Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP)

🌍 Science advances when knowledge, ideas and people move across borders. On the International Day of Science, Technology and Innovation for the South, we celebrate the international exchange that brings different expertise and perspectives together to advance discovery. One example comes from South Africa, where HFSP Accelerator Grant awardee Thulani Makhalanyane and his team at Stellenbosch University are investigating the remarkable, and still poorly understood, role of viruses in wetland ecosystems. Working alongside HFSP-supported researchers in the UK, USA and France, the team is exploring how interactions between viruses and microbes influence carbon cycling and greenhouse gas emissions. Their findings could improve our understanding of how these vital ecosystems respond to a changing climate. From South African wetlands to laboratories across continents, this is frontier science shaped by the exchange of knowledge, expertise and ideas across borders. 📖 Discover the story in the HFSP Annual Report 2025: https://zurl.co/97u38 #HFSP #FrontierScience #InternationalCollaboration #LifeSciences #ClimateResearch #ScienceTechnologyInnovationSouth

What happens when you ask scientists who they would really like to collaborate with? 👀 Robotics, engineering, physics... someone who brings completely different expertise to the table! At HFSP, crossing disciplinary boundaries is at the heart of the science we support. Bringing together researchers who think differently, use different tools and approach problems from different perspectives can open entirely new ways of asking (and answering!) scientific questions. So, we're passing the question on to you: If you could collaborate with someone from a completely different discipline, who would it be? 🤝 Tell us in the comments! #HFSP #InterdisciplinaryScience #Collaboration #FrontierScience #TeamScience

How does the brain prepare for a virus before it even arrives? 🧠🦠 HFSP-supported researchers discovered an early-warning system that links viral detection in the skin to antiviral defenses in the brain. In mouse models, detecting signs of a virus in the skin triggered type I interferon in the bloodstream. Cells at the blood-brain barrier responded by rapidly putting the brain into a protective antiviral state, reducing infection, harmful inflammation and the risk of severe encephalitis. The findings reveal a fascinating example of different parts of the body communicating to prepare for infection. 🔗 Read the full story: https://zurl.co/OBD5Q #HFSP #Immunology #Virology #Neuroscience #BrainResearch

🎥 The HFSP Frontier Workshop videos are now available! From fossil records and paleo-genomics to AI, robotics and new computational approaches, the workshop brought different disciplines together to explore new ways of understanding the history of life. The video collection is now available on YouTube and features presentations from the workshop. ▶️ Watch the videos: https://zurl.co/9ohVQ #HFSP #HFSPFrontierWorkshop #Evolution #Paleontology #InterdisciplinaryScience

The HFSP Master Class is heading to Norway! From 28–30 September, Norwegian scientists will gather in Oslo for three days of practical, hands-on training on applying for HFSP Research Grants and Fellowships. Led by experienced HFSP reviewers, the Master Class goes beyond introducing our funding programs: participants work directly on developing their ideas and learn what makes a strong HFSP application. The upcoming edition is supported by Norges forskningsråd (The Research Council of Norway) 📍 Oslo, Norway 📅 28–30 September 2026 👥 Participation by Invitation Learn more about the HFSP Masterclass: https://zurl.co/7PR3d #HFSP #HFSPMasterclass #ResearchFunding #LifeSciences #FrontierScience 

Evolution has been upgrading this tiny motor for millions of years 🦠⚙️ Bacteria swim using microscopic rotary motors that spin their flagella like propellers. HFSP-supported researchers reconstructed the motor of Campylobacter jejuni in remarkable 3D detail, revealing how evolution has recruited additional proteins to help it generate more torque. The study offers a window into how complex molecular machines evolve by finding new uses for existing components. 🔗 Read the full story: https://zurl.co/9Cyir #HFSP #Evolution #Microbiology #StructuralBiology

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Ada Yonath, Nobel laureate, pioneering structural biologist and longtime member of the HFSP community. Ada’s extraordinary persistence in revealing the structure of the ribosome transformed our understanding of one of life’s most fundamental processes and ultimately earned her the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Her connection with HFSP began as a Program Grant awardee in 2003 and continued for more than two decades. She joined us for HFSP’s 30th anniversary in 2019 and returned to Japan for the HFSP Science Summit in 2025. We remember a remarkable scientist whose career embodied the curiosity, courage and persistence at the heart of frontier science. 🔗 https://zurl.co/0wCox

What happens when you invest in bold ideas, international collaboration and curiosity-driven science? 🌍🔬 The HFSP Grand Review 2025, an independent international evaluation carried out by Prognos and Digital Science, confirms the distinctive impact of HFSP-supported research across decades. Among the findings: 🔹 More than 1/3 of HFSP-supported publications rank among the global Top 10% by field-normalized citation impact. 🔹 HFSP ranks #1 for patent citations from basic research, at 22.2%, among the international funders benchmarked. 🔹 HFSP supports conceptually novel, high-risk research that challenges established scientific paradigms and helps open new research directions. 🔹 International collaborations established through HFSP can continue more than a decade after funding ends. The findings highlight HFSP’s distinctive role in supporting frontier research that crosses disciplines and borders — and in creating scientific impact that extends well beyond the lifetime of an individual grant. 🔗 Explore the findings and the HFSP Grand Review 2025: https://zurl.co/brgBl #HFSP #FrontierScience #ResearchImpact #Science #InternationalCollaboration

HFSPO is looking for an internationally recognized scientific leader ready to combine scientific vision with global leadership. Our next Secretary-General will champion frontier life science research, foster collaboration across disciplines and borders, engage with the international scientific and funding communities, and lead a high-performing international Secretariat. It is an opportunity to help shape the next chapter of an organization dedicated to bold ideas, scientific excellence and science without borders. ⏳ Applications close 18 September 2026 📑 Learn more and apply: https://lnkd.in/ech72ngU #HFSPO #ScientificLeadership #FrontierScience #LifeSciences #InternationalCollaboration #ScienceJobs

Mapping the avian brain with light 🐦🧠 There are around 11,000 bird species in the world, yet fewer than ten are commonly studied in neuroscience. That leaves a huge part of the story of brain evolution unexplored. An HFSP-supported team is working to change that by developing an affordable, portable and noninvasive way to study brain activity in birds, using light. Testing the approach in pigeons, the researchers used optical imaging to identify functional regions of the brain and map how they communicate with each other. When they compared the results with MRI, the two methods produced remarkably consistent maps. The team is now taking the technology further, developing lightweight, customizable imaging “helmets” designed to eventually capture activity across the avian brain in 3D. By making brain imaging easier to use across different bird species and settings, this technology could open the door to much broader studies of learning, memory, navigation and the evolution of cognition. 🔗 Read the full HFSP story: https://zurl.co/tj197 #HFSP #Neuroscience #Birds #BrainImaging #Cognition #Evolution