SFARI New Ideas Exploratory Autism Research Grants

About this program

The Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) is offering New Ideas grants to fund early-stage, exploratory basic research that tests novel hypotheses and opens new conceptual or experimental directions in autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders. Projects may draw on any discipline, methodology, experimental system, or scale and should challenge existing assumptions or introduce new frameworks or tools. Applicants may be experienced autism researchers or newcomers to the field; SFARI particularly encourages investigators who have not previously been funded by SFARI. Letters of intent are accepted on a rolling basis starting 29 April 2026 via the Simons Award Manager; applicants typically receive LOI decisions in three to four months and, if invited, have four weeks to submit a full application.