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Greetings,

 

We are excited to share this funding opportunity from the Simons Foundation. The Synthetic Plant Biology program is intended to support research that applies engineering principles and techniques to advance our understanding of how plants function. More information about the award can be found in the synopsis and links below. For a full list of currently open opportunities that have been announced through our office, please visit our new Current Opportunities web page. As a reminder, our Research Development team is available to provide proposal development support to FAS ladder faculty.

 

Simons Foundation: Synthetic Plant Biology

  • OSP Deadline: July 23, 2026 at 9:00 AM ET
    Departments or areas may require additional time for proposal review and submission. Please discuss a timeline with your departmental or FORA grants administrator.
  • Sponsor Deadline: July 30, 2026 at 12:00 PM ET
  • Award Amount: $360,000 maximum annual budget over three years, including indirect costs 
    Indirect costs to the primary institution are limited to 20 percent of direct costs, with the following exceptions: equipment with a unit cost over $10,000, tuition and any portion of each subcontractor cost in excess of $25,000. The primary institution may take indirect costs on the first $25,000 modified total direct costs of each subcontract. Indirect costs paid to a subcontractor may not exceed 20 percent of the modified total direct costs paid to the subcontractor. 
 

Program Overview

 

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, but not limited to:

  • Development of sensors to study plant physiological responses
  • Engineering of plants capable of withstanding inhospitable environments
  • Genetic modifications that reveal the trade-offs inherent in plant growth and development
The Simons Foundation is 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, the Foundation seeks 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 Criteria

  • Must hold a Ph.D. or equivalent degree
  • Have a faculty position at a college or university
  • Must have research space at their institution 
  • Investigators are limited to submitting one project proposal 
  • There are no citizenship requirements for Principal Investigators
 

Application Materials

  • Summary
  • Proposal Tab (featuring a five-page scientific narrative)
  • Contacts & Personnel Tab
  • Budget Tab
  • Abstract & Keywords Tab
  • Publications & Other Support Tab
  • Organization Assurances Tab
 

Selection Criteria

  • Applications will be reviewed by Simons Foundation scientific staff and an expert review committee. Funding decisions will be based on:

    • The quality of the proposal as determined by a panel of plant biologists, especially regarding the promise of the new tools, techniques or insights proposed to facilitate future research in plant synthetic biology.
    • The quality of the applicant’s previous research.
    • The potential for impact to the field of plant biology.
 

Additional Information and Resources

 

Please review the FAQs for more information. Applications must be submitted via the Simons Award Manager (SAM); view the How to Apply tab for additional details regarding the application process. The Foundation expects to select three to five applications for funding. Awards will begin on February 1, 2027 and conclude on January 31, 2030. 

 

Questions from FAS or SEAS faculty about this opportunity may be directed to research_development@fas.harvard.edu.

MAILING LISTS

Sign up to join the mailing list for FAS Funding Focus, a resource series tailored to help FAS faculty and staff navigate the ever-evolving landscape of grants and funding. Previous editions of FAS Funding Focus (FFF) are accessible in the FFF archive. To receive additional announcements from FORA, including the monthly On Your RADAR (Research Administration Developments & Announcements Rundown) newsletter and invitations to the FORA Forum, a monthly meeting for Harvard research administrators, please sign up for the FORA listserv here.
 

RESOURCES

Research Development maintains a Sample Proposal Library of successful proposals from recent award recipients that are available to FAS and SEAS faculty by request; please email Research Development to request to view a proposal. For more information on Research Development's resources—including lists of internal funding programs, early career funding programs, and sabbatical fellowships—please visit the Funding Opportunities web page. 
 

SEARCH FOR OPPORTUNITIES WITH PIVOT

All Harvard affiliates can search for opportunities and set up alerts using Pivot, a searchable database of federal and private funding opportunities. Information on Pivot, including a one-page user guide, and other funding opportunity databases available to the Harvard community can be found on the Funding Databases web page.
 

PIVOT CURATED SEARCHES

Curated funding opportunity lists are funding search topics of broad interest. The following curated lists can be further refined in Pivot based on your funding needs. To view the results you must be on a Harvard network or logged in to your Pivot account. Information on setting up a Pivot account can be found in our one-page user guide. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional curated lists are available on the Funding Databases web page. We continue to add to and refine these lists based on feedback. Please feel free to reach out to us at research_development@fas.harvard.edu with any suggestions you may have.
 Research Development | FAS Office of Research Administration | research.fas.harvard.edu
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