Funding Opportunities

The goal of the Shenoy Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Neuroscience (SURFiN) Program is to spark and sustain interest in neuroscience among undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds underrepresented in neuroscience research. Prior laboratory experience is not required.

SURFiN fellows complete an in-person, paid undergraduate research assistantship in Simons Foundation-supported neuroscience laboratories during the 2023–2024 academic year. Fellows and mentors participate in virtual and in-person community-building activities, and travel to attend a Spring 2024 research symposium at the Simons Foundation in New York City.

The Human Cognitive and Behavioral Science RFA prioritizes research that produces foundational knowledge about the neurobehavioral differences associated with ASD. These projects are expected to inform or relate to the development and refinement of tools needed for translational efforts, such as biomarkers and outcome measures. Special emphasis is placed on objective, quantitative measures that may be used in conjunction with standardized clinical measures and genomic information to better characterize phenotypic and neurobiological variability within and across individuals with ASD.

Three tracks are offered within this RFA solicitation: Explorer, Expansion and Collaboration. The Explorer track is appropriate for early-stage projects in which establishing feasibility and proof-of-concept are the most relevant outcomes of the grant period. The total budget is $500,000 or less, inclusive of 20 percent indirect costs, over a period of up to two (2) years. The Expansion track is appropriate for more mature projects with evidence of feasibility and preliminary validity, for which goals such as scalability, generalizability and/or more comprehensive measure validation are now the most relevant translational outcomes. The total budget is $900,000 or less, inclusive of 20 percent indirect costs, over a period of up to three (3) years. The Collaboration track is appropriate for multi-lab, cross-institutional collaborative projects. The total budget is up to $750,000 per lab, for up to four (4) labs, over a period of up to three (3) years. Collaborative proposals should be built around transdisciplinary teams tackling a critical issue in the neurobehavioral differences of autism, with clear translational implications. Collaborations among different institutions are strongly encouraged. SFARI will consider funding a limited number of Collaboration proposals. As such, the proposal must provide a strong rationale for how synergies across multiple disciplines will be leveraged.

SFARI is invested in supporting the next generation of top autism researchers. The Bridge to Independence Award program engages talented early-career scientists to pursue autism research by facilitating their transition to research independence and providing grant funding at the start of their faculty positions at a U.S. or international research institution.

Applications from groups that have been historically underrepresented or excluded in the biomedical workforce, including but not limited to racial and ethnic groups, sexual orientation and gender identities, individuals with mental/physical disabilities and those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, are encouraged.

Request for applications (RFA) open each year and are aimed at scientists with a Ph.D. and/or M.D. who are currently in training positions but intend to seek tenure-track research faculty positions during the upcoming academic job cycle. Fellows will receive up to two (2) years of postdoctoral fellowship support with an annual salary of $70,000, fringe benefits, an annual resource and professional development allowance of $10,000, and indirect costs (limited to 20 percent of modified total direct costs, see Simons Foundation policies) followed by a commitment of $600,000 over three (3) years, including indirect costs (limited to 20 percent of modified total direct costs, see Simons Foundation policies) activated upon assumption of a tenure-track research professorship.

Grants awarded through this request for applications (RFA) are intended to improve our understanding of the molecular and cellular consequences of genetic risk for ASD, and to provide a foundation for the development of new therapies. Special emphasis is placed on the use of scalable methods, especially as applied to genes that are suitable targets for genetic therapies.

There are three budget tracks, depending on the scope of the project: an Explorer track of up to $400,000 over a period of up to two (2) years; an Expansion track of up to $1,500,000 over a period of up to three (3) years; and a Collaboration track of up to $750,000 per lab over a period of up to three (3) years. All budget figures are inclusive of 20 percent indirect costs.

The SPARK Research Match Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity RFA aims to address historic disparities in research participation by Black or African American individuals by soliciting studies on autism that recruit Black or African American participants. Funding will provide per-person participant incentive (e-gift cards) for participation in projects that utilize SPARK Research Match to recruit participants into new research studies.

The maximum budget is $20,000 in per-person incentive funding per study.

Grants awarded through this request for applications are intended to advance the understanding of autism spectrum disorder through analyses of human postmortem brain tissue donated to the Autism BrainNet collection.
 
The annual budget is between $300,000 and $1,000,000, inclusive of 20 percent indirect costs, for a period of two (2) years.
 
We encourage proposals from multiple investigators only when such collaborations are well justified by the expected benefits to the proposal. For collaborative proposals, the annual budget can exceed the project cap stated above but should not exceed a total of $2,000,000 inclusive of 20 percent indirect costs.

Grants awarded through this RFA are intended to capitalize on the rat as a model system to advance our understanding of the behavioral and circuit neuroscience mechanisms driving autism. This RFA will support a consortium of investigators to collaboratively use SFARI autism rat models to examine the biological basis of complex behaviors and the underlying neural circuits relevant for autism. We welcome applications from individual labs, as well as collaborative applications of up to three (3) principal investigators.

Each lab may request a maximum of $300,000, inclusive of 20 percent indirect costs, for each year of funding over a period of two (2) to three (3) years.

Grants awarded through this RFA will supplement funding from other agencies for ongoing pregnancy cohorts to broaden biospecimen collection and to extend post-natal family tracking. These cohorts and biospecimen collections can be leveraged in future research to understand the effects of gestational infection and inflammation on autism risk in children.

The maximum budget is $250,000 for projects recruiting at a single site, and $400,000 for projects recruiting at two or more sites.

SFARI Collaborations are a new funding mechanism that will provide substantive and stable funding support to multidisciplinary teams of investigators tackling critical issues in the autism research field. Collaborations will be led by a director who oversees interdisciplinary, synergistic research efforts across multiple laboratories. Investigative groups within a Collaboration will focus on the same conceptually unified topic but will incorporate different scientific disciplines, multiple levels of analysis, and will include a robust data-sharing infrastructure.
 
SFARI Collaborations have a maximum budget of up to $8,000,000, including 20 percent indirect costs, over an initial period of four years, with a possible three-year extension.
 
For our first Collaboration RFA, SFARI solicits applications to investigate sex differences in autism.

Grants awarded through this RFA are intended to provide support for the investigation of key unresolved research questions in autism, particularly those that connect etiology to brain function and behavior. SFARI welcomes risk and novelty in Research Award proposals, but potential impact on the autism research field will be the most important criterion. Competitive applications will have preliminary data or other relevant groundwork that justifies substantial investment on the proposed topic.

The maximum budget is $1,300,000, including indirect costs, over a period of up to four years.