Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Creates Largest 3D Map of Universe April 17, 2024 Share In May 2021, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) situated on the four-meter Mayall Telescope on Kitt Peak, Arizona, begun capturing and studying the light from tens of millions of galaxies and other objects in the universe. The results from a full year of observations, released earlier this month, are mind-blowing: DESI has created the …
Families Lead California Initiative Awards $4 Million to Strengthen Diverse Parent Leaders April 2, 2024 Share The Heising-Simons Foundation’s Education program has awarded $4 million over two years to support of 11 community-based organizations working to strengthen the pipeline of diverse parent leaders in California. This marks the second round of funding for these 11 organizations, which are part of Families Lead California, an initiative that builds parent leaders’ power to influence policy to reflect the priorities of families with children ages 0-8 in the Golden State.
Heising-Simons Foundation Grantees Awarded MacKenzie Scott Large Grants March 29, 2024 Share Several grantees of the Heising-Simons Foundation have been awarded unrestricted grants in the $1-2 million range for “outstanding work advancing the voices and opportunities of individuals and families of meager or modest means, and groups who have met with discrimination and other systemic obstacles,” Yield Giving announced this week. Our grantees join a total pool …
Eight Scientists Awarded 51 Pegasi b Fellowship in Planetary Astronomy March 28, 2024 Share Eight early-career scientists have been awarded the 51 Pegasi b Fellowship, a three-year postdoctoral fellowship that provides recipients with resources, freedom, and flexibility to conduct theoretical, observational, and experimental research in planetary astronomy.
Foundation President and CEO Sushma Raman to Speak as Part of Stanford’s Effective Philanthropy Learning Initiative March 27, 2024 Share Heising-Simons Foundation President and CEO Sushma Raman will speak at the Effective Philanthropy Learning Initiative (EPLI), hosted by the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS), from May 1-3, followed by a virtual component May 8-10. EPLI is a 6-day executive-style learning course for philanthropy professionals. The course will cover: Donors’ values and focus …
Journalism Grantee FRONTLINE Wins Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film March 20, 2024 Share FRONTLINE documentary film 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL, made in partnership with the Associated Press (AP), won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film at the Oscars ceremony in March 2024. 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL tells the important and powerful story from the perspective of an AP team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged …
Environmental Defense Fund’s MethaneSAT Successfully Launches March 4, 2024 Share MethaneSAT, a new satellite that will find and measure methane emissions with unparalleled precision – including emissions that other satellites simply can’t see – successfully launched from Vanderberg Space Force Base on March 4, 2024, with the aid of SpaceX. MethaneSAT is funded by Climate and Clean Energy grantee Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). Heising-Simons Foundation Board …
Heising-Simons Foundation Awards $3 Million for Informing Gravity Theory February 22, 2024 Share This month, the Heising-Simons Foundation’s Science program awarded $3 million over three years for two theoretical and experimental research projects on Informing Gravity Theory in the laboratory. These projects focus on exploring how the platforms and techniques of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical (AMO) physics can elucidate simple models of quantum gravity and inform the construction …
American Mosaic Journalism Prize Awarded to Dara T. Mathis and Tamir Kalifa February 6, 2024 Share The Heising-Simons Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023 American Mosaic Journalism Prize: Carvell Wallace and Cerise Castle.