HFSP Postdoctoral Fellowships

Long-Term Fellowships are for applicants with a PhD in a biological field who want a frontier project in the life sciences, different from what they have done before. Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships are for applicants whose doctorate is in a non-biological discipline, such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering or computer science, and who have little or no experience in the life sciences. Both last three years and both require the project to be in the life sciences.

HFSP supports basic research on fundamental questions at any level of biology, from molecules to ecosystems and cognitive functions. It does not fund purely applied projects or research in for-profit settings. The project should be primarily the applicant's own idea, though they may develop it with the host supervisor, and it does not need preliminary data.

Applicants may be of any nationality but cannot hold the fellowship in a country of which they are a national, in the country where they obtained their PhD, or anywhere they have studied or worked for more than 12 months in total. Nationals of HFSPO member countries may go to any other country; others may go only to a member country. The host supervisor cannot be a former supervisor or collaborator or anyone the applicant has published with.

The PhD may be finished after applying, but it must be completed before the fellowship starts and by 31 December 2027 at the latest. For the 2027 awards it must not have been conferred before 24 September 2023, three years before the full proposal deadline, apart from agreed exemptions for illness, parental leave, full-time care or service. Applicants need at least one full-length original research paper in English as lead author, published or accepted by the full proposal stage.

Fellows receive a living allowance, which reflects the cost of living in the host country, and a research and travel allowance for things like reagents, equipment and conferences. Depending on their situation they may also receive a child allowance of 10 percent of the first-year living allowance, up to three months of paid parental leave, and a relocation allowance. The host institution pays the allowances and may not deduct overheads or bench fees, though it may top up the living allowance to meet its own salary scales.

In the third year fellows can stay in the host lab, return to their or their partner's home country, or move to another member country, with HFSPO's approval. After at least a year, the fellowship can be interrupted for up to two years to work in another lab or country. Fellows cannot hold another paid post or fellowship at the same time.