Simons Historically Black Colleges and Universities Faculty Fellowship

About this funding opportunity

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Science, Society & Culture Home Science, Society & Culture LOI Open Date

October 1, 2026 LOI Submission Deadline

November 12, 2026 LOI Decision Notifications & Full Application Open Date

December 17, 2026 Full Application Submission Deadline

February 8, 2027 Full Application Decision Notifications

March 25, 2027 Award Start Date

September 1, 2027 General Inquiries

sfgrants@simonsfoundation.org Technical Assistance

samsupport@simonsfoundation.org Office Hours

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

The Simons Foundation offices will be closed December 24, 2026-January 1, 2027, and January 18, 2027.

The Simons Foundation’s Science, Society and Culture division is accepting applications for the Simons Historically Black Colleges and Universities Faculty Fellowship program. Deadline for application submission: 12 p.m. (noon) Eastern time on November 12, 2026. Opportunity

The Simons HBCU Faculty Fellowship program, funded by Simons Foundation International (SFI) and administered by the Simons Foundation (SF), will support up to four (4) junior tenure-track faculty in mathematics, physics and ecology & evolutionary biology at HBCU institutions by buying out 50% of their teaching responsibilities. This protected research time will enable fellows to focus on conducting research, publishing findings and submitting federal grant proposals to build long-term research productivity. The program aims to foster research excellence and collaboration, and to provide pathways for students to successfully enroll in graduate STEM programs. Up to five (5) HBCU institutions will be selected to participate in the program.

This is an institutional grant awarded to HBCUs to fund faculty fellowships. One of the secrets to HBCU success are the faculty who invest time in teaching and mentoring students. Faculty at HBCUs often carry heavier teaching loads than their counterparts at R1 research institutions, which limits the time available for sustained research activity. This research productivity gap limits students’ ability to engage in research during the academic year. The Simons HBCU Faculty Fellowship directly addresses this gap by funding a 50% teaching buyout, allowing fellows to dedicate half of their professional time to research and engaging students in research during the fellowship period. Eligibility

Accredited Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as defined by the Higher Education Act of 1965, are eligible to apply, and will nominate a cohort of junior tenure-track faculty candidates for consideration.

Each participating institution may nominate up to four (4) fellows in total across the eligible fields of mathematics, physics and ecology & evolutionary biology, in any combination. To provide institutions with maximum flexibility in building their research capacity, nominations may include either: Current junior tenure-track faculty who already hold a position at the nominating institution, or Newly recruited junior tenure-track faculty whom the institution is actively recruiting or have recently hired into a tenure-track…

Topic areas: General and Cross-cutting R&D, Education and Training, Gender Equality and Diversity.

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 Historically Black Colleges and Universities Faculty Fellowship is administered by Simons Foundation (Simons), listed via Simons Foundation.