HFSP postdoctoral fellowships are given to young scientists within 3 years of having completed the Ph.D. degree who wish to broaden their training in a laboratory in another country. This year, 90 fellowships have been awarded. Of these, 80 are Long-Term Fellowships for life scientists planning to extend their expertise into another field of biology and 10 are Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships for young scientists with Ph.D. degrees in physics, chemistry, computer science or engineering. The latter are particularly special as they link the life sciences to neighboring disciplines thus encouraging the use of quantitative approaches in modern biology.
In 2014, HFSP fellowships support young scientists of 27 different nationalities. Applicants from Israel, Germany, the UK and Italy were the most successful; new awards will also support young scientists from non-member countries such as Argentina, China, Malaysia, Russia, and Turkey.
HFSP's fellowships have an excellent reputation and offer a built in return component. Starting in their second year of tenure, HFSP fellows can draw up plans for setting up their own independent laboratory. Fellows can then use the remaining time of their tenure to move to the new location. A fellowship is worth about $180,000 spread over three years and includes support for research costs and child care.
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.