Small-Scale Experiments that Advance Fundamental Physics
FAS/SEAS/OSP LOI Deadline: October 26, 2022
Sponsor LOI Deadline: October 31, 2022
Award Amount: There is no recommended funding level for this program, but typical annual project budgets are expected to fall between $300,000 and $1,000,000, for up to five years. The combined support provided by all foundations is expected to be up to $20,000,000 over the five years of this program. The indirect cost rate ranges from 12.5% to 20%, depending on which sponsor ultimately funds the proposal. For the purposes of the initial LOI, applicants are advised by the program to use an indirect cost rate of 20%.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, and the Simons Foundation invite applications to a one-time call aimed at advancing fundamental physics by funding small-scale experiments that explore physics which has typically been explored at large-scale facilities (e.g., CERN, LIGO). The program is intended to support high-risk and potentially high-return small-scale experimental projects aimed at new ambitious discoveries beyond the current frontier of fundamental physics. "Small-scale" refers to table-top size experiments or to ones that could fit in a typical university physics research lab. Examples of such projects include, but are not limited to, tests of basic principles of quantum physics, tests of interaction laws and established symmetry principles, and searches for new particles.

Applications will be judged primarily on alignment between proposed activities and program goals, novelty and scientific merit, potential for success in advancing fundamental physics, capacity of the researchers, and project design. Applicants selected from the LOI stage will be invited to submit full proposals via the appropriate funders’ regular intake system and guided through a final set of steps particular to each foundation.