Life Sciences

The Life Sciences division seeks to advance the fundamental understanding of life on Earth. The division’s previous initiatives focused on microbial ecology and evolution, including the biogeochemical modeling of marine ecosystems. New programs will expand to all ecosystems, with emphases on eco-evolutionary dynamics and plant biology. All its programs aim to encourage scientific exchange within and between fields and support early-career scientists.

Simons Foundation

Research Areas

A photo of a monarch butterfly sitting upon an light orange zinnia flower

Ecology and Evolution Supports research into the genetic, ecological and evolutionary factors that shape the dynamics of organisms and their communities View More

A photo of Arabidopsis thaliana, Thale Cress, showing its small white flowers in bloom.

Plant Biology Supports bold ideas in basic plant biology research View More

Polarised light micrograph of a Coleochaete sp. green algae colony. Coleochaete algae forms flat, sprawling discs on solid surfaces such as plants or debris in freshwater streams.

Microbial Ecology and Evolution Supports the Simons Collaboration on Principles of Microbial Ecosystems and other programs View More

Differential interference contrast light micrograph of a number of different diatoms. Diatoms are single-celled photosynthetic algae.

Microbial Oceanography Supports the Simons Collaboration on Computational Biogeochemical Modeling of Marine Ecosystems and other programs View More

Funding Opportunities

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Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution

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…

Simons Collaborations in Ecology and Evolution

The Simons Foundation seeks to create strong collaborations and foster the cross-pollination of ideas between investigators, as these interactions often lead to unexpected breakthroughs. Towards this end, in 2012 the foundation launched a new collaborative funding model, the Simons Collaborations, which funds groups of investigators — often from different disciplines — to work together on…