Simons Foundation Neuroscience Collaborations

Note: Deadline extended to 1/25/2023

Time Sensitive Request: To help the UW Office of Research coordinate a Call for Visions Statements by the Simons Foundation for a new Neuroscience Collaboration, please the questions below  (1 page max) with your ideas for a potential Neuroscience collaboration. Send the completed form to limitedsubs@uw.edu with SIMONS in the subject line by January 25, 2023. (Deadline extended as of 1/18/2023)

Background: The UW Office of Research is coordinating efforts for a possible UW submission to the Simons Foundation for a Neuroscience Collaboration Visions Statement.

Deadline: 03/08/2023 for 2-page vision statements, full proposals due September 2023

Award Amount: $50,000,000 - $120,000,000

Description: 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 a timely and important problem. To date, 23 Simons Collaborations have been launched in and across Mathematics and Physical Sciences, Life Sciences and Neuroscience divisions, and another two collaborations through the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI).com

The goal of the Simons Collaborations is to bring together groups of outstanding scientists to address topics of fundamental scientific importance, with a focus on fields in which significant new developments have created novel opportunities for exploration. To enable bold, creative and innovative research, each collaboration is funded for ten years (with a review at year five).

The Simons Foundation seeks vision statements to identify new, emerging breakthrough areas of neuroscience that are poised for high-impact funding. They are interested in bold and cutting edge, idea-generating research that focuses on basic principles of brain function and may be overlooked or too risky for other funding organizations. They will prioritize cross-disciplinary collaborations that integrate many levels of analysis, methodologies, ways of thinking, and scientific communities. They endeavor to encourage conversations within and across fields while bringing together diverse groups of researchers to investigate important questions about the basic principles of brain function. Investigators in a Simons Collaboration are expected to openly share data, code, analysis pipelines, protocols and reagents. They expect proposals to include junior investigators and investigators from a diversity of academic disciplines, genders, races and ethnicities in a Simons Collaboration.

To request a copy of the informational PowerPoint slides, email limitedsubs@uw.edu.

Application Instructions

Simons Foundation Neuroscience Collaboration Ideas  (answer these questions in one page max)

1. What is the big idea and hypotheses that the proposed neuroscience collaboration will address?  Why and how will the support of a large collaborative research project from the Simons Foundation transform our understanding of how the brain works?

2. What are the general methods and approaches that will be used (high-level overview only).

3. Why is this work uniquely suited for Simons Collaboration funding? Why is it difficult to obtain funding to investigate these questions from other funding agencies and foundations?

4. Why should this collaboration be funded now?

5. Which investigators (UW and external partners) are proposed to be included in the collaboration, and what cross-disciplinary expertise do they contribute? 

6. What is the estimated/anticipated overall yearly total cost (including 20% indirect cost)?