Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution

About this funding opportunity

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Life Sciences Home Life Sciences Funding LOI Available

May 1, 2026 LOI Deadline

June 30, 2026 LOI Notification

October 30, 2026 Acceptance Deadline (Finalists Only)

April 15, 2027 Full Proposal Deadline (Finalists Only)

May 27, 2027 Award Notification

July 1, 2027 Award Start Date

August 1, September 1 or October 1, 2027 Inquiries:

lifegrants@simonsfoundation.org Technical assistance:

samsupport@simonsfoundation.org Office Hours:

Monday, Friday, 9:00 a.m., 5:00 p.m. Eastern time Office Closures:

May 22, 2026, May 25, 2026, and June 19, 2026

Information for 2026 Applicants Information for 2025 Finalists

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 June 30, 2026, 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. Eligibility

Applicants must be entering or applying for Ph.D. programs in biology or a subfield of the life sciences during summer or fall 2026, with matriculation to start no later than October 1, 2027. It is permissible for applicants to already hold a master’s degree, and it is encouraged that they hold a master’s degree in physics, mathematics, computer science or engineering. For more about master’s degrees, see the FAQs. Individuals who already hold a Ph.D. or other terminal degree in ecology or evolution, or who have enrolled in such a Ph.D. program prior to summer 2026, 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. 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…

Topic areas: Education and Training, General and Cross-cutting R&D, Life Sciences and Health.

Funding amount

This grant provides Varies in funding.

Deadline

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; there is no single fixed deadline.

Who can apply

This opportunity is open to the following applicant types:

• Not specified by the program.

Eligibility

The program did not publish a separate eligibility statement. See the official opportunity page for the full eligibility criteria.

Agency

Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution is administered by Simons Foundation (Simons), listed via Simons Foundation.