Synthetic Plant Biology

About this funding opportunity

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Life Sciences Home Life Sciences Funding

Apply Now Application Open Date

June 1, 2026 Application Submission Deadline

July 30, 2026 Application Decision Notifications

January 5, 2027 Award Start Date

February 1, 2027 General 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:

The Simons Foundation offices will be closed June 19, 2026, and July 3, 2026.

The Simons Foundation’s Life Sciences division is accepting applications for the Synthetic Plant Biology program. Deadline for application submission: 12:00 p.m. (noon) Eastern time on July 30, 2026. Opportunity

The Synthetic Plant Biology program is intended to support research that applies engineering principles and techniques to advance our understanding of how plants function. These projects can tackle a variety of goals, including the development of sensors to study plant physiological responses, the engineering of plants capable of withstanding inhospitable environments, genetic modifications that reveal the trade-offs inherent in plant growth and development, and many others. We are interested both in the generation of fundamental insights in plant biology and in the development of innovative tools and techniques that will empower plant biological research in the future. Research funded under this initiative is expected to be exploratory, and there is not a requirement to have preliminary data at the application stage. Instead, we are seeking investigations that are high-risk but which, if successful, would enable highly impactful research in the synthetic biology of plants in the future. Generation of preliminary data is one of the anticipated objectives of these awards. Eligibility

All investigators must hold a Ph.D. or equivalent degree and have a faculty position at a college or university, or the equivalent (eligible for receiving grant funding as a Principal Investigator [PI]) at a research institute or other research facility that does not have faculty positions. In addition, eligible applicants must have research space at their institution.

Individuals are limited to one project proposal for this RFA. There is no limit to the number of investigators from one institution who may apply.

Applications may be submitted by U.S. nonprofit organizations; public and private institutions, such as colleges, universities, laboratories, institutes, and units of state and local government; and research-oriented agencies of the federal government. There are no citizenship requirements for PIs.

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. PIs and any project personnel listed on the application who will receive funding for salary, travel, support for students, postdocs or research staff, lab equipment,…

Topic areas: Life Sciences and Health, Agriculture and Food, Circular Economy and Sustainability.

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

Synthetic Plant Biology is administered by Simons Foundation (Simons), listed via Simons Foundation.