Simons Foundation Autism & Neuroscience Conferences and Courses Awards Grant

The Simons Foundation Autism & Neuroscience Conferences and Courses Awards provide funding opportunities for courses and conferences that align with the foundation's mission to advance basic science, particularly in autism and neuroscience. Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations and educational institutions. Key focus areas include the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative and other collaborations aimed at promoting scientific discovery and engagement. Funding requests can cover a period of up to three years, supporting efforts to broaden participation in scientific fields.

Mission and Model
Since its founding in 1994 by Jim and Marilyn Simons, the foundation has been a champion of basic science through grant funding, support for research and public engagement.
Simons Foundation Autism & Neuroscience Conferences and Courses Awards
Opportunity
The Autism & Neuroscience division at the Simons Foundation is accepting applications for funding of courses or conferences.
This year, courses and conferences that align with the scientific missions of any of the following programs will be prioritized:
Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI), with a mission to advance the basic science of autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders Simons Collaboration on Plasticity and the Aging Brain (SCPAB), with a focus on healthy cognitive aging Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain (SCGB), with a focus on the fields of systems and computational neuroscience.

Eligibility

Applications may be submitted by: course or conference organizers who are employed by nonprofit organizations; public and private institutions:collegesuniversitieshospitals laboratoriesunits of state and local governmenteligible agencies of the federal government. There are no citizenship or country requirements.To be eligible for funding through the 2025 RFA for the Conferences and Courses Award, at least one instance of the course or conference must occur between September 1, 2025 and August 31, 2026.Funding may be requested for a period of up to three years.

Ineligibility

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, computing time or other individual expenses may not be employees of the Simons Foundation, which includes the Flatiron Institute. The Gordon Research Conferences (GRC) or Seminars (GRS) are not eligible for funding through this RFA. They are funded through a separate common block grant.Indirect costs will not be permitted.Please note that we do not typically fund any course or conference in its entirety.The Simons Foundation Autism & Neuroscience division intends to run a yearly Conferences and Courses Award RFA moving forward. Funding requests may not overlap across years for the same course or conference through this RFA or any previous Simons Foundation RFA for conferences and courses.