Pivot Fellowship Request for Applications

The deadline for proposal submission is 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), May 15, 2024. Please plan carefully with your institution and references to meet this deadline. No extensions will be given.

Applications must be submitted via the Simons Award Manager (SAM). For instructions on how to submit an application through our new grants management system SAM, informational videos can be found here.

Fellows and mentors will each submit a unique application independently of each other in SAM.

The application for fellows can be found in SAM under, President Directed – Pivot Fellow – 2024.

The application for mentors can be found in SAM under, President Directed – Pivot Mentor – 2024.

Please note that in the event of budgetary or other considerations The Simons Foundation, Inc. reserves the right to refer an application to The Simons Foundation International, Ltd. (SFI) for consideration and funding, in which case SFI’s grant policies would apply.

Fellow’s Application

Please click on the Funding Opportunities icon and navigate to the President Directed – Pivot Fellow – 2024 call. Click the Create Application button to begin. Applications should be started and submitted under the applicant’s own account in SAM.

• Proposal Tab:
  • Applicant Details: The applicant may use the Edit Profile button to update their information as needed. Complete all required fields, including position/title, academic rank and ORCID iD.
  • Degrees: Click the Add/Modify Degree(s) button to provide this information.
  • Application Details: Complete all required fields, including title, start date and end date.
  • Proposal: The following information must be entered/uploaded:
  • Mentor Name: Enter the name of the mentor.
  • Scientific Narrative (up to six (6) pages): Note that you are required to use the provided template for the Scientific Narrative. Please download by clicking the link in the field instructions, then upload the completed document using the Upload button. Please describe the work you want to pursue in a new discipline, and how it differs from your current work, including:
  1. What inspired you to pursue changing disciplines?
  2. What are the questions you hope to be able to understand more deeply and address as a result of this fellowship?
  3. What do you hope to bring to the new field from your current discipline?
  4. Explain how and why the new discipline is a big change from your current field. Questions to consider include:
     1. To what extent is the new discipline a different culture?
     2. Is there a different approach to publication in the new discipline?
     3. Is there a different approach to experiment or theory in the new discipline?
  5. How will this fellowship affect your career development?
  • Summary of Previous Scientific Accomplishments (up to two (2) pages) Use the provided template. Please download by clicking the link in the field instructions, then upload the completed document using the Upload button.
  • Curriculum Vitae: Upload CV.
• Contacts & Personnel Tab:
• Institution contacts are required. You must add at least one institution signing official and financial officer to the Institution Administrative Contacts section before you will be able to submit.
• Project personnel who will be named in the budget must be added to the Project Personnel section on this tab before they will display as available options in the budget module. This does not apply to TBD personnel.
• Budget Tab: Click the Edit/Modify button to add a detailed budget for one year of salary support for the Fellow, fringe and IDC. Do not include any other expenses.
• Note that the budget cannot be completed until project dates have been entered.
• Letter of Reference Tab:
• Two to three (2-3) confidential letters of recommendation are required from research scientists who are not the applicant’s mentor. In addition to the standard elements of a letter of recommendation, please ask your letter writers to speak to why you are specially positioned to switch academic disciplines.
• Instructions for navigating this tab are included within SAM. Note that you should enter a date in the Response Date and click Save Draft prior to sending reference invitations so that the email invitation sent by the system contains the due date you set.
• You will not be able to submit your application until at least two references are uploaded. Please plan accordingly with your references.
• NOTE: References will not have access to any portion of your application during the upload process. References who are also an approved Institution Official at your institution, or who are added as an Institution Administrative Contact in the Contacts & Personnel section, will be able to see the application via their regular system login. If your references do not have either of these roles, they will not have access to your application.
• Communications Tab: Nothing is required in this tab.
• Check Application Progress: Click the Check Application Progress button to check for any missing required information or files. All missing required information will be listed at the top of the screen and must be corrected before the application can be submitted.
• Send for Sign-off: When the application is complete, click on the Send for Sign-off button to send to your signing official for signature. You will receive a notification when the application is signed.
• Submit Application: When the full proposal application is complete and signed, click on the Submit Application button. A confirmation page will appear once the application is successfully submitted. It will appear in the Submitted tab of the Applications in Progress table. Please note that you will not be able to submit an application if the deadline has passed.

Mentor’s Application:

Please Please click on the Funding Opportunities icon and navigate to the President Directed – Pivot Mentor – 2024 call. Click the Create Application button to begin. Applications should be started and submitted under the applicant’s own account in SAM.

• Proposal Tab:
• Applicant Details: The applicant may use the Edit Profile button to update their information as needed. Complete all required fields, including position/title, academic rank and ORCID iD.
• Degrees: Click the Add/Modify Degree(s) button to provide this information.
• Degrees: Click the Add/Modify Degree(s) button to provide this information.
• Application Details: Complete all required fields, including title, start date and end date.
• Proposal: The following information must be entered/uploaded:
• Fellow Name: Enter the name of the fellow.
• Fellowship Mentor Plan (two (2) pages): Note that you are required to use the provided template for the Fellowship Mentor Plan. Please download by clicking the link in the field instructions, then upload the completed document using the Upload button. An invested and committed Mentor is the key to learning a new discipline. A statement of mentorship should address:
1. Mentor’s willingness and availability to host applicant for the fellowship
2. Applicant qualifications
3. Plan for how the applicant will be trained in the new discipline, including:
1. What are the most important aspects of the scientific culture of the new field?
2. What questions in the new field are important and why?
3. What details and ways of looking at those questions are indispensable for making an impact on the new field?
4. Perspective on how bringing the applicant into the new discipline will benefit the field.
• Mentorship History (up to two (2) pages): Note that you are required to use the provided template for the Mentorship History. Please download by clicking the link in the field instructions, then upload the completed document using the Upload button. Please provide brief descriptions of up to 10 past mentees, including their scientific accomplishments under your mentorship, current position and current scientific field.
• Curriculum Vitae: Upload CV.
• Contacts & Personnel Tab: Institution contacts are required.
• You must add at least one institution signing official and financial officer to the Institution Administrative Contacts section before you will be able to submit.
• Project personnel who will be named in the budget must be added to the Project Personnel section on this tab before they will display as available options in the budget module. This does not apply to TBD personnel.
• Budget Tab: Click the Edit/Modify button to add a detailed budget to add the mentor’s $50,000 research fund and the fellow’s $10,000 research fund, and IDC. Do not include any other expenses. Research funds do not need to be itemized in the application budget. Please enter these in the budget as two separate line items in the Other Expenses section labeled “Mentor research fund” and “Fellow research fund”. Note that the budget cannot be completed until project dates have been entered.
• Communications Tab: Nothing is required in this tab.
• Check Application Progress: Click the Check Application Progress button to check for any missing required information or files. All missing required information will be listed at the top of the screen and must be corrected before the application can be submitted.
• Send for Sign-off: When the application is complete, click on the Send for Sign-off button to send to your signing official for signature. You will receive a notification when the application is signed.
• Submit Application: When the full proposal application is complete and signed, click on the Submit Application button. A confirmation page will appear once the application is successfully submitted. It will appear in the Submitted tab of the Applications in Progress table. Please note that you will not be able to submit an application if the deadline has passed.