FR website: FR Calls for Funding.