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Type: News

51 Pegasi b Fellowship: Supporting the Next Generation of Planetary Astronomers

The Heising-Simons Foundation’s 51 Pegasi b fellowship is three-year postdoctoral fellowship that provides recipients with resources, freedom, and flexibility to conduct theoretical, observational, and experimental research in planetary astronomy.

Climate and Clean Energy Program Awards $2.68M to Systems Change Efforts

In summer 2024, the Foundation’s Climate and Clean Energy program awarded $2.68 million in grants to organizations and coalitions pushing for large-scale and sustainable clean energy development in the U.S.

Empowering the Astronomical Community: Heising-Simons Foundation Awards $2 Million to Las Cumbres Observatory

The Heising-Simons Foundation has awarded a $2 million grant to Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) to provide the astronomical community access to LCO’s unique network of robotic telescopes for the next four years.

“Breaking the News” Documentary by Grantee The 19th Available on Streaming Services

A documentary about journalism grantee The 19th has just been released on streaming platforms, chronicling the nonprofit newsroom’s launch, triumphs and challenges. “Breaking the News” features deliberations around and reporting on key major news events such as the coronavirus pandemic, the killing of Breonna Taylor, and the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The documentary premiered …

Heising-Simons Foundation Names Jennifer Shipp Acting President and CEO

The Heising-Simons Foundation today named Jennifer Shipp as Acting President and CEO, effective immediately.

Heising-Simons Foundation Awards $25.6M to Systems Change Efforts in Second Quarter of 2024

Heising-Simons Foundation awarded $25.6 million to systems change efforts across 57 grants during the second quarter of 2024. This latest round of funding supports advancing climate and clean energy policies, ensuring that AI does not disrupt the 2024 election, and developing a clearer understanding of the causes of underrepresentation of women in math and physical …

Heising-Simons Foundation Awards Over $3.1M to Technology and Society Organizations Ahead of Summit

The Heising-Simons Foundation has awarded $3.19 million this year, to address the ongoing impact of technology on society in advance of Wednesday’s Technology and Society Summit at the Foundation. The Foundation has awarded $7.88 million to address issues in this space since Sushma Raman joined as the Foundation’s president and CEO in 2023. The Foundation’s …

First Open Call for Support of Science Events and Gatherings

The Heising-Simons Foundation’s Science program is soliciting its first open call for proposals for support of meetings, workshops, conferences, summer schools, research collaboration gatherings, and other events related to astronomy, cosmology, fundamental physics, climate change science, as well as increasing the representation and retention of underrepresented groups within these areas.  The Science program expects to …

Remembering Jim Simons (1938–2024)

The Heising-Simons Foundation honors the life and legacy of Jim Simons, 86, who passed away on Friday, May 10, 2024.  The father of Heising-Simons Foundation Chair Liz Simons, father-in-law of Vice Chair Mark Heising, and grandfather of Vice Chair Caitlin Heising, Jim (as he preferred to be called) was an award-winning mathematician, a legend in quantitative investing, and an inspired and generous philanthropist.