Annual report 2014 - Human Frontier Science Program

Transcription

HUMAN FRONTIER SCIENCE PROGRAM
The Human Frontier Science Program is unique, supporting
international collaboration to undertake innovative, risky, basic
research at the frontier of the life sciences. Special emphasis
is given to the support and training of independent young
investigators, beginning at the postdoctoral level. The Program
is implemented by an international organisation, supported
financially by Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy,
Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore,
Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America,
and the European Union. Since 1990, over 6000 awards have
been made to researchers from more than 70 countries. Of these,
25 HFSP awardees have gone on to receive the Nobel Prize.
APRIL 2014 - MARCH 2015
ANNUAL REPORT
—3—
Table of contents
The following documents are available on the HFSP web site
www.hfsp.org:
Joint Communiqués
(Tokyo 1992, Washington 1997, Berlin 2002, Bern 2004, Ottawa 2007, Canberra 2010, Brussels 2013):
http://www.hfsp.org/about-us/governance/intergovernmental-conference
Statutes of the International Human Frontier Science Program Organization :
http://www.hfsp.org/about-us/governance/statutes
Guidelines for the participation of new members in HFSPO :
http://www.hfsp.org/about-us/new-membership
General reviews of the HFSP (1996, 2001, 2006-2007, 2010):
http://www.hfsp.org/about-us/reviews-hfsp
Updated and previous lists of awards, including titles and abstracts:
http://www.hfsp.org/awardees
—4—
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
Highlights in FY 2014
Message of the Secretary General
Board of Trustees
Council of Scientists
Secretariat
CHAPTER 1 - FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
1.1Introduction
1.2 Long-Term and Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships
1.3 Fellowship Awards in 2015
1.4 The 2015 Review Committee for Fellowships
1.5 Career Development Awards
1.6 Career Development Awards in 2015
1.7 The 2015 Review Committee for Career Development Awards
CHAPTER 2 - RESEARCH GRANT PROGRAM
2.1 Overview of the Grant Program
2.2 Young Investigator Grants
2.3 Program Grants
2.4 Research Grant Awards in 2015
2.5 The 2015 Review Committee for Research Grants
CHAPTER 3 - OUTREACH AND NETWORKING
3.1 HFSP Nakasone Award
3.2 Annual Awardees Meeting
3.325th anniversary celebrations
3.4 Further milestones in communication and outreach activities
3.5 Honours and prizes
CHAPTER 4 - BUDGET AND FINANCE
4.1 Guidelines for HFSPO funding
4.2 Key financial figures for FY 2014
4.3 FY 2014 financial summary
4.4 Budget for program activities FY 2015
APPENDIX
A.1 History of the Program
A.2Joint Communiqué of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Human Frontier Science Program,
Brussels, 11 June 2013
A.3 Summary of decisions of the Board of Trustees in 2014
A.4 Long-Term and Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships awarded in 2014
A.5 Career Development Awards made in 2014
A.6 Research Grants awarded in 2014
—5—
—6—
Introduction
Introduction
Message of the Secretary General
Board of Trustees
Secretariat
—7—
The focus of research supported by HFSP is on the
complex mechanisms of living organisms, ranging
from the biomolecular level to that of behaving
organisms. The life sciences have undergone a
revolution in recent years, emerging as a leading
scientific area with a convergence of interest from
other disciplines such as physics, mathematics,
chemistry, computer science and engineering on
solving biological questions. HFSP aims to stay at
the forefront of research by involving scientists
from outside the life sciences as part of research
collaborations and as postdoctoral fellows. To this
end, the Young Investigator and Program Grants
are specifically geared to fostering interactions
between scientists from different disciplines and
this is a major factor in the review of applications
in these programs. In addition, HFSP has extended
its commitment to interdisciplinary research by
introducing Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships to equip
young scientists from outside biology with the skills
needed to tackle problems in the life sciences.
Introduction
The Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP)
promotes fundamental research in the life sciences
with special emphasis on novel and interdisciplinary
research, international and, in p ar ticular,
intercontinental collaboration and support for young
investigators. Since its establishment in 1989, HFSP
has demonstrated the value of creating a framework
for competitive, collaborative, international research
of the highest caliber and of providing young
scientists with the opportunity to emerge as talented
researchers capable of shaping the science of the
future.
With a mission to the frontiers of science, HFSP
supports the next generation of researchers who
are in the strongest position to open new avenues
of research. Several of the HFSP programs are
specifically targeted towards early career scientists:
the Fellowship programs, Career Development
Award and Young Investigator Grant. In addition,
Program Grant teams are encouraged to include
young scientists with the result that a significant
number of scientists under the age of 40 participate
in this program. Taking these researchers together,
approximately 70 % of annual HFSP funds are
awarded to early career researchers.
The International Human Frontier Science Program
Organization (HFSPO) implements the Program
through the following mechanisms of research
support, details of which can be found in Chapters 1
and 2 of this report :
n Long-Term Fellowships – for young scientists
within three years of obtaining their Ph.D who
wish to broaden their scientific experience in a
foreign laboratory.
n Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships – modeled on
the Long-Term Fellowships but specifically for
scientists with Ph.Ds in non-biological disciplines
who seek training in the life sciences.
HFSPO is f inanced and managed by
representatives of the Management Supporting
Parties (MSPs). The MSPs are those countries
that directly fund the HFSP Programs plus
the European Union, which represents the EU
countries that do not contribute directly. The
MSPs are: Australia, Canada, France, Germany,
India, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New
Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, the
United Kingdom, the United States of America
and the European Union. Japan provided 38 % of
MSPs’ contributions for FY 2014.
n Career Development Awards – for former HFSP
Fellows to help them set up their own independent
laboratories in the home country or another HFSP
member country.
n Young Investigator Grants – grants for
interdisciplinary teams of young researchers
who are within the first five years of their first
independent positions and located in different
countries.
n Program Grants – for interdisciplinary teams of
researchers in different countries at any stage of
their careers.
