Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Postdoctoral Fellowships

Who can apply

Hold a PhD or comparable doctoral degree (or complete one before starting), conferred no more than 3 years (36 months) before the Full Proposal deadline, with specific exemptions available for documented career interruptions
Propose a host institution and country in which the applicant is not a national, is not where they earned their PhD, and where they have not lived or worked more than 12 months in total by the fellowship's activation date
Have at least one full-length original research publication as lead or joint-first author in a peer-reviewed journal (review articles and patents do not qualify)
Propose research that is basic, fundamental, and distinctly different from the applicant's PhD or prior postdoctoral work; for-profit host institutions are not eligible, though collaborations with them are allowed
Apply directly through ProposalCentral in two stages: a Letter of Intent, then (if selected) a Full Proposal; there is no nominating body
Two tracks exist: Long-Term Fellowships (LTF) for PhD holders in a biological topic, and Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships (CDF) for doctoral holders from a non-biological discipline (physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering, computer science) with little or no life-sciences experience

Two distinct fellowship tracks under one name, not one

This entry covers what HFSP calls its postdoctoral fellowships broadly, but the programme actually splits into two distinct tracks with different applicant profiles. Long-Term Fellowships (LTF) are for applicants who already hold a PhD on a biological topic and want to pursue a novel, frontier life-sciences project. Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships (CDF) are specifically for applicants with a doctoral degree from a non-biological discipline, physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering or computer science, who have little or no prior experience in the life sciences. Both apply through the same two-step process and compete in the same annual cycle, but which track fits you depends on your own doctoral background, not just your proposed project.

Genuine international mobility, not a loose guideline

HFSP funds three years of basic life-sciences research at a host institution outside your own country, and “outside your own country” is not a loose guideline here. You cannot propose to work in the country of your nationality, cannot propose the country where you earned your PhD even if you’re not a national of it, and cannot have already spent more than 12 months total living or working in your proposed host country by the time the fellowship activates. The point of the fellowship is genuine international mobility, not a formality.

A fixed annual rhythm, and the current window has already closed

The application runs on a fixed annual rhythm: a Letter of Intent due in May, a Full Proposal in September for those who are invited to submit one, a final decision the following March, and a start date as early as the following April. Right now, the window that matters for new applicants, the Letter of Intent, has already closed for the 2027 award cycle. HFSP’s own site says plainly that the deadline “has now passed” and every applicant has already been told their outcome. What remains open is the Full Proposal deadline of 24 September 2026 at 9:00 am Eastern US Time, but that is only for candidates whose Letter of Intent was already selected, not something you can newly apply for today. If you are only discovering HFSP now, the next real opportunity is the following cycle’s Letter of Intent, which past cycles suggest lands around May, though HFSP has not yet published an exact date for it.

Eligibility runs deeper than nationality and geography

Eligibility runs deeper than nationality and geography. You need a PhD (or equivalent, such as an MD with research experience) conferred no more than three years before the Full Proposal deadline, and at least one publication where you are lead author or joint-first author in a real peer-reviewed journal, not a review article, not a patent, not just something submitted. Your proposed research also has to be a genuine departure from your PhD or postdoc work rather than its logical next step, and HFSP is explicit that it does not fund clinical, pharmaceutical, or purely applied engineering and biotech projects, however good the science is.

What the award actually pays, and what it doesn’t allow alongside it

The award itself covers a living allowance and a research and travel allowance for the full three years, non-renewable, with child, parental-leave and relocation allowances available depending on your situation and host country. You cannot hold another salaried position or paid fellowship alongside it, though your living allowance can be supplemented from other sources like your host supervisor’s own grant funding. There is no nominating body: you apply directly through ProposalCentral, first with the Letter of Intent, then, if selected, the Full Proposal.