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Type: News

COVID-19 Response: Supporting the COVID – 19 Childcare Project

The Foundation has awarded a $400,000 grant to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation to support the COVID – 19 Childcare Project, which aims to protect and preserve scarce childcare spaces and home-based providers in the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

A Statement of Solidarity

We stand with the tens of thousands of people marching for justice for George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and for all who have been killed by police and individuals simply for being Black. We stand with mothers and fathers forced to mourn for their babies, and sons and daughters who will never see their parents again.

New Documentary Film Follows Researchers Writing a New Chapter for Women Scientists

Gender discrimination continues to significantly affect women in science. Picture a Scientist, a new documentary film by directors Ian Cheney and Sharon Shattuck, follows a group of researchers who — through lived experiences and perspectives — provide insights on how to make science more diverse, equitable, and open to all.

51 Pegasi b Fellows Discover New Details about Jovian-like Protoplanets Around Star PDS 70

According to core accretion theory, pebbles, rocks, and gases in the protoplanetary disk around an infant star will clump together to form planet-sized cores. Depending on how much material a core can accumulate, it could become a small rocky planet like Mercury or a massive gas giant like Jupiter. While scientists believe this broad picture is generally true, many of the details of the planet formation process remain uncertain.

The 2030 Climate Challenge

The 2030 Climate Challenge is a competition launched by Lever for Change to award $10 million to the most impactful and durable solution aiming at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the buildings, industry, and/or transportation sectors in the U.S. by 2030. These three key sectors currently account for more than half of the national GHG emissions. To make real progress in decarbonizing our national economy, we need solutions that can effectively decarbonize these areas.

COVID-19 Response: $500,000 General Support Grant to World Resources Institute

The Heising-Simons Foundation has awarded a $500,000 grant to World Resources Institute (WRI) — a global research organization focusing on critical issues at the intersection of environment and development.

COVID-19 Response: Decontamination of N95 Masks

As the number of COVID-19 cases rises, shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) are forcing hospitals, care centers, and first responders across the country to reuse their limited supply of these critical resources. The lack of new (and sterile) protective devices puts healthcare workers at increased risk of infection. 

COVID-19 Response: Grant to Research Impact of Crisis on Families With Young Children in the U.S.

The Heising-Simons Foundation announced support to researchers at the University of Oregon’s Center for Translational Neuroscience with a $300,004 grant to help identify the most critical challenges facing families with young children in the United States during the COVID-19 health and economic crisis.

2019 State of Preschool Yearbook: Action Needed to Prevent Long-term Damage to Pre-K Amid COVID-19 Crisis

The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) has released the 2019 State of Preschool Yearbook, a survey on state-funded preschool programs that tracks student enrollment, resource allocation (including staffing and funding levels), and policies that support quality learning. In the midst of the COVID-19 health and economic crisis, the Yearbook also provides information on where children are served, operating schedules, and other program features relevant to planning for the 2020-2021 school year and beyond.