Funding-Limited Submission - Simons Foundation –
Simons Investigators in the Mathematical Modeling of Living Systems (MMLS);
October 28, 2015
Purpose: The aim of
this program is to support the most active and creative junior researchers
during the years when they are developing into and serving as the intellectual
leaders of the field. The intent is to identify exceptional scientists making
major contributions to their field and to provide them with resources to
undertake new and creative investigations. MMLS Investigators must be within
five years of their first faculty appointment at the time of nomination and are
typically untenured faculty.
Institutional
Limit: 2
See
the attached Request for Nominations for more details.
Internal
Competition:
To participate in the University’s selection process, researchers are to submit
the following material electronically, assembled into a single PDF document, to
the Office of the Vice President for Research at limitedsubmissions@uky.edu and a copy to their
Associate Dean for Research by Tuesday,
September 8, 2015:
·
Nominee’s
name, department, faculty rank, and date of appointment
·
Title
of the program – Simons Investigators in the Mathematical Modeling of Living
Systems
·
Nomination
letter from the department chair explaining the distinctive scientific
contributions of the nominee and including a discussion of a few important
papers (2 page limit)
·
Nominee’s
curriculum vitae
·
A
research statement that outlines the nominee’s research vision and plans (2
page limit)
The
Vice President for Research will appoint a committee to review the material and
make a recommendation as to the University’s nominees. Questions about the
submission process may be sent to Ms. Annette Evans in the Office of the Vice
President for Research (alevan4@email.uky.edu
or 257-1663).
Deadline:
October
28, 2015
Simons
Investigators in the Mathematical Modeling of Living Systems
Request for Nominations
The Simons Foundation invites
nominations for Simons Investigators in the Mathematical Modeling of Living
Systems (MMLS), a joint program of the Mathematics and Physical Sciences and
Life Sciences divisions of the Simons Foundation. Investigators in MMLS are
outstanding scientists, often with mathematics or theoretical physics
backgrounds, now engaged in research based on mathematical modeling in the life
sciences.
Rationale
and scope: New approaches in
mathematically based modeling are making increasingly important contributions
to the life sciences. The MMLS program aims to support such approaches and
foster a scientific culture of theory-experiment collaboration similar to that
prevailing in the physical sciences. To encourage young researchers to pursue
this endeavor, the MMLS program will provide a long-term, stable base of
support, enabling a focus on model-based approaches to important issues in the
life sciences.
A
broad spectrum of research areas within the life sciences will be considered,
ranging from cellular-level issues of organization, regulation, signaling, and morphogenic dynamics to the properties of organisms and
ecology, as well as neuroscience and evolution; however, preference will be
given to areas in which modeling approaches are less established and, for this
reason, bioinformatics- and genomics-related proposals fall outside the scope
of the program. In all cases, preference will be given to work that relates
closely to experiment, developing mathematical models that can explain data,
suggest new classes of experiments, and introduce important new concepts.
Basis
for Awards: The intent of the program
is to help launch the research careers of outstanding junior scientists.
Nominees to the program will normally be in the first few years of their first
faculty appointment. Nominations will be evaluated on the basis of nominees’
potential for scientific accomplishment.
Level
and Duration of Funding: A Simons
Investigator in MMLS is appointed for a period of five years. Appointments will
begin August 1, 2016.
An
Investigator will receive research support in an amount initially set at
$100,000 per year. An additional $10,000 per year will be provided to the
Investigator’s department. The award will be administered through the
Investigator’s institution, which will receive an additional 20 percent per
year in indirect costs.
An
Investigator position may be interrupted and resumed for reasons that would
normally justify a leave from a university, such as illness, the need to care
for family members, or time off for national service. Periods of sabbatical or
research leave do not count as interrupting the Investigator position. Support
may be withdrawn at any time at the discretion of the foundation, but it is
expected that termination of the award at times other than five years would
occur only rarely.
Allowable
Expenses: The funding provided to a
Simons Investigator may be used at the Investigator’s discretion to support
research expenses in the following categories:
o
Up to one month
of summer salary and related benefits.
o
Salary support
and related benefits, including tuition support, for postdoctoral, graduate, or
undergraduate research assistants.
o
Domestic or
international travel for the Investigator.
o
Short- or
long-term visitors, including travel, meals, and lodging expenses
o
Research
equipment, supplies, and other expenses directly benefiting the research.
Expenditures in other expense
categories may be possible but must be approved in advance by the foundation.
Investigator funds may not be used for sabbatical salary support or teaching
relief of any kind.
Funding provided for the
Investigator’s department should be used at the discretion of the department
chair to provide support for seminars, visitors, refreshments, and related
expenditures that benefit the research activities of the department. The
department is expected to provide appropriate administrative support to the
Investigator.
