THE SIMONS FOUNDATION, INC

Their core work

The Simons Foundation is a major US private science funder that supports and conducts basic research in mathematics, physics, neuroscience, and autism through its own institutes (notably the Flatiron Institute for computational science and SFARI for autism research) and flagship observational facilities like the Simons Observatory. In an EU context, they appear as a non-European research partner bringing specialized infrastructure, datasets, and scientific expertise — particularly in computational astrophysics, condensed matter theory, and autism biomarker research. They do not seek EU funding themselves; instead they contribute as a scientific collaborator whose resources (cohort data, observatory data, computational methods) complement European consortia.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their earliest H2020 engagement (2018) was in biomedical territory — autism biomarkers and neurodevelopmental outcomes through AIMS-2-TRIALS, reflecting their SFARI autism-science arm. From 2021 onward their involvement shifted sharply toward the physical sciences: observational cosmology tied to the Simons Observatory, and computational condensed matter theory using density functional theory, renormalization group methods, and machine learning. The direction of travel is clear — European consortia are now pulling them in for their physics and computational-science assets rather than for health work.

They are increasingly being drawn into European fundamental-physics consortia as a data and computation partner, which makes them a strong non-EU ally for cosmology, condensed matter, and ML-for-science proposals.

How they like to work

They never coordinate — they join as a participant or, more typically, as a third-party partner attached to a European host institution. Despite only three projects, they have touched 65 consortium partners across 14 countries, which suggests they plug into large, well-established international collaborations rather than small focused teams. Working with them means getting access to their institutes and facilities via a European PI, not contracting them directly.

Connected to 65 distinct partners across 14 countries despite only three projects, reflecting their presence in very large consortia (AIMS-2-TRIALS alone involves dozens of European hospitals and pharma partners). Their network is transatlantic in character, anchored in US science with broad European reach.

What sets them apart

They are one of very few US private science foundations that show up inside H2020 consortia, which is unusual — most European projects partner with US universities, not foundations. What they offer that a university cannot is direct access to dedicated scientific infrastructure (Simons Observatory, Flatiron Institute's compute and data-analysis teams, SFARI cohorts). For a European coordinator, adding Simons is a way to bring world-class datasets and computational science into a proposal without paying for them from the EU budget, since Simons funds its own contributions.

Highlights from their portfolio

• AIMS-2-TRIALS
  Europe's largest autism research program; Simons is the sole major US scientific foundation involved, contributing SFARI-linked expertise on biomarkers and clinical outcomes.
• PiCOGAMBAS
  Directly leverages the Simons Observatory — a flagship US CMB facility — inside an EU precision cosmology effort combining Euclid and microwave background data.
• BITMAP
  Unusual pairing of ab initio electronic-structure methods with machine learning for superconductors and topological materials, echoing the Flatiron Institute's computational-physics program.