Postdoctoral grant call for Long-Term and Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships

 Highlights:

1. The Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) supports innovative basic research into fundamental biological problems with emphasis placed on novel approaches that involve scientific exchanges across national and disciplinary boundaries. Biological research has become increasingly quantitative through the participation of scientists from disciplines outside the traditional life sciences such as biophysics, chemistry, computational biology, computer science, engineering, mathematics, nanoscience or physics. Such collaborations have opened up new approaches for understanding the complex structures and regulatory networks that characterize the evolution and interactions of organisms and biological systems. Within this framework the HFSP invites applications for two international programs that offer postdoctoral fellowships for basic research training:
2. Long-Term Fellowships (LTF) are reserved for applicants with a Ph.D. in a biological discipline to embark on a new project in a different field of the life sciences. Preference is given to applicants who propose an original study in biology that marks a departure from their previous Ph.D. or postdoctoral work so as to learn new methods or change study system.
3. Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships (CDF) are open to applicants with a Ph.D. from outside the life sciences e.g. in physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering or computer sciences who have had limited exposure to biology during their previous training. Applicants for the CDF should propose a significant departure from their past research by changing e.g. from material science or physics to cell biology, from chemistry to molecular biology, or from computer science to neuroscience.
4. The HFSP postdoctoral fellowships extend over 3 years. Fellows may interrupt the HFSP support after the second year for up to two years while being funded through other programs or grants of the host supervisor. The third fellowship year can be used as a return fellowship to the home country to prepare the initiation of an independent laboratory. Repatriating HFSP fellows have the opportunity to apply for the HFSP Career Development Award (CDA).
5. HFSP fellows having completed at least two full years of their fellowship tenure and who are within two years after the end of their fellowship are eligible to apply. The CDA award provides a start up grant of 300,000 USD over three years to help initiate the first independent laboratory of the former fellow.
6. At the start of the fellowship, applicants must have a research doctorate (Ph.D.) or a doctoral-level degree comparable to a Ph.D. with equivalent experience in basic research (e.g. a research based M.D. or medical Ph.D.). In order to be eligible, candidates with a Ph.D. must have obtained their doctoral degree in the 3 years prior to the submission deadline (between 1 September 2007 and 9 September 2010).
7. Award Year 2011 Registration deadline: 26 August 2010
8. For HFSP fellowships there is only one deadline per year and applications must be submitted via the HFSP website in time for the annual deadline. The web portal for submitting applications will be available end of June/early July 2010 at http://extranet.hfsp.org.
9. The deadline for password registration and initialization of the online application is 26 August 2010.
10. The deadline for submitting applications for award year 2011 is 10 September 2010 at 16:00 French time.
11. More details: http://www.hfsp.org/how/PDFs/Fellowship_App_Guidelines_2011.pdf