Unspent
Funds: The foundation’s intent is
that the award be administered to allow the maximum flexibility in pursuit of
scientific goals. To this end, unspent funds are automatically carried over
from year to year during the period of appointment, allowing for a particularly
large expenditure in one year. In exceptional circumstances, it may be
appropriate to pre-spend a portion of the award.
Requests
for accelerated disbursal will be considered by the foundation, subject to
budget availability and joint approval by the directors of the Mathematics and
Physical Sciences and Life Sciences divisions. Investigators may apply for a
no-cost extension for funds unexpended at the conclusion of the appointment.
Reporting:
Tentative five-year spending plans
will be due from the Investigator by December 1, 2016.
A
financial report and a brief activity report, summarizing research results
achieved, people supported, talks given, and papers published, will be required
from the Investigator annually, due by September 30 of each year.
At
the conclusion of the appointment, a final report is required, due within 60
days of the appointment end date. This report should detail the research
achieved, people supported, and publications produced, as well as provide a
detailed itemization of how the funds were expended. It may reference the
annual reports already submitted.
Eligibility: To be an Simons
Investigator in MMLS, a scientist must be engaged in research related to the
program, must not previously have been a Simons Investigator, and must
have a primary appointment as a faculty member at an educational institution in
the United States, Canada, or United Kingdom with a Ph.D. program. At the time
of appointment, an Investigator should be in the early stages of an academic
career (within five years of the start of his/her first faculty position) and,
typically, be holding an assistant professorship or equivalent position.
The
foundation reserves the right to determine eligibility, but, generally, a
‘primary appointment’ is defined as one where the Investigator is a full-time
employee of an academic institution with a teaching load that is comparable to
that of other faculty members in the same department. Investigators may
transfer their awards to new educational institutions within the United States,
Canada, or United Kingdom, subject to approval from the foundation and the old
and new institutions. The award will be interrupted or terminated, at the
foundation’s discretion, if an Investigator takes up a primary long-term
position at (i) a research institute, national laboratory, or other institution
outside the United States, Canada, or United Kingdom, (iii) a for-profit
organization, or (iii) accepts a major administrative responsibility that
significantly reduces the time available for research.
Investigators
are expected to attend annual meetings at the Simons Foundation (at the
foundation’s expense) to discuss their activities.
Number of Awards: In 2016,
the foundation expects to appoint four Simons Investigators in MMLS.
Nomination Procedure: The
foundation asks each university to submit a maximum of two nominations to the
MMLS Investigator program. Nominees for 2016 will be submitted through an
online process via proposalCENTRAL (pC) (https://proposalcentral.altum.com/default.asp). The deadline to submit nomination applications is October
28, 2015, at midnight EST.
Nomination
applications must be submitted by an institutional representative via his/her pC account in coordination with the appropriate
institutional officials and policies. Please refer to the attached “Simons
Investigators Nomination Instructions for MMLS 2016” for further information on
and requirements for submitting the nominee’s nomination material.
Required Nomination Materials Include:
o
Nomination letter
(two-page limit) written and signed by the nominator (someone other than the
nominee), explaining the distinctive scientific contributions of the nominee
and including discussion of a few important papers.
o
Letters of
support from two senior scientists (two-page limit for each). The letter
writers could be the nominee’s Ph.D. and postdoc advisors or could be other
scientists familiar with the nominee’s recent work and research goals. The
letters should be signed and indicate the nominee’s most significant research
accomplishments and provide insight into the nominee’s research program and
likely future scientific trajectory.
o
The nominee’s
curriculum vitae, including email address, Ph.D. year, institution, advisor,
postdoctoral institutions and advisors, positions held subsequent to award of
doctorate, and the nominee’s up-to-date publication list.
o
A list of
postdoctoral fellows and Ph.D. students supervised by or currently under the
supervision of the nominee.
o
A research
statement prepared by the nominee that outlines the nominee's research vision
and plans. (Two-page limit; references do not need to be included in the page
limit but should not exceed an additional page.)
o
501(c)(3) equivalency determination letter from the IRS for
international institutions.
Please note:
nominations submitted via email will not be considered.
The foundation expects to
notify nominees of the decision by May 31, 2016.
Important Dates:
|
Nomination
Deadline
|
Notification
|
Award
Start
Date
|
|
October 28, 2015
|
May 15, 2016
|
August 1, 2016
|
Contact
Information:
mps@simonsfoundation.org
Elizabeth Roy
Program Manager
Mathematics and the Physical
Sciences
212-524-6966
eroy@simonsfoundation.org
Simons
Investigators in the Mathematical Modeling of Living Systems
Instructions For
Nomination Submission
Deadline: October 28, 2015, at midnight EST
Important Note:
Nomination applications should
be started and submitted on proposalCENTRAL under the
account of the institutional representative submitting the nomination. This
representative is encouraged to submit in advance of the deadline to ensure
he/she has time to make any corrections that might be necessary for successful
submission.
