The International Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSPO) is pleased to announce the names of the recipients of HFSP international postdoctoral fellowships, career development awards and research grants. HFSP awards are made in each category only after rigorous selection in a global competition. The names are available on the HFSP web site at http://www.hfsp.org/awardees/Awards-index.php.
HFSP postdoctoral fellowships are given to young scientists within 3 years of the PhD degree who wish to broaden their training in a laboratory in another country. A repatriation scheme is built into these three year fellowships giving awardees considerable flexibility in planning their future careers: Fellows who wish to return to their home countries can use the third year of the fellowship in a laboratory at home and can defer their return by up to two years if their host supervisor can provide interim funds. This year, 86 Fellowships have been awarded. Of these, 74 are Long-Term Fellowships for life scientists planning to extend their expertise into another field of biology and 12 are Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships for young scientists with PhDs in physics, chemistry, computer science or engineering. The Long-Term and Cross-Disciplinary Fellows are from 29 different countries and will be receiving training in 10 different countries. A change in remuneration for the fellowships has also been introduced: Fellowships now provide a living allowance of approximately $ 46,000 in the USA in the first year with further increments in subsequent years. In addition, fellows receive an allowance for travel and research expenses.
A special feature of the HFSP programs for young scientists electing to return to their home countries after postdoctoral training abroad is the competitive Career Development Award to support their transition to independence. This year awards have been made to 16 young scientists returning to 9 different countries. Each awardee will receive a total of $300,000 spread over three years.
HFSP research grants are given for a broad range of projects under the umbrella theme of "Complex mechanisms of living organisms", with particular emphasis on cutting-edge, risky projects. Two types of research grants are awarded: Young Investigator Grants for teams of scientists who are all within 5 years of obtaining their first independent position and Program Grants, which are open to teams of scientists at any stage of their careers. The grants are awarded to international teams and strong preference is given to intercontinental collaborations.
This year, 9 Young Investigator teams (involving 23 scientists) and 25 Program Grant teams (involving 80 scientists) have received awards. Each team member receives $110,000 - $125,000 per year for 3 years. Awardees are from 20 different countries including 8 from Japan, 36 from North America, 53 from Europe, 2 from India and 1 each from Korea and New Zealand.
The Human Frontier Science Program is an international program of research support implemented by the International Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSPO) based in Strasbourg, France. Its aims are to promote intercontinental collaboration and training in cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research focused on the life sciences. HFSPO receives financial support from the governments or research councils of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, UK, USA, as well as from the European Union.