The 60-page volume details extraordinary findings from HFSP-supported research; high-profile scientific papers that have resulted from these breakthrough discoveries; and newly awarded HFSP Research Grants and Fellowships. In total, this year’s Science Digest represents more than 43 projects, involving 55 international scientists from more than 26 countries.
“This year’s Science Digest presents breakthrough discoveries that are pushing the very boundaries of frontier research in the life sciences to new heights,” said Pavel Kabat, HFSPO Secretary-General.
This year, the HFSP Science Digest features a special section on investigations in synthetic biology and the origin of life that are generating remarkable new insight that will reshape our understanding of key biological assumptions.
“Further, I am proud to say that this edition of the Science Digest showcases the vital role that basic, frontier life science research plays in generating valuable innovations that are important to the scientific enterprise and to our innovation economy,” said Kabat. “Basic research provides the vital foundation for human society by exploring whole new fields and disciplines from which innovative medical treatments, medications, and engineered solutions can emerge."
The Science Digest is divided into three sections, Section 1 focuses on outstanding HFSP Research Grant and Fellowship projects that were completed in 2023. Section 2 includes a topical overview on exciting research in a broad area, and this year, that focus is on synthetic biology and origin of life research. Section 3 presents a select array of HFSP-supported research that has yielded impressive innovations – demonstrating once again the vital link between basic research that seeks to reveal new discoveries and the emergent knowledge that spins off valuable innovations.
HFSP Research Grants prioritize international collaboration, particularly those projects that propose investigations involving researchers from more than two countries. About two-thirds of HFSP-funded projects involve teams in three or more countries, and almost all involve intercontinental collaboration. In this regard, HFSP creates networks that transcend national and disciplinary borders and establishes opportunities that go far beyond what would be possible through classical, bilateral collaborations.
HFSP postdoctoral opportunities, both Long-Term Fellowships and Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships, enable early career scientists to move to a new country and experience new research environments and fields. Specific effort is made to encourage and support early career scientists from disciplines outside the life sciences to embark on a career path in the life sciences through cross-disciplinary research. This is yet another way HFSP is opening new horizons and exploring new frontiers.

Indeed, HFSP provides a unique forum for scientists to enter international collaborations in life science research, and at times in their careers, that go beyond what most science funding mechanisms support.

Access the new HFSP Science Digest. Hard copies can be requested at communications@hfsp.org.

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HFSPO was established by the G7 countries at the initiative of former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone of Japan at the 1987 Venice Summit. Open to scientists of every nation, HFSPO is supported by 17 Members, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the European Commission. The mission of HFSPO is to foster bold, basic, frontier research in the life sciences and interdisciplinary collaborations around the world. 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.