Additionally, institutional
representatives must work with institutional officials to register the
institution with proposalCENTRAL or ensure the
institution’s existing proposalCENTRAL account is
up-to-date. New institutions are strongly encouraged to start the registration
process at least four weeks prior to the nomination deadline.
Please note that all deadlines
are in Eastern Standard Time. If the deadline has expired, the institutional representative
submitting the nomination will not be able to see the SUBMIT button and
will, therefore, not be able to submit the nomination proposal.
The institutional
representative can be, among others, the nominator (if at the same institution as
the nominee), the nominee’s department chair, or an official in the
institution’s sponsored projects office (or equivalent). A nominee cannot
submit his/her own nomination.
For NEW proposalCENTRAL users:
Step 1: Register as a proposalCENTRAL
user:
o
Go to https://proposalcentral.altum.com/default.asp.
o
Select CREATE
ONE NOW (Please see the proposalCENTRAL instructions for “Registering and
Completing Your Professional Profile” at: https://proposalcentral.altum.com/RegUser.pdf).
o
Once you have
completed the required information and clicked to agree to the Terms of Service
and the Acceptable Use Policy, click on SAVE. An email will be sent to your email address
containing a confirmation number. Note: This email will also contain both your
username and password.
o
Log in (https://proposalcentral.altum.com/default.asp) using APPLICATION
LOGIN, enter your confirmation number in
the box provided on the next screen, and click on SUBMIT CONFIRMATION NUMBER.
o
You will then be
directed to your PROFESSIONAL PROFILE, where you will need to select a primary institution.
o
If your
institution is already registered on proposalCENTRAL,
you will see it listed in the search results.
o
If you do not see
your institution in the list, please ask your grants and contracts office (or
equivalent) to create a profile for your institution on the system. (Please see
proposalCENTRAL instructions on “Registering Your
Institution” at: https://proposalcentral.altum.com/RegInst.pdf).
o
It is not a
requirement for you to complete the other sections of your PROFESSIONAL PROFILE at this time. It is recommended that you do enter your degrees
and personal data for applications (sections 2 and 4). Please be sure to save
after completing each section.
o
Within the
application, a red asterisk will indicate the required PROFESSIONAL PROFILE and INSTITUTIONAL PROFILE fields (see “Applicant” and “Organization/Institution”
sections below).
Step 2: Navigate to the GRANT
OPPORTUNITIES tab.
o
Select SIMONS FOUNDATION from
the drop-down list and click on the FILTER
LIST BY GRANT MAKER.
o
You will then see
the list of current Simons Foundation grant opportunities.
o
Click on APPLY NOW to
access the appropriate MATHEMATICS AND
PHYSICAL SCIENCES-SIMONS INVESTIGATORS IN THE MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF
LIVING SYSTEMS application.
o
Enter a title in
the TITLE PAGE section and click the SAVE button. This creates your
application and stores it under the MANAGE
PROPOSALS tab, and allows you to navigate
to the other sections of the application. The APPLICATION TITLE should be the nominee’s name.
o
Please be sure to
save after completing each section.
o
You can navigate
to each section by clicking on the NEXT button or by clicking on the section hyperlink in the
left-hand navigation.
o
For further
information, please see the proposalCENTRAL’s
instructions on how to “Prepare and Submit a Proposal” at: https://proposalcentral.altum.com/CreateApp.pdf.
For EXISTING proposalCENTRAL Users:
Step 1: Log in using APPLICATION
LOGIN at https://proposalcentral.altum.com/default.asp.
Step 2: Navigate to the GRANT
OPPORTUNITIES tab.
o
Select SIMONS FOUNDATION from
the drop-down list and click on the FILTER
LIST BY GRANT MAKER.
o
You will then see
the list of current Simons Foundation grant opportunities.
o
Click on APPLY NOW to
access the appropriate MATHEMATICS AND
PHYSICAL SCIENCES-SIMONS INVESTIGATORS IN THE MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF
LIVING SYSTEMS application.
o
Enter a title in
the TITLE PAGE section and click the SAVE button. This creates your
application, stores it under the MANAGE
PROPOSALS tab, and allows you to navigate
to the other sections of the application. The APPLICATION TITLE should be the nominee’s name.
o
Please be sure to
save after completing each section.
o
You can navigate
to each section by clicking on the NEXT button or by clicking on the section hyperlink in the
left-hand navigation.
o
For further
information, please see the proposalCENTRAL’s
instructions on how to “Prepare and Submit a Proposal” at:
https://proposalcentral.altum.com/CreateApp.pdf.
