Sponsor
Simons Foundation
Description
The purpose of these awards is to help launch the careers of outstanding investigators in the fields of microbial ecology, microbial biogeochemistry and/or microbial evolution in marine or natural freshwater systems, who will advance our understanding through field work, experiments, modeling or theory. Investigators must currently be active in basic research addressing fundamental questions in these fields and must focus a large fraction of their lab’s effort in this area. Applicants whose research focuses on the microbiomes of animals or plants, symbioses of microbes with animals, paleoceanography, geobiology or aquatic pollution will not be considered.
Eligibility
Applicants must:
- Hold a Ph.D. or equivalent degree;
- Currently hold a tenure-track, tenured or, for institutions with no tenure track, an equivalent independent position in an institution in the U.S. or Canada (on a campus within these countries) and have carried out research in such a position starting no earlier than November 2018 and no later than January 2023;
- Be the principal investigator (PI), co-PI or co-investigator (Co-I) currently or within the past year on a research grant from a national governmental agency or major national or international foundation that awards direct funding to their institution for their research in the field of microbial ecology and/or evolution in marine or natural freshwater systems. They may also be eligible if they hold such a grant in a closely related field AND are an author on a publication in the field of aquatic microbial ecology or evolution within the last three years. Please contact lifegrants@simonsfoundation.org to confirm eligibility under these circumstances.
Federal government employees are not eligible.
Prize
Grants will be for $270,000 USD per year, including indirect costs (limited to 20 percent of modified total direct costs), for a period of three years, subject to annual reviews and continuation of research in areas relevant to the purpose of this program. Appropriate expenses include salary support for the investigator and laboratory research staff, travel, equipment, supplies and other research expenses. Allowable indirect costs to the primary institution for subcontracts are not included in the $270,000 budget threshold.
Awards may begin June 1, July 1, August 1 or September 1, 2024.
Awards will be governed by the Simons Foundation policies.
Deadlines
If College-level review is required, your College will communicate its earlier internal deadlines.
| Type | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
External Deadline | Please submit the Letter of Intent (LOI) directly to Simons Foundation website by the external deadline. Please also submit a copy of the LOI and an OR-5 to research.services@uoguelph.ca by the external deadline. | |
External Deadline | Finalists selected for submission of a full application will be announced by February 1, 2024. All finalists will receive an award pending a complete full application. If you are selected to submit a full application you must contact research.honours@uoguelph.ca as soon as possible as the full application requires institutional review (e.g., budget and budget justification) and requires institutional approval well before the external deadline of February 29, 2024. As this is an international prize, the University may engage the Global Excellence Initiative to coordinate external review of your application. Submit the final application to the Simons Foundation website. Please also submit the final application and OR-5 to research.services@uoguelph.ca by the external deadline. |
How to Apply
Please submit the Letter of Intent (LOI) directly to Simons Foundation website by November 1, 2023. Please also submit a copy of the LOI and an OR-5 to research.services@uoguelph.ca by November 1, 2023.
If you are selected to submit a full application you must contact research.honours@uoguelph.ca as soon as possible as the full application requires institutional review (e.g., budget and budget justification) and requires institutional approval well before the external deadline of February 29, 2023. As this is an international prize, the University may engage the Global Excellence Initiative to coordinate external review of your application. Submit the final application to the Simons Foundation website by February 29, 2023. Please also submit the final application and OR-5 to research.services@uoguelph.ca by February 29, 2023.
For More Information
For more information contact research.honours@uoguelph.ca or allgrants@simonsfoundation.org. Please also visit the Simons Foundation website for more details.