Science, Society & Culture Grants (focus on broadening participation in science)

Science, Society & Culture Grants (focus on broadening participation in science) is sponsored by Simons Foundation. This opportunity supports mission-aligned projects and measurable outcomes.

Simons Foundation | Science, Society & Culture | Projects You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience. Science, Society & Culture Our community of awardees spans the entirety of the United States.

Learn more about the organizations that make up our awardee community. We support interdisciplinary projects that explore the intersection of science and the rest of culture. We power programs that connect science to peoples’ existing interests and identities, with a focus on broadening participation in science.

Science, Society & Culture Friendly contest enabling students with vision loss to gain math skills while working alongside their peers. Integrating art, science and nature and broadening participation through public engagement, outreach, activism and public art. Mobile lab that brings hands-on science to underserved students in New York City, with a research lab base on the Lower East Side and in Harlem.

Black Girls Dive Foundation Organization that establishes space and opportunity to empower young ladies to explore their STEM identity through marine science and conservation, and SCUBA diving. Math organization creating pathways for students from low-income and historically marginalized communities to become scientists, mathematicians, engineers and computer scientists.

Inclusive theater company whose community reflects the vast diversity of the broader population Ten-episode limited series podcast hosted by Kate Downey, with episodes releasing weekly starting in February 2025. Organization that aims to inspire and deepen the public’s ability to critically think about the social origins of global warming and environmental change.

Community-focused program that provides extraordinary opportunities for under-recognized and underrepresented youth Organization amplifying youth and community power by inspiring, guiding and advocating for youth to determine their college, career and leadership futures. A collaborative program that implements informal, out-of-school STEM learning for youth in high-need communities across the country.

Organization that pairs scientists and filmmakers to tell stories of current research through innovative artistic techniques. Los Angeles-based organization combining innovation, transformation, and democratization to reimagine education and create systemic change.

Letters to a Pre-Scientist Pen-pal program that connects students in under-resourced schools with STEM professional mentors for a snail-mail letter exchange during science class. Lewis Latimer House — Tinker Lab Summer Programs A weeklong summer camp offering hands-on STEAM education for underprivileged youth in Queens, NY.

Community based organization creating a science learning initiative dedicated to engaging Spanish speaking immigrants and their children with New York City math and science learning institutions. Math organization creating meaningful and fun experiences that enable every student and educator to develop their mathematical power and build a sense of belonging in order to choose their own mathematical pathway.

Media Art Exploration (MAX) An international live-arts convening of artists, scientists, influencers and machines to develop new works for diverse audiences. MIT Museum: Science in Vivo Science in Vivo “meets people where they are” by bringing science to unexpected venues. The Science in Vivo project fosters the integration of science into settings where people are not expecting it.

The overall goals of the project are to inspire experimentation with — and advance the understanding of — such work. Over the course of three years the project will support teams at 24 sites that bring science experiences to “where the people are. ” Nine of these sites will host an observational visit from other science engagement professionals, enabling them to better understand the dynamics at work in these settings.

The project incorporates several mechanisms for sharing findings, including the annual Science Events Summit. The MIT Museum engages the wider community with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s science, technology and other areas of scholarship in ways that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago Science and technology museum cultivating meaningful experiences and partnerships in Chicago neighborhoods. The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) has welcomed over 190 million visitors since opening in 1933. Through immersive exhibits, award-winning education programs and live onsite science, MSI reaches across Chicago and around the world.

Interactive, hands-on experiences spark wonder and curiosity while cultivating a lifelong appreciation for science and technology. Located on the South Side of Chicago, MSI is part of an incredible collection of over 30 neighborhoods rich in artistic, scientific and cultural pride. MSI recognizes that talent and potential exist in all zip codes across the city, but not all resources and opportunities are equally distributed.

To achieve the museum’s mission, MSI leverages the collective power of the communities it serves. MSI is seeking to reimagine the ways in which it can be a learner, resource and true partner to the youth and families in Chicago neighborhoods. MSI will spend a year planning and developing its new STEAM Neighborhoods program.

Collaborating with communities to co-create STEAM Neighborhoods will leverage insights and relationships from all MSI’s core education programming and focus novel investments into specific Chicago neighborhoods. This work aims to create direct connections among MSI-supported schools, community-based organizations, parks and libraries to develop hyper-local ‘micro-ecosystems’ around STEAM.

Neighborhood interest, excitement and need will drive the strategic and operational approaches. With STEAM Neighborhoods, MSI aims to co-create with community stakeholders a model that facilitates the transformation of an entire neighborhood and activates the talent and potential of the youth and families who live there.

Museum of the Moving Image Museum located in Astoria, Queens that explores the central technology of the present moment through exhibitions, film screenings, live conversations with artists and filmmakers, and more.

Since opening its doors in 1988, Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) has been at the forefront of creative, emerging digital technologies in the arts, championing a spectrum of contemporary media — from film and television to digital media and video games.

Through exhibitions, education programs, screenings, artist commissions, interpretive programs and its own collection of art and artifacts, MoMI examines the moving image as an art form as well as technical innovations in moving image production, both as a catalyst for invention and an application of new formats and technical advances.

Located in Queens, the most diverse location in the world, MoMI welcomes 250,000 visitors and 70,000 students annually, as well as a robust online audience.

In June 2024, MoMI will open its doors for a series of free events that bring into conversation mycologists, biologists and neuroscientists alongside light artists, musicians and filmmakers, exploring how the tools of science and cinema can reveal more of the world than is visible to the naked eye. Initiative to develop a creative interdisciplinary approach to STEM learning that can be implemented in immigrant communities.

New York City-based theater ballet company integrating dance with quantitative STEM disciplines. Education design company creating high-quality summer learning and out-of-school time opportunities for highly motivated yet historically excluded BIPOC students. Award-winning science radio program that employs high-quality storytelling and sound to engage audiences.

An award-winning public radio show devoted to increasing the public’s access to science and scientific information. Science, Engineering and Mathematics Link Inc. — STEM Journal Club National nonprofit organization established on the premise that exposure to the STEM community is critical to K-12 students pursuing STEM careers.

Sciences at Pioneer Works A massive cultural center dedicated to experimentation, education and production across disciplines, housed in a converted warehouse in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn. On-deadline service connecting reporters to expert sources and research-backed evidence for use in their stories.

Seattle Universal Math Museum Math museum providing math enrichment activities for students that parents can replicate at home. Science and music podcast where musicians talk to scientists about how their science connects to their most famous songs.

Society for Science: STEM Action Grants This grant program supports community-driven organizations working to enhance the public’s understanding of science and to increase participation of underrepresented populations in STEM. Innovative after-school program in New York City for high school students interested in exploring the profound connection between music and STEM.

Two- week programs, for girls to create a collection of technology-infused dances, to inspire them to consider joining the STEM workforce. Organization exposing underrepresented students in West Michigan to STEM through interactive, hands-on learning experiences.

Organization promoting access for underrepresented students to the skills and information needed to address scientific and technological concerns of their neighborhoods and our changing world. Tackling the issue of inclusivity in STEM by providing best-in-class, hands-on programming to girls from low-income communities.

Math organization that helps schools and school districts create a middle and high school pathway for success in advanced mathematics. Tools and resources to help science, environmental, and health journalists at all levels of experience to sharpen their skills.

Native-led non-profit educating and strengthening relationships between bio-regional native and non-native government and NGO’s, as well as academic institutions to reconnect Coast Salish youth and community with their culture and ancestral homelands. Free music laboratory for girls and gender-expansive youth in NYC that empowers them through transdisciplinary music education