Human_Frontier_Science_Program_(BioEssays-2010)

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Insights & Perspectives

Funding the frontier the HumanFrontier Science Program

Martin Reddington

Keywords:

& career development; fellowships; funding; postdocs; research grants

The Human Frontier Science Program

(HFSP) is a global program of scientificfunding that is supported by 13countries1 and the European Union.HFSP is now 21 years old. Since its estab-lishment in 1989, we have funded over5000 scientists in over 60 countries withpostdoctoral fellowships and researchgrants on cutting-edge topics in the lifesciences.

HFSP was founded on the initiativeof the former Prime Minister of Japan,Yashuhiro Nakasone at a time whenJapan wished to take a more active role

in the international community follow-ing its postwar industrial success. Theinternational credentials of HFSP areclear from its origin at the level of theG7 summit in Venice in 1987. It wasestablished with funds from Japan andwith the support of the G7 nations, theEuropean Union (who traditionallyrepresent the non-G7 EU members)and, in 1991, of Switzerland. Since2004, HFSP has welcomed Australia,the Republic of Korea, New Zealand,India, and Norway as contributingmembers and now has a broad intercon-

tinental membership in Europe, NorthAmerica and the Asia-Pacific region.

From our broad global membership

it will come as no surprise that HFSPfunding programs all have an inter-national element in the spirit of sciencewithout borders with a strong empha-sis on intercontinental collaboration.We also have a clear commitment tosupporting early career scientists. Inaddition, two factors are important forunderstanding the scientific aims ofthe HFSP: (i) the scope of the researchsupported is defined as Research intothe complex mechanisms of livingorganisms and (ii) the term Frontier

Science in our name is to be under-stood as the essence of our scientificmission.

The frontiers of science are alwayson the move. For many years, a reduc-tionist, more analytical approach tomolecular life science prevailed (geneX or signaling molecule Y is essentialfor function Z), and this was reflected inthe grants and fellowships fundedespecially in the first 10 years of theProgram. However, with the rapid accel-eration in our knowledge, biology hasnow entered into a more integrative,

quantitative phase geared to under-standing the emergence of complexityfrom the interaction of biologicalmolecules, cells, and organisms. This

requires input from non-biological dis-

ciplines such as physics, chemistry,computer science, and engineeringand in recent years we have placed con-siderable emphasis on the interaction ofscientists from different disciplines ininvestigating biological questions. Thefounders of HFSP foresaw the import-ance of interdisciplinary approachesand these now provide the basis formuch of the research at the frontier ofbiology.

Research at the frontier is by its verynature a leap into the unknown. It is

intrinsically risky and requires a highdegree of creativity and innovation.Applications to HFSP must proposemuch more than business as usual.This requirement is expressed in differ-ent ways in the grant and fellowshipprogram as described below. It isimportant to note, however, that ourreview process favors risk and absolutepriority is given to projects that aim toopen new horizons in our understand-ing of living systems. Excellence andrisk are two key elements in HFSPfunding.

A common misconception is thatHFSP is a biomedical funding program.This arises from a misinterpretation ofHuman in our name. Rather thanthinking of the Program as one ofHuman Science, it is to be understoodmore in the sense of Frontier Sciencebeing a quintessential human activity.The aim of our funding is to addressfundamental biological questionsrelated to complex biological systems.The emphasis of an application to

1 HFSP is funded by contributions from

Australia, Canada, European Union, France,

Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Republic ofKorea, Norway, New Zealand, Switzerland,

UK, and USA.

DOI 10.1002/bies.201000082

Human Frontier Science Program Organization,

Strasbourg, France

*Corresponding author:

Martin Reddington

E-mail: [email protected]

842 www.bioessays-journal.com Bioessays 32: 842844, 2010 WILEY Periodicals, Inc.

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HFSP must therefore be on basicbiology: projects of a bench tobedside nature are out of scope, asare those aimed solely at developingdiagnostic methods or therapies, or toimproving agricultural yields. Thepotential for practical outcomes is not

taken into account in making fundingdecisions.

Research grants

HFSP research grants enable scientistsin different countries to collaborate onwell-focused projects. The emphasis ison intercontinental collaborations, nor-mally between two and four labora-tories. Two programs are available:Young Investigator Grants are for teamsof scientists who are all within five years

of starting their first independent pos-itions; Program Grants are for scientistsat any stage of their careers, but inpractice often include at least one juniorfaculty member. Grant applications arereviewed in two steps, with a short letterof intent (650700 applications arereceived each year) followed by fullapplications from 80 to 90 invitedteams. Both steps are rigorouslyreviewed and 3235 grants are awardedper year.

Clearly, given the discussion above,

applicants are expected to attack keyproblems at the frontier of biology andthis is the primary criterion used whenevaluating proposals. Technologydevelopment is welcome if it has apotential high impact, but grant teamsconsisting only of engineers, chemistsor physicists are rarely successful. Suchprojects should preferably be biology-driven and teams should include abiology component at least to establishproof of principle.

HFSP grants aim to allow the appli-cants to pursue a new project, taking

them beyond the work already beingdone in their laboratories. They alsoaim to stimulate new collaborations tobring together scientists with the exper-tise necessary for the team to embark ona new direction. To encourage new andadventurous collaborations, HFSP doesnot require preliminary results, just wellargued, innovative ideas. The way thecollaboration is formulated is critical inthe evaluation of the applications, evenat the letter of intent stage.

