SFARI RFA to Support Analysis of Simons Searchlight Data

The Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) has launched a new request for applications (RFA) to support researchers in analyzing and publishing findings from existing autism and neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) datasets. This RFA is a valuable opportunity for researchers to deepen their understanding of autism by working with rich, research-ready resources — including those from Simons Searchlight.

While any publicly available dataset is eligible, priority will be given to those that leverage SFARI-supported data, such as Simons Searchlight, SPARK, the Autism Inpatient Collection, and others. This funding does not support new data collection, but encourages the use of genomic, phenotypic, imaging, and other data types already available.

Grants of up to $300,000 over two years are available, with additional compute costs eligible beyond the cap.

🔍 SFARI will host an informational Zoom session on July 23 at 12 p.m. ET. – Register here
📅 Applications are due by September 4, 2025, at 12 p.m. ET.

Researchers interested in working with Simons Searchlight data are especially encouraged to apply. Learn more about this opportunity.