HFSPO is governed by a Board of Trustees (Board)
consisting of representatives of the MSPs. The Board
is advised by a scientific advisory body, the Council of
Scientists (Council) and the Organization is run from
the Secretariat in Strasbourg, France.
Since 1990, 997 Research Grants involving 3,704
scientists, 2,818 Long-Term, 101 Cross-Disciplinary
Fellowships and 202 Career Development Awards
have been awarded. Researchers from more than
70 countries have received HFSP funding so far.
—8—
Highlights in
FY 2014
Left to right : Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker, Secretary General of HFSPO with
Low Teck Seng, Chief Executive Officer of the National Research Foundation,
Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore
l T he
25th anniversary of HFSPO was
celebrated in Lugano, Switzerland on 5 July.
Further celebrations were held in Strasbourg
on 28 October 2014.
l The
recipient of the HFSP Nakasone Award
2014 was Uri Alon, Weizmann Institute of
Science, Israel.
l J ames
Collins, Boston University, USA,
was selected as the recipient of the HFSP
Nakasone Award 2015.
l Singapore became a member of HFSPO. The
signing of a Memorandum of Understanding
took place in the context of the anniversary
celebrations in Lugano on 5 July and in
Singapore on 15 July.
l Warwick
Anderson accepted the invitation
of the Board to take up the position of
Secretary General when the term of ErnstLudwig Winnacker comes to an end on
30 June 2015. He takes up office on 1 July
2015.
l T he
2014 Awardees Meeting was held
in Lugano, Switzerland, on 6-9 July 2014,
following the 25th anniversary celebrations.
—9—
Message from
the Secretary General
A precious legacy or Small is beautiful
How can HFSPO broaden its financial perspective ?
It could open itself up wholeheartedly to support
from other sources, with a clear goal and timeline
set by the Board so that governments know what
is expected from them in the future. One obvious
option may be private donations. HFSPO could, over
time, build up an endowment to support its activities
wherever and whenever government funding falls
short. The HFSPO Board has recently taken the first
steps towards considering this possibility.
Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker,
Secretary General of HFSPO
The good news is that HFSP has managed to exist
for over 25 years. Was there ever any doubt ? Yes,
there was, and indeed the uncertainty remains. Not
for scientific reasons, since former HFSP grantees
have again received numerous prestigious awards
in 2014/2015, among them two Nobel Prizes. In the
year of HFSPO’s 25th anniversary, the number of
Nobel Prizes thus now reaches 25. In contrast to this
success story, the financial situation of HFSPO remains
precarious. At its start in 1989, HFSPO was supported
exclusively by the government of Japan. Then came
a period of striving for an “ equal match ”, a period in
which the non-Japanese members together tried to
match the Japanese contribution, providing 50 % of
the budget. This point was reached 6 years ago. Today,
as of the end of fiscal year 2014, the ratio has leveled
off at 60/40. Thus, Japan is still in the driving seat with
too few efforts by the other MSPs to work towards
equal representation, for example based on the GDP of
each MSP. The current strong dependence on a single
MSP has had many positive aspects in the past, in
particular because Japan is a patient and trustworthy
member. But this situation cannot last forever
considering the changes in wealth distribution which
we observe around the world. As my “ last wish ” as
Secretary-General, I would thus like to urge the current
members to increase their support, possibly even prior
to the next Intergovernmental Conference in 2016.
Another way of strengthening HFSPO’s financial
position could be to encourage new MSPs to join.
In fact, in 2014 Singapore became the most recent
member, drawing on an increasingly competent,
competitive and world-renowned scientific base.
Mr. Lim Chuan Poh, Chairman of the Agency for
Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), was
present at our festivities in Lugano and thus could
personally receive our congratulations and our best
wishes for a fruitful collaboration.
One of the fundamental elements of HFSP’s culture
is to offer unrestricted access to researchers from
all over the world, for good and obvious reasons.
Currently, about 22 % of the available funds go to
scientists from non-member countries, among them
Israel, the People’s Republic of China and various
South American countries. This proportion is on
the rise. The HFSPO Board of Trustees may thus
find it difficult to continue such a generous policy
in the future. On several occasions during 2014 and
early 2015, I was able to convey these concerns to
officials in China and in Israel. It is almost certain
that together with political support from the HFSPO
Board these two countries will apply for membership
in due course. It would indeed be a great honor for
HFSPO to receive both countries in its bouquet of
MSPs which is already 15 members strong.
— 10 —
Compared to other funding organisations, HFSPO
is quite small. Think of a string quartet versus a
symphony orchestra. String quartets however have
their particular role, especially when they achieve an
exceptional sound. There is little doubt in the scientific
community, and beyond, that HFSPO has developed
just that. Over the years it has found its unique niche
as a small but highly respected funding organisation.
Scientists wouldn’t want it to be missing from their
CV and the convergent nature of modern biology finds
a perfect funding instrument in our three funding
programs - Research Grants, Fellowships and Career
Development Awards.
The festivities continued in the Fall with an afternoon/
evening event in Strasbourg, the seat of HFSPO.
