The Human Frontier Science Program Organisation funds projects in basic research studying fundamental problems on all organisational and trophic levels of life sciences. Research projects may range from biological functions at the molecular and cellular level up to the level of biological systems, including cognitive functions.

All levels of analysis are supported: for example, studies on genes and individual molecules, intracellular networks, intercellular associations in tissues and organs, and networks underlying the complex functions of entire organisms, populations, or ecosystems.

The HFSP funds novel collaborations that bring scientists with distinct expertise together to focus on problems at the frontiers of the life sciences. The innovative aspect of the project is a major criterion in the review of HFSP research grants, and it is understood that projects at the frontier of the live sciences may entail high risks.

Two types of research grants are available:

• Research Grants - Early Career - for teams of researchers, all of whom are within the first five years after obtaining an independent laboratory (eg Assistant Professor, Lecturer or equivalent) and have obtained their first doctoral degree (PhD, MD or equivalent) not longer than 10 years before the deadline for submission of the letter of intent

• Program Grants - for teams of independent researchers at any stage of their careers. Research teams are expected to develop new lines of research through the collaboration. Applications including independent investigators early in their careers are encouraged

The current mode of funding is as follows but may be subject to revision to take into account HFSPO's budget:

• $300,000 for a team of two

• $400,000 for a team of three

• $500,000 for a team of four or more

These figures represent the amount awarded to the whole team per year for a period of three years.

Two members from the same country should constitute an interdisciplinary collaboration. They will be awarded an amount equivalent to 1.5 team members (currently $350,000 for a team of '2.5' and $450,000 for '3.5' team members).

In the case of a two-member team with one member in a for-profit institution, the total annual award will be reduced to $150,000. In other cases, the for-profit member will not be included when calculating the amount of the award.

Scientists applying for a HFSP research grant must be organised as an international research team (with emphasis on intercontinental collaborations). The HFSP research team may include two to four (rarely five) members, whereby one member of the team is designated as the Principal Applicant and the others as Co-Applicants.

The international team must designate one of its members as the Principal Applicant. The Principal Applicant must be located in an HFSPO member country: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus (EU part), the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, the Republic of Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

All team members must have a research doctoral degree (PhD, MD or equivalent) and lead a research group (however small). All team members must be able to independently determine the course of the HFSP-funded project and have freedom to administer the awarded grant. Post-docs are not eligible.

HFSPO promotes new interdisciplinary collaborations across the world. Therefore, team members are expected to work in different disciplines and have their labs in different countries; for the rules on the country of team member affiliation.

HFSPO promotes new research collaborations. Therefore, the team members should not have collaborated before, they will normally not have published together and must propose a project significantly different from their ongoing research.

Restrictions

Restrictions

Applications from individual researchers are not eligible.

The following are not eligible for funding support:

• Research of a purely applied nature. For example:

• Projects of a primarily clinical and pharmaceutical nature are only considered if they allow new insights into fundamental biological mechanisms of disease

• Projects aimed at developing methods of diagnosis or treatment, including the search for potential drug targets or advanced trials of drugs under development

• Applied research in engineering, biotechnology, or nanotechnology, that does not address a fundamental biological problem

• Projects directly concerned with agricultural problems such as crop yield or breeding and environmental problems such as pollution

• Research aimed at developing novel methods or the study of analogs or models of biological activity unless these methods allow new biological questions to be answered in the context of the aim of HFSP to fund fundamental research

• Observational projects or systematic screening approaches

• Large-scale data collection studies without a convincing rationale for the collection and detailed methodology for the data analysis; this includes systematic multi-species-omics analyses of populations or ecosystems, which do not address a fundamental biological question of general interest. However, studies of the mechanisms of species-species interactions or their co-evolution are eligible

• Research in for-profit environments (but collaborations are allowed)

• Proposals representing standard or incremental approaches, obvious next steps in the field or the laboratory of one or more applicants (routine projects) and proposals that do not represent significant changes in research direction from previous work of the applicants are unlikely to receive funding

Applicants must submit a letter of intent to apply for a research grant via the ProposalCentral website. After review, selected teams will be invited to submit a full application.

Teams must initiate a compulsory letter of intent by 24 March 2022.

Letters of intent must be submitted by 31 March 2022