Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Research Grants

The Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Research Grants support fundamental, innovative research in the life sciences, emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration across national and disciplinary boundaries. Established to promote cutting-edge investigations into the complex mechanisms governing living systems, HFSP operates under the Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSPO), an international entity that coordinates global cooperation in basic biological research. The initiative aims to complement, rather than duplicate, existing national research efforts among its member countries. Applications are encouraged from researchers seeking to challenge existing paradigms through original concepts and bold, high-risk scientific exploration. HFSP grants prioritize novelty, scientific merit, internationality, and interdisciplinarity. Successful proposals often incorporate collaborators from outside traditional life science disciplines such as physics, mathematics, computer science, or engineering, fostering breakthrough insights into biological questions. Applicants must propose projects that are distinctly different from their ongoing research activities, and preliminary data are not required. Instead, HFSP values ideas that entail risk and require new collaborative strategies. Each team must include 2 to 4 members (5 in exceptional interdisciplinary cases), each of whom is expected to lead a research group and have the capacity to direct independent lines of investigation. Two types of research grants are offered: the Program Grant and the Early Career Grant. Program Grants are open to independent researchers at any career stage and prioritize collaborative projects that extend beyond the current frontier of life sciences. Early Career Grants target scientists who are within five years of establishing independent research positions and who received their doctoral degrees within the past ten years. These grants are designed to support the development of new interdisciplinary collaborations among early-stage investigators. All members of an Early Career team must meet these criteria and bring diverse, complementary expertise to the collaboration. The award provides a fixed sum based on team size, distributed over a three-year period (with a possible fourth-year extension). Teams of two receive $300,000 per year; three-member teams receive $400,000; and four-member teams receive $500,000 annually, provided all members are in different countries. If two members share the same country affiliation, their combined contribution is counted as 1.5 team members with adjusted funding. Institutions must provide the infrastructure and equipment necessary to carry out the research. HFSP funds are to be used solely for the new collaborative work and may cover research staff salaries (excluding PIs), materials, travel, and modest indirect costs up to 10%. For-profit partners may participate but are not eligible for funding. The application process begins with submission of a Letter of Intent via ProposalCentral. For the 2027 award cycle, initiation of the Letter of Intent must occur by March 17, 2026, and submission is due by March 26, 2026. Letters are reviewed for eligibility, scientific novelty, interdisciplinarity, and team integration. Selected applicants will be invited in July 2026 to submit a full proposal by mid-September 2026. Final decisions will be announced in March 2027, with awarded projects expected to start between May and December 2027. Awardees must comply with national and institutional ethical standards and HFSP’s policy on responsible research conduct. Applications are submitted online through ProposalCentral. Each team must designate a Principal Applicant, based in an HFSPO member country, who will serve as the main liaison and be responsible for submitting the Letter of Intent. Only one application per individual is allowed per cycle, and applicants cannot hold more than one HFSP award concurrently. Teams should be international and interdisciplinary, and ideally intercontinental, with minimal prior collaboration. Projects must represent new scientific directions and promise transformative advances in understanding living systems.