Both the Region of Alsace and the City of Strasbourg
contribute significantly to our budget and both were
kind enough to invite us to their premises. Speakers
included our President, Nobutaka Hirokawa, Catherine
Trautmann, former Vice-President of the European
Parliament, Mayor of Strasbourg when HFSPO was
founded in 1989, and largely responsible for HFSPO
settling in Strasbourg, Alain Beretz, President of
Strasbourg University, Lilla Merabet, Vice-President
of the Regional Council, Region of Alsace, Jean-Pierre
Bourguignon, President of the European Research
Council (ERC) and Anne Houdusse from the Institut
Curie in Paris, a former HFSP fellow and grantee,
who talked about her work on the mechanism of
molecular motors. It turned out to be an extremely
happy, successful and memorable event, with more
than hundred faithful friends of HFSP as participants.
With a banner on our building and our logo on three of
Strasbourg’s futuristic trams, the Secretariat hopes to
have contributed in a significant way to making HFSP
better known within the local community, scientific
and otherwise.
Occasionally, a string quartet makes itself heard
even above the roar of the world’s greatest funding
“orchestras”. Last summer, HFSPO celebrated its
25th anniversary. The government of Switzerland
which joined HFSPO early on (1990), invited us to
Lugano, a small city, not unlike Strasbourg, located
on the shores of one of the most spectacular lakes
in the southern foothills of the Alps. We were happy
to welcome Hirofumi Nakasone, the son of Prime
Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone who had initiated HFSP
some 25 years ago, himself a high-ranking member
of the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. He
assured us of the continuing support of his father and
of the Japanese government. This promise augurs well
for HFSP’s future.
I have always used these pages to thank the staff of
HFSPO for their boundless loyalty and outstanding
commitment. The HFSP “ String Quartet ” has only
15 members. It is so small that almost everybody
has to stand in for everybody else at one time or
another. Although a string quartet doesn’t need a
real conductor, somebody has to beat time. The old
observation according to which ‘hours do not strike
for a happy man’ describes the pleasures associated
with running HFSPO. I wouldn’t exchange the staff at
HFSPO for any other treasure chest and cross all my
fingers that my successor, Warwick Anderson, will have
as much fun I have !
Another feature was a podium discussion on the
subject of “ Human Frontiers ”, with the well-known
Swiss architect Mario Botta, designer, among others,
of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Claude
Nicollier, a Swiss astronaut and four times visitor of
the International Space Station, Susan Hockfield,
neurobiologist and former President of MIT and
Torsten Wiesel, a Nobel Prize winner and former
Secretary-General of HFSPO. As expected, their
reflections on Human Frontiers turned out to be
quite different, leading to a discussion of extraordinary
depth and breadth, and pointing to the special
relevance of the search for Human Frontiers for our
human society. This event was followed by our annual
Awardees Meeting, with Uri Alon from the Weizmann
Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, as recipient of
this year’s HFSP Nakasone award. Professor Alon is a
pioneer in understanding the rules underlying genetic
networks. Such networks which are at the core of
sustaining every living cell’s metabolism are composed
of much simpler units which many of these circuits
have in common. Alon thus has laid the basis for our
understanding of the evolution and function of design
principles which in turn paved the way for the new
field of synthetic biology.
— 11 —
Board of Trustees
HFSPO Board of Trustees
President
Nobutaka HIROKOWA
University of Tokyo, Japan
Vice-Presidents
Mark PALMER
Medical Research Council, UK
Sally ROCKEY
National Institutes of Health, USA
Australia
Warwick ANDERSON
National Health and Medical Research Council
Roy GOLDIE
National Health and Medical Research Council
Canada
Pierre CHAREST
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
Kelly VANKOUGHNET
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
European Union
Ruxandra DRAGHIA AKLI
Directorate-General Research,
European Commission
France
Jacques DEMOTES-MAINARD
Ministry of Higher Education and Research
Germany
Christiane BUCHHOLZ
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
(acting Board member from July 2014)
Frank LAPLACE
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
(until July 2014)
Ingrid OHLERT
German Research Council
— 12 —
India
Satyajit RATH
National Institute of Immunology
Krishnaswamy VIJAYRAGHAVAN
Ministry of Science and Technology
Italy
Piergiorgio STRATA
National Institute of Neuroscience
Glauco TOCCHINI-VALENTINI
National Research Council
Japan
Nobutaka HIROKAWA
University of Tokyo
Yasushi MIYASHITA
University of Tokyo
Republic of Korea
Jae-Hong LEE
Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning
Yoo-Hun SUH
Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu
New Zealand
Graeme FRASER
Health Research Council of New Zealand
Norway
Rein AASLAND
University of Bergen
Singapore
Barry HALLIWELL
National University of Singapore
Wangin HONG,
A*STAR
Switzerland
Isabella BERETTA
State Secretariat for Education,
Research and Innovation
Pierre MAGISTRETTI
EPFL and Lausanne University
United Kingdom
Mark PALMER
Medical Research Council
Melanie WELHAM
Biotechnology and Biological
Sciences Research Council
United States of America
Sally ROCKEY
National Institutes of Health
Jane SILVERTHORNE
National Science Foundation (from March 2015)
John WINGFIELD
National Science Foundation (until September 2014)
— 13 —
European Union
Tamás FREUND
Hungarian Academy of Sciences,
Budapest, Hungary
France
Philip AVNER
EMBL Monterotondo, Italy
Germany
Hermann GAUB
Ludwig-Maximilians-University,
Munich
India
Apurva SARIN
National Centre for Biological Sciences,
Bangalore
Italy
Salvatore OLIVIERO
Human Genetics Foundation, Turin
Japan
Shin’ichi ISHIWATA
Waseda University, Tokyo
Republic of Korea
Yunje CHO
