1. Research Grants
Distinguishing Features of the HFSP Research Grant Program
HFSP Research Grants support innovative basic research into fundamental biological problems with emphasis placed on novel and interdisciplinary approaches that involve scientific exchanges across national and disciplinary boundaries (see guidelines).
Participation of scientists from disciplines outside the traditional life sciences such as biophysics, chemistry, computational biology, computer science, engineering, mathematics, nanoscience or physics is recommended because such collaborations have opened up new approaches for understanding the complex structures and regulatory networks that characterize living organisms, their evolution and interactions.
Research grants are provided for teams of scientists who are based in different countries and wish to combine their expertise in innovative approaches to questions that could not be answered by individual laboratories. Preliminary results are not required and applicants are expected to develop new lines of research through the research collaboration.
It is understood that such research inherently contains risks and HFSP expects that teams of applicants address the risks and outline mitigation strategies for their research in case of failure and how they intend to achieve their goals.
Applications for applied research, including medical research typically funded by national medical research bodies, will be deemed ineligible (see guidelines).
Applicants can check the HFSP Science Digest on recently awardee projects.
Two types of Grant are available: Research Grants – Early Career and Research Grants – Program.
Research Grants – Program
Awarded to teams of independent researchers at any stage of their careers. The research team is expected to develop new lines of research through the collaboration. Applications including independent investigators early in their careers are encouraged.
Research Grants – Early Career*
All team members are expected to direct a research group (however small) and must have a doctoral degree (PhD, MD or equivalent). They must be in a position to initiate and direct their own independent lines of research. The HFSP award is not intended to create scientific independence, this is a decision of the research institute prior to the application.
2. Postdoctoral Fellowships
The HFSP fellowship program supports proposals for frontier, potentially transformative research in the life sciences. Applications for high-risk projects are particularly encouraged. The projects should be interdisciplinary in nature and should challenge existing paradigms by using novel approaches and techniques. Scientifically, they should address an important problem or a barrier to progress in the field.
HFSP postdoctoral fellowships encourage early career scientists to broaden their research skills by moving into new areas of study while working in a new country.
Two different fellowships are available:
- Long-Term Fellowships (LTF) are for applicants with a PhD on a biological topic who want to embark on a novel and frontier project focussing on the life sciences.
- Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships (CDF) are for applicants who hold a doctoral degree from a non-biological discipline (e.g. physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering or computer sciences) and who have no (or little) experience in the life sciences.
There is only one competition per year for HFSP Fellowships. Applications for the 2027 HFSP Long-Term and Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships will follow a two-step submission process via the online submission platform ProposalCentral. Firstly, applicants will be asked to submit a Letter of Intent from which the review committee will select the best proposals. In a second step, successful applicants will be invited to submit a Full Proposal. The application portal for the 2027 HFSP Fellowships Letters of Intent is now open, please see our ProposalCentral Instructions (linked below).
The application guidelines for the 2027 cycle are available:
Fellowships Information Webinar
We are hosting two Fellowships Webinars on the 25th of March, 2026. Carolyn Johnson (HFSP Senior Scientific Officer) and Guntram Bauer (HFSP Chief Scientific Officer) provide insights into HFSP’s expectations for frontier science, application rules and guidelines, and how to develop a compelling Letter of Intent. This session will also feature Samuel Miravet-Verde and Sandra Reinert’s experiences as HFSP Fellowship Awardees. Please register via the link: Register for the Fellowships Information Webinar
Deadlines
- The ProposalCentral application portal will OPEN on March 12, 2026. You must start filling in your application between March 12 and May 5, 2026.
- Initiation of a Letter of Intent must be completed BEFORE May 5, 2026 at 9:00 am (09:00, Eastern US Time). Instructions can be found in the Application Guidelines (above) and in the ProposalCentral instructions (pdf)
- Submission of a Letter of Intent by May 12, 2026 at 9:00 am (09:00, Eastern US Time) via ProposalCentral
- HFSP will notify fellowship applicants between mid-August and end of August as to whether their Letter of Intent was selected or not for submitting a Full Proposal.
- Submission of Full Proposals for invited applicants by September 24, 2026 at 9:00 am (09:00, Eastern US Time) via ProposalCentral.
Important Documents
Application Guidelines (LTF and CDF).pdf
ProposalCentral instructions for LOI applicants.pdf
Assessment Criteria and Reviewer Scoring Guide.pdf
Need Help?
For questions about registration in ProposalCentral please use the following contact: https://proposalcentral.com/inforequest.asp
E-mail: [Click here to show mail address]
ProposalCentral Phone: +1 703 964 5840
For questions about the HFSP Fellowships, please first read the Application Guidelines (above), then contact the Fellowships Office at [Click here to show mail address]
Nguồn tham khảo: https://www.hfsp.org/
