Postdoctoral Fellowships

The Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) supports innovative basic research into

fundamental biological problems with emphasis placed on novel and interdisciplinary approaches

that involve scientific exchanges across national and disciplinary boundaries. In the past decade

biological research has become increasingly quantitative rather than descriptive. The participation

of scientists from disciplines outside the traditional life sciences such as biophysics, chemistry,

computational biology, computer science, engineering, mathematics, nanoscience or physics has

contributed to this change and will continue to do so. Such collaborations have opened up new

approaches for understanding the complex structures and regulatory networks that characterize

living organisms, their evolution and interactions.

To stimulate novel, daring ideas and innovative approaches, preliminary results are not

required in research grant applications. The HFSP places special emphasis on encouraging

scientists early in their careers – this is expressed both in the establishment of a special Young

Investigators’ Grant and in encouraging scientists early in their careers to participate in the Program

Grants. Applicants are expected to develop new lines of research through the collaboration.

Research grants are available for projects concerned with basic approaches to understanding the

complex mechanisms of living organisms. Topics covered range from molecular and cellular

approaches to biological functions to systems neuroscience including cognitive functions. The

HFSP funds novel collaborations that bring biologists together with scientists from other disciplines

to focus on problems at the frontiers of the life sciences. The interdisciplinary aspect of the project

is a major criterion in the review of HFSP research grants. A brief explanation of the

contributions of the different disciplines should be provided in the summary which will be

used in piloting the review process.