Solar Radiation Management
The Simons Foundation's Solar Radiation Management grant funds international teams to advance fundamental scientific research on SRM strategies and their integration into climate models.
Funder: Simons Foundation
Due Dates: October 6, 2026 (Letter of Intent, 12 p.m. ET) | February 17, 2027 (Full Proposal, 12 p.m. ET)
Funding Amounts: Up to $1.5M total per award over 3 years; typical annual budget ~$500K; up to 13 awards expected.
Summary: Supports international collaborative research to address fundamental scientific gaps in solar radiation management (SRM) strategies for climate intervention.
Key Information: Field experiments and social science research are not eligible; applicants from Ph.D.-granting departments only.
Description
The Simons Foundation's Solar Radiation Management program, administered by the Mathematics and Physical Sciences division, funds international collaborations aimed at deepening the fundamental scientific understanding of solar radiation management (SRM) as a potential climate intervention strategy. SRM encompasses approaches such as stratospheric aerosol injection, marine cloud brightening, and cirrus cloud thinning, all designed to modify the Earth's radiative balance and potentially cool the planet. While reducing greenhouse gases is the primary long-term solution to climate change, SRM could help mitigate some near-term impacts, though it carries significant environmental and societal risks. This initiative prioritizes research on the discovery and characterization of environmentally benign materials, laboratory studies of candidate materials, modeling of atmospheric turbulence, and integration of findings into climate models to inform decision-making.