(i) Each team member must have atrack record showing that he orshe is able to perform the research.

(ii) Each team member must have aclear and essential role to play.Collaborators should not be chosenmerely as tokens to fulfill the inter-

continental and interdisciplinaryrequirements. No preference isgiven to applications that includea team member from any specificcountry only the general principleof intercontinental distribution isconsidered. Scientists who are app-roached to join a team should bevery clear about the active role theyare expected to play in the project.

(iii) It is insufficient for a team membermerely to provide reagents. Theinteraction between collaboratorsmust be iterative.

(iv) The way the team will interact mustbe clearly demonstrated. In the caseof a combination of theoretical andexperimental approaches it isimportant to give details of themodeling strategy and to showhow each approach will informthe others. It is insufficient andweseethis far too often topresentthe experimental approaches witha bland statement saying no morethan then we will model it.

(v) Team members should not have

collaborated previously. An excep-tion can be when two team mem-bers have worked together beforebut addition of other collaboratorsallows their work to take off in anew direction.

(vi) Large teams are to be avoided sincethey tend to be based more on ashared interest than a focused col-laboration. In general, the mostsuccessful Young InvestigatorGrants have two to three teammembers and the Program Grantsthree to four.

Postdoctoral fellowships

HFSP provides two kinds of postdoc-toral fellowship: Long-Term Fellow-ships are for scientists within threeyears of obtaining a PhD, who alreadyhave experience in biology but wish tobroaden their experience throughadvanced training in a different field.Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships are

similar, but are for those with a PhDin non-biological subjects who wish toapply their expertise to questions in thelife sciences. Approximately 700 appli-cations are received each year foraround 90 fellowships. Approximately10% of applications are for Cross-

Disciplinary Fellowships.A key element in the HFSP fellow-

ship program is the broadening ofexpertise. Long-Term Fellowship appli-cants are expected to move into a newfield within the life sciences to equipthemselves with the breadth of expertisenecessary in the modern biological sci-ences. Cross-Disciplinary Fellows are bydefinition moving into a new disciplineand it is noteworthy that the appli-cations received for this program tendto be far more innovative than those forLong-Term Fellowships. Perhaps the

fact that these applicants are makingsuch a majorchange of field makes themmore adventurous and willing to takescientific risks. Within this small groupof applicants, the success rate is there-fore significantly higher.

HFSP aims to fund independentlyminded young scientists who areactively seeking to expand their exper-tise to further their interests in key bio-logical questions. They should beimmersing themselves in a new scien-tific literature and learning new tech-

niques. The proposed projects shouldbe original and not just an extensionof the PhD thesis or a regurgitation ofthe host supervisors grant proposal.Applicants wishing to go to large,well-established labs should avoidbeing absorbed into the mainstream ofthe laboratorys interests where theymay be working on the obvious nextstep in the hosts research. HFSP willnot support what one reviewer hascalled plug-in postdocs.

HFSP expects bright young scien-tists to formulate their own research

projects. Some allowance for roughedges in the project description ismade for applicants making large leapsinto another field, for instance in theCross-Disciplinary Fellowships, but itis usually quite obvious if the proposalis written by the host supervisor.Applicants and host supervisors areasked to describe how the proposalcame about and reviewers look for evi-dence of originality on the part of theapplicant.

.....Insights & Perspectives M. Reddington

Bioessays 32: 842844, 2010 WILEY Periodicals, Inc. 843

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Career development

awards (CDA)

The CDA program was started as amechanism to encourage HFSPFellows to return home after it became

clear that many chose to stay in the hostcountry. CDAs are only for former HFSPLong-Term and Cross-DisciplinaryFellows. They provide start-up fundsof $100 000 per year for three yearsfor former Fellows returning to theircountry of citizenship.

The CDA is intended to support thetransition to independence of formerHFSP Fellows. Candidates careers areexpected to move forwards with theaward. Candidates just returning tothe laboratories where they did theirPhDs are discouraged and we give

priority to young scientists seekingnew institutions where they are clearly

initiating independent careers. In somesmaller countries this can be difficultbut it must be very clear in the appli-cation that the candidates position isindependent and that he or she has notjust been sent abroad by the homeinstitution to bring back expertise to

the same laboratory.The CDA is an individual grant that

is meant to encourage new departuresfor the awardees as they set up theirindependent laboratories. We are look-ing for projects that are not just a con-tinuation of the work performed duringthe fellowship but reflect the opportu-nities offered by independence to pur-sue imaginative, high-risk projects.Until now, the success rate of theCDAs has been as high as 40%.However, as everywhere, HFSP is underbudgetary constraints and the frontier

nature of the proposed projects and theelements of innovation and risk will

play an increasing role in the competi-tive CDA review.

Summary

Over the last 21 years, HFSP has funded

thousands of highly talented scientiststhroughout the world, performing cut-ting-edge research in the life sciences.Since 2001 we have brought together thecurrent awardees annually in a stimu-lating scientific meeting that has led tonew collaborations between scientistsfrom different fields and a sense amongmany awardees that they are membersof the HFSP community. This is nowbeing extended with the establishmentof an alumni network. Hopefully, wewill continue to attract like-minded sci-entists to submit creative applications

that will further extend this global com-munity of innovative researchers.

M. Reddington Insights & Perspectives.....

844 Bioessays 32: 842844, 2010 WILEY Periodicals, Inc.

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Human_Frontier_Science_Program_(BioEssays-2010)