Pohang University of Science and Technology
Salvatore Oliviero,
Chair of the Council of Scientists
New Zealand
Allan HERBISON
Otago University, Dunedin
Chair
Salvatore OLIVIERO
Human Genetics Foundation, Turin, Italy
Norway
Nils-Christian STENSETH
University of Oslo
Vice-chairs
Paul DE KONINCK
Laval University, Quebec, Canada
Apurva SARIN
Bangalore, India
Singapore
Daniela RHODES
Nanyang Technological University
Switzerland
Adriano AGUZZI
University Hospital of Zurich
Australia
Emma WHITELAW
La Trobe University, Melbourne
United Kingdom
Sarah TEICHMANN
EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute &
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge
Canada
Paul DE KONINCK
Laval University, Quebec
Michael PURUGGANAN
Center for Genomics and Systems Biology,
New York University
— 14 —
Secretariat
Left to right :
Hideki Mizuma, Jill Husser and Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker
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Executive Office
Ernst-Ludwig WINNACKER (Germany)
Secretary General
Hideki MIZUMA (Japan)
Deputy Secretary General
Jill HUSSER (UK)
Assistant
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Administration and Finance
Isabelle HEIDT-COQUARD (France)
Director
Sarah NAETT CAZAU (New Zealand)
Assistant
Jennifer SAYOL (France)
Assistant
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Scientific Affairs and Communications
Guntram BAUER (Germany)
Director
Rosalyn HUIE (UK)
Assistant
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IT Systems
Xavier SCHNEIDER (France)
Manager
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Administrative Officer
Takashi ARAI (Japan)
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Research Grants
Geoffrey RICHARDS (UK)
Director
Carole ASNAGHI (France)
Assistant
Armelle KOUKOUI (Benin)
Assistant
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Fellowships
Carmen GERVAIS (Canada)
Director
Marie-Claude PERDIGUES (France)
Assistant
Carine SCHMITT (France)
Assistant
Members of the Secretariat
— 15 —
— 16 —
Chapter
Fellowship
Program
1.1
Introduction
1.2
Long-Term and
Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships
1.3
Fellowship Awards in 2015
1. 4
The 2015 Review Committee
for Fellowships
1.5
Career Development Awards
1.6
Career Development Awards in 2015
1.7
for Career Development Awards
Left to right : Carine Schmitt, Marie-Claude Perdigues and
Carmen Gervais
— 17 —
.1
.2
INTRODUCTION
LONG-TERM AND
CROSS-DISCIPLINARY
FELLOWSHIPS
New disciplinary approaches have radically changed
life science research in recent years. HFSPO is at the
leading edge of this movement, encouraging early
career scientists to diversify their expertise and work
in a new research area.
There are two types of fellowship : Long-Term (LTF)
and Cross-Disciplinary (CDF). The value of the
fellowships is identical.
• LTF applicants hold a Ph.D in a biological
discipline
• CDF applicants hold a Ph.D outside the life
sciences (e.g. physics, chemistry, mathematics,
engineering, computer sciences, etc.)
The postdoctoral fellowship program prioritises
support to applicants who capitalise on the
opportunity provided by HFSPO to broaden their
expertise, pursue an exciting, novel research project
with someone they’ve never worked with before and
work in one of the world’s best laboratories. In doing
this, support is focused on scientists who show the
greatest potential for becoming frontier researchers.
LTFs support applicants with innovative research
projects, prioritising those who propose a significant
change in research direction. CDFs support applicants
who demonstrate the innovation potential of
combining their previous disciplinary knowledge
with the expertise of the host laboratory to address
a biological question. Fig. 1-1 shows the number of
applicants and awardees, as well as the competition
success rates since 2006.
The goal of the fellowship program is to fund
research in the life sciences using quantitative and
system-level approaches to respond to the increasing
complexity of biological questions. This is expected
to provide the scientific methodology needed
to advance the understanding of fundamental
mechanisms.
Career development is integral to the fellowship
program, not only by enabling international research
training, but also by providing a degree of scientific
independence to award holders. Fellows manage
an annual research and travel allowance. They can
take all or part of their final year of support to either
repatriate or move to another HFSPO member
country, which removes one of the challenges in
finding an independent research position. This
challenge is further mitigated with the HFSP Career
Development Award, a program open only to HFSP
fellows and which provides support to set up their
first independent laboratory.
Fig. 1-1 :
Fellowship applications, awards and success rates
2006-2015
The combination of autonomy, flexibility and the
potential for lab start-up support is exemplary in
enabling career development at a critical stage.
HFSP fellows emerge as well-trained, well-connected
scientists doing truly frontier research.
— 18 —
CDFs account for about 8 % of fellowship applications
(Table 1-1).
The LTF and CDF programs are designed to enable
international postdoctoral research opportunities and
to support work with new collaborators. To be eligible
fellowship applicants must be within three years of
receiving their Ph.D at the time of application and
have at least one first author publication. In addition,
they must have worked in the host institution for no
more than 12 months by the proposed start date of
their fellowship.
The diversity of disciplines of applicants to both
fellowship programs – which focus on research
in basic biology – is a strong indicator that HFSP’s
objective to provide a bridge across disciplinary
boundaries is indeed being fulfilled.
The third year of funding can be deferred for up
to two years, provided that the fellow is supported
through other sources, allowing the fellow to extend
their stay in the host laboratory if needed.
Table 1-1 :
Number of applications and awards offered in
competition years 2006-2015 (numbers for award year
2015 are subject to change).
