NSF-Simons Collaboration on a National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology

The National Science Foundation Directorates for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (NSF/MPS) and for Biological Sciences (NSF/BIO) and the Simons Foundation Division of Mathematics and Physical Sciences (SF/MPS) shall jointly sponsor a new research institute to facilitate collaborations among groups of mathematicians (including statisticians and computational scientists) and biologists.

The purpose of this program is to enable innovative research at the intersection of mathematical and biological sciences, to facilitate the development of new biology-inspired mathematical theories, to promote methodologies and innovative modeling approaches, and to advance the understanding of challenging biological problems. The institute should promote interdisciplinary education and workforce training between these two disciplines.

Funding

NSF and the Simons Foundation have each committed $25,000,000 to support one institute over five years, with an anticipated extension for another five-year period at the same funding level.

How to Apply & Budget Guidelines

Letters of Intent and Full Proposals must be submitted via the NSF as outlined in the program solicitation. An applicant must have submitted a Preliminary Proposal to be able to submit a Full Proposal.

Awards will be made jointly with the Simons Foundation. All application materials should be submitted to NSF. NSF will share all submitted materials with the Simons Foundation.

Half of the proposal budget must be prepared following the Simons Foundation’s grant policies, including the indirect costs policy.

The funding provided by the Simons Foundation may be used to support institute expenses in the following categories:

• Salary support and related benefits for institute leadership.
• Salary support and related benefits, including tuition support, for staff/research scientists and postdoctoral, graduate and/or undergraduate research assistants.
• Scientific travel by institute members per the institution’s travel policies. International travel is permitted. Parking, hotel, taxi, registration and other related travel and conference costs are allowable.
• Conferences and working meetings and scientific programs and workshops appropriate to the needs of the institute.
• Support for visitors and collaborators, including domestic and international travel, meals and lodging expenses.
• Research and computing equipment, supplies and other expenses directly related to the institute, including publication costs.
• Administrative or clerical services integral to the institute, provided that the effort of the individuals involved can be specifically identified with the institute and thatsuch costs are not also recovered as indirect costs.
• Scientific Advisory Board services and related meetings.
• Other expenses related to the support and administration of the institute (e.g., web design).

For further guidance, please see the foundation’s grant award policies.

Applicants are required to submit a detailed, five-year budget and justification for the Simons Foundation portion of the award. The budget should reflect a ramp-up of the institute’s activities during Years 1 and 2, with a full complement of activities implemented no later than the beginning of Year 3. These budgets must be submitted using the Simons Foundation budget template. The “Complete 1st-Detail Yr1” worksheet should be completed first. The “Budget Summary” worksheet will auto-populate with the amounts provided in the corresponding worksheets. The consortium and contractual costs in the detail yearly budgets will auto-populate with the total costs in the sub-budget yearly worksheets. Please edit only fields highlighted in green. For budgets with subcontracts, a subcontract budget and budget justification for each subcontract must be included (if there is more than one subcontract on a budget, please contact the foundation for a modified template). Please note that fields should be completed as appropriate and should not be left blank where information is requested. Insufficient budgets and justifications may result in the proposal not being considered further.

Submitted proposal budgets must include the entire budget: summary, detail, justification and subcontract (if applicable) worksheets.

Reporting

An annual progress report will be due to the NSF as outlined in the program solicitation. The Simons Foundation requires the submission of annual progress reports and financial statements as outlined in our grant policies.