To pioneer new frontiers in life science research, the Human Frontier Science Program has awarded 117 of the world’s most ingenious scientists from 31 nations with 2026 HFSP Research Grants and the second cohort of HFSP Accelerator Grants.

“HFSP Research Grants provide the world’s top scientists with the means to collaborate across borders and explore new frontiers and discover whole new worlds of possibilities,” said Pavel Kabat, HFSPO Secretary-General.

This year for the first time researchers from Cambodia, Colombia, and Madagascar are part of the coveted HFSP Research Grants. Scientists working in these countries receive 2026 HFSP Research Grants & Accelerator Awards:

The 2026 HFSP Research Grants span the entire spectrum of life science research, encompassing 34 Research Grants and 10 Accelerator Grants. Highlights include:

• Sleep without the brain: Characterizing Signatures and Roles of Sleep in the Spinal Cord.
• Using robotics to unearth the hidden subterranean ecology of mole rats.
• Light-harvesting strategies from the forest floor: mapping the photonic morphospace of shade plants

HFSPO received proposals involving 3126 researchers across 1121 projects. From those, 94 projects passed the first screen and submitted full projects for evaluation, resulting in 44 new HFSP-supported Research Grants. To see who was awarded, view th the 2026 HFSP Research Grant Awardees.

HFSP Research Grants last for three years and are awarded to teams of 2-4 scientists. Program Grants are awarded to international teams of two to four scientists at any stage of their careers who embark on a new collaborative project. Early Career Grants require that all team members are within five years of obtaining an independent position and that it has been no more than 10 years since they earned their Ph.D.

The HFSP Accelerator Grant strengthens the world’s life science enterprise by diversifying the pool of expertise, providing greater equity among HFSP Member nations, and including scientists on the world’s most groundbreaking research teams, who might not otherwise have comparable opportunities. All 2025 HFSP Research Grant teams were given the opportunity to apply for the program with the goal of inviting one additional scientist – the Accelerator team member – to participate on the research grant team. All Accelerator Awardees must be working at a research institution in one of the following HFSP Member countries: India, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and South Africa.

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The Human Frontier Science Program was founded in 1989 by G7 nations and the European Commission to advance international research and training at the frontier of the life sciences. Its aims are to promote intercontinental collaboration and training in cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research focused on the life sciences. HFSP receives financial support from the governments or research councils of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, the UK, the USA, as well as from the European Commission. Since 1990, more than 8,500 researchers from more than 70 countries have been supported. Of these, 31 HFSP awardees have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.