The fellowship provides an annual living allowance as
well as a research and travel allowance. Fellows with
children qualify for a child allowance and fellows
who have a child during the fellowship can take up to
3 months of paid parental leave. A moving allowance
is provided for the fellow, their spouse and children,
both to the host country at the start of the fellowship
and back to their home country (or any other MSP
country) at the end of the fellowship.
Long-Term Fellowships
Award year
Number of
applications
awards
Success
rate (%)
Female
awardees (%)
2006
629
83
13
35
2007
614
95
15
34
2008
580
89
15
36
2009
633
109
17
36
2010
592
75
13
43
2011
699
76
11
26
2012
680
80
12
24
2013
695
75
11
39
2014
672
77
11
31
2015
724
66
9
27
TOTAL
6518
825
127
331
A list of researchers who activated their award in
FY 2014 can be found in Appendix 4.
Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships
Award year
Number of
applications
awards
Success
rate (%)
Female
awardees (%)
20
2006
55
10
18
2007
54
5
9
0
2008
56
11
20
9
20
2009
39
10
26
2010
55
11
20
9
2011
63
9
14
22
2012
67
5
7
0
2013
55
8
15
50
18
2014
75
11
15
2015
64
9
14
0
TOTAL
583
89
158
148
— 19 —
.3
FELLOWSHIP AWARDS
IN 2015
Fig 1-2 :
Proposed host country of Long-Term and CrossDisciplinary Fellowship applicants and awardees in
FY 2015 (distribution of awards is subject to change).
APPLICATIONS
The call for applications is announced annually
through the HFSP web site. The deadline for the
submission of fellowship applications was 28 August
2014.
All applications were screened by the Secretariat
for compliance with formal criteria and with the
scientific scope of the Program.
Applications were assigned to two members of the
Review Committee for evaluation; approximately
60-70 applications per member. Applications were
triaged based on ratings submitted in advance of the
committee meeting, and the top 20 % of applications
were discussed during the meeting on 19-21 January
2015.
AWARDS
The Review Committee ranked the applications and
made recommendations on the most meritorious
applications that could be supported within expected
budgetary constraints. They also established a reserve
list of applications in case any awards were declined
or new funding became available.
At its meeting in March 2015, the Board approved
75 awards for the coming fiscal year with a reserve
list of 27 fellowships should anyone decline the
award or extra funds become available.
Figure 1-2 shows the distribution of the 2015
applicants and awardees according to proposed host
country. The nationalities of the 2015 applicants and
awardees are shown in Table 1-2.
— 20 —
Table 1-2 :
Nationality of Long-Term (LTF) and Cross-Disciplinary (CDF) applicants and awardees for FY 2015
(distribution of the awardees’ nationality is subject to change)
Total applicants
Total awardees
LTF applicants
LTF awardees
CDF applicants
CDF awardees
Australia
NATIONALITY
6
0
6
0
0
0
Canada
35
3
32
3
3
0
EU
161
10
151 (a)
8 (a’)
10 (c)
2 (c’)
France
79
4
74
3
5
1
Germany
55
8
52
8
3
0
India
94
2
84
2
10
0
Italy
32
5
28
3
4
2
Japan
48
5
46
5
2
0
Korea
4
0
4
0
0
0
New Zealand
1
0
0
0
1
0
Norway
0
0
0
0
0
0
Singapore
2
0
2
0
0
0
Switzerland
7
2
7
2
0
0
UK
20
2
15
0
5
2
USA
33
6
31
6
2
0
Other
211
28
192 (b)
26 (b’)
19 (d)
2 (d’)
TOTAL
788
75
724
66
64
9
LTF applicants :
LTF awardees :
(a) EU :
Austria 10, Belgium 8, Bulgaria 2, Croatia 3, Czech
Republic 2, Finland 4, Greece 4, Hungary 5, Ireland 2,
Lithuania 2, The Netherlands 12, Poland 10, Portugal 9,
Slovakia 4, Slovenia 2, Spain 63, Sweden 9
(b) Other :
Argentina 9, Armenia 2, Belarus 2, Brazil 7, Chile 7,
China 34, Colombia 2, Egypt 1, Ghana 1, Indonesia 3,
Iran 6, Israel 28, Jordan 1, Malawi 1, Malaysia 2, Mexico 6,
Pakistan 1, Philippines 1, Puerto Rico 1, Russia 7, Serbia 2,
South Africa 2, Sudan 1, Taiwan 7, Turkey 4, Uganda 1,
Ukraine 1, Uruguay 2, Venezuela 2, Vietnam 1,
dual nationalities 47
(a’) EU :
Bulgaria 2, Finland 1, Greece 1, Lithuania 1, Spain 3
(b’) Other :
Argentina 1, China 7, Indonesia 1, Israel 7, Russia 1,
Taiwan 1, Turkey 2, Uruguay 1, dual nationalities 5
(Canada/Greece 1, Canada/UK 1, Germany/Hungary 1,
Germany/Israel 1, Israel/Jordan 1)
CDF awardees :
(c’) EU :
The Netherlands 1, Spain 1
(d’) Other :
Israel 1, dual nationality 1 (Germany/Israel)
CDF applicants :
(c) EU :
Belgium 1, Ireland 1, The Netherlands 2, Poland 1,
Slovakia 1, Spain 4
(d) Other :
Argentina 2, Bangladesh 1, China 1, Egypt 1, Iran 2,
Israel 4, Mexico 1, Pakistan 2, Russia 1, Taiwan 1,
dual nationalities 3
— 21 —
France
Martin BLACKLEDGE
Institut de Biologie Structurale, Grenoble
.4
Germany
Wolfgang HUBER
EMBL, Heidelberg
Karsten KRUSE
Saarland University, Saarbrucken
THE 2015
FELLOWSHIP
REVIEW COMMITTEE
India
Vidita VAIDYA
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
Italy
Gioacchino NATOLI
European Institute of Oncology, Milan
Japan
Yoshie HARADA
Kyoto University
New Zealand
Cliff ABRAHAM
University of Otago, Dunedin
Norway
John Michael KOOMEY
University of Oslo
Republic of Korea
Hyunsook LEE
Seoul National University
Vidita Vaidya,
Chair of the Fellowship Review Committee
Singapore
Peter DRÖGE
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Switzerland
Niko GELDNER
University of Lausanne
Chair
Vidita VAIDYA
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India
United Kingdom
Yvonne JONES
University of Oxford
Claudio STERN
University College London
Vice-Chair
Peter KOOPMAN
The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Australia
Peter KOOPMAN
The University of Queensland, Brisbane
Anjon AUDHYA
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Nicholas HATSOPOULOS
University of Chicago