Format of the Application: Proposal
attachments should be single-spaced and in typeface no smaller than 10-point
font. Margins, in all directions, must be at least ˝ inch. Nominations that
do not adhere to these requirements may not be considered.
Applications contain the
following elements:
1.
Title Page: The
APPLICATION TITLE should be the nominee’s name.
2.
Enable Other Users to Access this Proposal: This screen allows the user to give
other users access to the application, if necessary.
3.
Applicant: This
information is pre-loaded from the applicant’s PROFESSIONAL PROFILE. The applicant’s name should reflect the name of the
institutional official submitting the nomination.
4.
Organization/Institution: This information is pre-loaded from the INSTITUTIONAL PROFILE. Institutional approval is indicated
by the signing official and financial/fiscal officer selected within this
section. Select the appropriate officials from the drop-down list or enter the
email address of a new official and click on ADD. Click on the SAVE
or CLOSE WINDOW link — the official will now be
listed as the assigned signing official or financial/fiscal officer.
5.
Key Personnel: Enter
information for the nominee and nominator; required fields include role, name,
email, position/title, institution, and department.
6.
Budget Summary: Enter budget period start and end dates and all requested budget items as
indicated for a five-year period. The program provides $100,000 per year for
research support, plus $10,000 per year to the Simons Investigator's
department, and $22,000 per year in indirect costs to the Investigator’s
institution. The budget period will run from August 1 through July 31 of each
year.
7.
Proposal Attachments (Please be sure that the following attachments are uploaded as unlocked
PDFs):
a.
Nomination Letter: Written and signed by the nominator (someone other than the nominee)
explaining the distinctive scientific contributions of the nominee, focusing on
scientific accomplishments of the past five years and including discussion of a
few important papers. (Two-page limit.)
b.
Letter of Support: Letters from two senior scientists who could be the nominee’s Ph.D. and
postdoc advisors or other scientists familiar with the nominee’s recent work
and research goals. The letters should be signed and indicate the nominee’s
most significant research accomplishments and provide insight into the
nominee’s research program and likely future scientific trajectory. The ATTACHMENT DESCRIPTION for each letter should contain the
letter writer’s name. (Two-page limit for each.)
c.
Nominee Curriculum Vitae: The nominee’s curriculum vitae, including Ph.D. year,
institution, advisor, postdoctoral institutions and advisors, positions held
subsequent to award of doctorate, and the nominee’s up-to-date publication
list.
d.
Postdoc and Student List: A list of postdoctoral fellows and Ph.D. students supervised
by or currently under supervision by the nominee.
e.
Research Statement: Prepared by the nominee that outlines the nominee's research vision and
plans. (Two-page limit; references do not need to be included in the page
limit but should not exceed an additional page.)
f.
501(c)(3) Equivalency Determination Letter from
the IRS (if applicable): For international institutions, upload a copy of the institution’s
501(c)(3) equivalency determination letter. The Simons Foundation requires an
equivalency determination letter from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
stating exemption under 501(c)(3) and furthermore,
either a 509(a)(1), (2), or (3) classification. If an international institution
is selected for funding and does not have the aforementioned documentation, the
foundation will require that the institution complete an equivalency
determination with NGOsource (see MPS policies).
g.
Signed Signature Page: downloaded in the SIGNATURE
PAGE(S) section of the application, signed by the designated
signing official and financial officer from the institution’s sponsored
research office (or equivalent), and then re-uploaded as a proposal attachment.
If the signing official also acts in the capacity of the financial officer,
only one institutional signature is required. Please note that not all fields
on the generated signature page will be populated. Only the signed first page
of the signature page PDF file needs to be uploaded for this requirement.
8.
Validate: Click
the VALIDATE button to check for any missing
required information or files. All missing required information will be listed
on the screen. Please correct any missing information before submitting your
application.
9.
Signature Page(s): Once all sections are completed, the signed signature page is to be
downloaded in this section of the application, signed by the designated signing
official and financial officer from the institution’s sponsored research office
(or equivalent), and then re-uploaded as a proposal attachment. Only the signed
first page of the signature page PDF file needs to be uploaded for this
requirement.
10. Submit: This section will only appear if the
deadline has not passed.
Simons
Foundation Mathematics and Physical Sciences (MPS) Contact Information:
mps@simonsfoundation.org, 212-524-6966
proposalCENTRAL Contact:
pcsupport@altum.com, 800-875-2562