Yingxi LIN
MIT, Cambridge
Piali SENGUPTA
Brandeis University, Waltham
Canada
David DANKORT
McGill University, Montreal
Jennifer GOMMERMAN
University of Toronto
Richard ROY
McGill University, Montreal
Other
Ye-Guang CHEN
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
European Union
Nick BARTON
Institute of Science and Technology Austria,
Klosterneuburg, Austria
Martijn HUYNEN
Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Delegate from the Council of Scientists
Nils Christian STENSETH
University of Oslo, Norway
— 22 —
The CDA program was launched in 2003. Since then
648 applications have been submitted, proposing
to hold the award in 32 different countries. There
have been 202 award recipients. Table 1-3 shows the
number of applicants, awardees and the success rates
over the past 10 years.
.5
CAREER
DEVELOPMENT
AWARDS
A list of researchers who activated their CDA in
FY 2014 is found in Appendix 5.
Table 1-3 :
Career Development Award applications and awards
in competition years 2006-2015 (numbers for award year
2015 are subject to change)
The Career Development Award (CDA) program
strengthens the global network of frontier-style
researchers. It is an excellent complement to the
postdoctoral fellowship program which provides
researchers with the opportunity to work in top
laboratories around the world. The CDA supports
the best and brightest as they establish their first
independent laboratory either in their home country
or any other HFSPO member country.
Entry of new researchers into the ranks of
independent scientists is essential to the health and
development of every country’s research enterprise.
Early career researchers are technologically savvy and
are open to novel scientific approaches.
The transition from a mentored position into
a principal investigator role is one of the most
challenging career stages. This is a time characterised
by scarce resources and with significant pressure to
be productive and demonstrate impact.
The CDA mitigates this challenge by providing
300,000 USD of support over three years to current
or former HFSP fellows who are either in the process
of obtaining, or already hold, their first independent
research position. The funds are very flexible and can
be used to cover many different costs of research and
the salaries of team members (students, postdocs,
etc.).
— 23 —
Number of
applications
2006
51
29
57
21
2007
48
24
50
25
25
awards
Success
rate (%)
Female
awardees
(%)
Award
year
2008
57
20
35
2009
49
24
49
8
2010
47
16
34
13
2011
40
9
23
11
2012
55
8
15
25
2013
66
8
12
13
2014
62
13
19
31
2015
63
8
13
25
TOTAL
538
159
30
19
A call for applications is sent to all current and former
fellows who are eligible to apply for a CDA. Fellows
from award years 2007-2012 were eligible to apply.
The deadline for applications was 4 November 2014.
Sixty five eligible applications were received and two
candidates withdrew from the competition leaving
63 applications for review.
.6
Each application was assigned to two members of
the review committee for evaluation, approximately
12-15 applications per member. Mail reviews were
solicited from experts. Between 2-8 evaluations were
secured, per application.
CAREER
DEVELOPMENT
AWARDS IN 2015
Applications were triaged based on ratings
submitted in advance of the committee meeting,
and approximately 35 % of the applications were
discussed during the meeting on 13 February 2015.
The Review Committee ranked the applications
according to excellence and fit with the HFSP vision
of supporting frontier research, and recommended 8
applications for funding along with a reserve list of 4
applications should any awards be declined or new
funding become available.
At its meeting in March 2015, the HFSPO Board
approved 8 CDAs for the coming fiscal year, with a
reserve list of 4 CDAs should funds become available.
Figure 1-3 shows the host country of the awardees in
the 2015 competition and Figure 1-4 shows aggregate
data from the last ten years.
Fig. 1-3 :
Host country for Career Development Awards in the
2015 competition
Fig. 1-4 :
Host countries for Career Development Awards from
2006-2015
— 24 —
.7
THE 2015 CDA REVIEW
COMMITTEE
Daniel Kiehart,
Chair of the Career Development Award Review Committee
Japan
Ko SAKAI
University of Tsukuba
Chair
Daniel KIEHART
Duke University, Durham, USA
United Kingdom
Iain HAGAN
University of Manchester
Vice-chair
Frederick MACKINTOSH
Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Switzerland
Susan GASSER
Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research,
Basel
Canada
Emil PAI
Daniel KIEHART
Duke University, Durham
Marja TIMMERMANS
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
European Union
Frederick MACKINTOSH
Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Ola HERMANSON
Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
Hermann GAUB
Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich,
Germany (absent)
India
Vineeta BAL
National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi
— 25 —
— 26 —
Chapter
Research
Grant
Program
2.1
Overview of the Grant Program
2.2
Young Investigator Grants
2.3
Program Grants
2. 4
Research Grant Awards in 2015
2.5
for Research Grants
Left to right : Geoffrey Richards, Armelle Koukoui and Carole Asnaghi
— 27 —
.1
OVERVIEW OF
THE GRANT PROGRAM
Research Grants finance innovative collaborative
projects of fundamental biological research for
a period of three years. These are awarded to
international, and preferably intercontinental, teams
of two to four scientists having their laboratories
in different countries. In recent years almost all of
the awards have gone to intercontinental teams.
Successful five member teams are rare as the
majority of such teams have a weak link or show a
redundancy in expertise so that the overall research
plan is not convincing. Priority is given to teams
who propose novel combinations of expertise to
approach problems in the life sciences that could
not be answered by the individual laboratories.
Currently most emphasis is placed on the innovative
nature of the collaboration and particular attention
is given to collaborations that bring together
scientists from different disciplines (e.g. biology,
chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science
and engineering). Applicants are expected to develop
new lines of research rather than to continue their
ongoing program. So as to encourage novel ideas and
innovative approaches, preliminary results are not
required. The Principal Applicant’s laboratory must
be located in one of the member countries while the
other team members may be situated anywhere in
the world.
There are two categories of grant: Young Investigator
Grants for groups of young scientists establishing
their research groups, and Program Grants for
scientists at any stage of their careers. The
applications are processed in parallel but the grant
review committee in January examines and ranks
each category separately.
— 28 —
The concept of novelty is related to the development
of certain fields or techniques. Frontier science is
often the first appearance of a novel technology
(microscopy, protein labelling, transgenic models,
computational programs etc.) which may become
widely available within two or three years of its first
appearance in the HFSP competition and will start
to appear as a tool in a large number of applications
which we see as a ‘second wave’. A recent example
would be the use of CRISPR technology. Similarly a
project considered cutting-edge one year, because of
a novel combination of expertise, may be considered
as routine a couple of years later. In fact, in the
absence of technological breakthroughs, fields can
appear to stagnate for a year or two while teams
concentrate on exploiting the last wave of innovation.
This may well be high quality science destined for
major journals, but the committee members must
have sufficient stature so as to decide whether an
approach has become standard or is truly innovative.
Where are the frontiers?
The biggest challenge for the review committee is
to identify novel frontier research applications often
incorporating expertise from both the biological
and physical sciences. For this the committee must
include members familiar with chemistry, physics,
mathematics and engineering in addition to the
more traditional biological sciences. A major change
in the grant program over the last five years is the
increasingly quantitative nature of the biology
being proposed. A decade ago, two members of the
committee handled almost all things numerical while
in January 2015 there were five biophysicists, two
theoretical systems biologists, two computational
neuroscientists and a computational structural
biologist. Five years ago the ‘quantitative’ projects
were still largely speculative (the computational
modeler was most often an ‘add-on’ to a team of
biologists) whereas many systems projects today
are considered ‘routine’. Indeed one complaint of
the 2015 committee was the lack of equations in the
applications.
Face to face collaborations
Many successful teams organise regular meetings
to discuss problems face to face, or visit each others’
laboratories for a few weeks so as to understand the
scope of their partners’ contributions. The flexibility
in the use of HFSPO funds allows the reactivity that
is essential for such collaborations – notably for travel
and team meetings when critical decision points are
reached. Scientists are learning the interest of making
such collaborations reality (rather than continuing
their ongoing projects in parallel) and the review
committee gives considerable importance to the
details of interactions between the team members
envisaged in the full application. With the expansion
of HFSPO membership in recent years we are seeing
changes in the profiles of collaborations.
The range of applications is such that the committee
may lack the expertise necessary to assess the
contribution of some of the team members. In these
cases we solicit opinions from mail reviewers working
in departments that may be unfamiliar with the
Program. Fortunately, not only do we observe the
same willingness to help in the review process from
such experts as those in more traditional biological
departments, but we also often receive spontaneous
remarks confirming the originality and interest of
the project. However these same specialist reviewers
sometimes point out that the ‘innovative’ approach
is routine in their discipline and that furthermore the
applicants’ grasp of the approach is superficial.
— 29 —
.2
.3
YOUNG INVESTIGATOR
GRANTS
PROGRAM GRANTS
The Young Investigator Grant scheme was introduced
in the 2001 award year to encourage collaboration
between young scientists who are within five years
of obtaining their first independent positions. Young
Investigator Grant teams receive 250 thousand USD
per year for two members, 350 thousand USD for
three members, and 450 thousand USD for four or
more. Local collaborations in the same country are
permitted but teams only receive funds equivalent to
1.5 team members and then only if the collaboration
is truly interdisciplinary. This measure aims to
facilitate the formation of teams involving scientists
with different expertise since it is often difficult for
scientists, especially younger investigators, to find
appropriate partners internationally. In the 2015
award year, applications from Young Investigators
represented about 17.7 % of the letters of intent
received. As a group they were slightly more
successful than the applications to the Program
Grants (Table 2-1).
These are awarded to teams of independent
researchers at any stage of their careers. The
research team is expected to develop new lines of
research through the collaboration. Applications
including independent investigators early in their
careers are encouraged. Funding is based on team
size and is the same as for the Young Investigators
including the rules concerning team members from
the same country. The quality of applications in this
competition has been boosted by the arrival of a
cohort of younger investigators who have acquired
expertise in several areas of research during their
doctoral and post-doctoral training. As many of
these have now established their laboratories more
than five years ago they are no longer eligible for the
Young Investigator competition.
— 30 —
.4
RESEARCH GRANT
AWARDS IN 2015
Awardees for FY 2015 were selected among the
applications received in reply to the call published
in the journals Science and Nature, on the HFSP web
site and the web sites or newsletters of relevant
scientific societies. A two-step review process was
used. Guidelines and application forms for both the
letter of intent (the first step) and for full applications
(the second step) were provided on the web, and the
submission and review of applications were entirely
electronic. The deadline for letters of intent was
27 March 2014. Interest in the 2015 cycle was higher
than in the 2014 cycle (Fig. 2-1) and a record number
of letters of intent was received.
— 31 —
The 1013 letters of intent were initially screened for
formal eligibility. This included 5 renewal applications
from Young Investigator teams (a trial initiative
authorised by the Board of Trustees in December
2009). Only a few letters of intent were rejected
on the grounds of eligibility. Since 2005, triage has
been introduced; a small scientific committee
including the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Review
Committee screened the letters of intent and those
that did not meet the scientific aims of the program,
124 applications in all, did not enter the full review
process. The Principal Applicant was informed as
soon as possible so that the team might apply for
funding elsewhere. During the assignment of the
remaining applications to Committee members,
it was apparent that despite the large number of
projects submitted, the proportion of innovative
projects remained low. Each remaining letter of
intent was evaluated by two Review Committee
members, who confirmed the initial impression in
their remote reviews. Indeed the number of topscoring projects (296 new applications and the
5 Young Investigator renewal applications) examined
by a Selection Committee, consisting of previous
and past members of the Review Committees, was
essentially the same as in the previous cycle when
some 170 fewer letters of intent were received.
The Selection Committee met on 23-25 June to
discuss some 30 % of the original submissions and,
following these discussions, 82 applicants were
invited to submit a full application including 2 Young
Investigator renewal applications. This was in fact
10 fewer full applications than in the previous cycle.
Teams that were not asked to submit full applications
were given brief feedback concerning the selection
procedure, the evaluation criteria and the general
classification of their application.
Invitations were sent out immediately after the
Selection Committee meeting with the deadline
for submission of full applications as 11 September
2014. All but one of the invited teams submitted
full applications which were reviewed. Each full
application was evaluated by mail (external)
reviewers who submitted a written report and
by two members of the Review Committee for
Research Grants. Scientific merit, innovation and
novel combinations of expertise were the most
important criteria in the evaluation of the projects.
Internationality, and especially intercontinentality,
and the participation of researchers early in their
careers also ranked highly, not only in the case
of Young Investigator but also in Program Grant
applications. The Young Investigators’ applications
were reviewed separately in the same manner as
Program Grants. The Review Committee met on
26-28 January 2015 in Strasbourg to discuss the 81
full applications and recommended 33 for awards,
10 Young Investigator and 23 Program Grants. The
selection of awards was monitored by Council
members and financial considerations (budgetary
restrictions) were taken into account by the Board
before the recommendations for 31 awards were
approved (leaving 2 of the Program Grants on a
reserve list should funds be available). Both awardees
and unsuccessful applicants received feedback from
the committee in the form of a short summary.
Fig. 2-1 shows the number of applications and awards
between award years 2005 and 2015. The numbers of
applications and awards using the two step procedure
from 2002 onwards are shown in Table 2-2.
Fig. 2-1 :
Research Grant applications and awards
— 32 —
Table 2-1 :
Awards - Summary table
Program Grants
Young
Investigators
Total
Number of letters of intent
834
179
1013*
Number of full applications
61
21
82**
Number of awards
21
10
31
% of awarded grants, based on letters of intent
2.5
5.6
3.1
% of awarded grants, based on full applications
34.4
50.0
38.3
*2 ineligible, **1 invited but not submitted (YI)
Table 2-2 :
Research Grant applications and awards each year since 2002 (two step procedure)
Awards
Award year
Letters of intent
Full applications
submitted
PG
YI
Success rate* (%)
Total cost in their
1st year (USD million)
2002
548
72
26
2003
549
80
22
11
51.4
12.35
9
39.0
2004
733
67
10.85
27
6
49.2
2005
719
11.75
86
27
7
39.5
2006
12.75
749
80
20
12
40.0
11.05
2007
756
80
25
10
44.3
12.70
2008
774
88
18
14
36.8
10.65
2009
600
88
26
9
39.8
12.10
2010
675
84
25
9
40.5
11.25
2011
674
88
22
11
37.5
11.40
2012
799
95
25
9
35.8
12.20
2013
715
91
23
10
36.2
11.70
2014
844
90
24
10
37.8
11.80
2015
1013
81
21
10
38.3
11.00
TOTAL
997**
In 2012 an additional award was made in September (after the publication of FY2011 report).
* based on full applications ** Grand total of awards (1990-2015)
Table 2-3 and Table 2-4 present an analysis of gender distribution in award year 2015.
Table 2-3 and 2-4 :
Gender distribution in award year 2015
Letter of Intent
Female
Male
TOTAL
Invited
Program
Young
Program
No. scientists
589
125
38
Young
8
%
22.4 %
26.6 %
18.8 %
15.4 %
No. scientists
2039
344
164**
44
%
77.6 %
73.2 %
81.2 %
84.6 %
No. scientists
2629*
470*
202
52
*information refused (1PG, 1YI) **1 member added at the full application submission
The distribution of female scientists in awarded applications is the following :
Total
Female
% Female
(2014)
Female PI
(2014)
Program
75
12
16.0
14.1
5
3
Young
23
3
13.0
28.6
1
3
TOTAL
98
15
15.3
17.9
6
6
— 33 —
Distribution of awards per country
The largest number of applications came from
Principal Investigators in the USA and nearly one
third of successful applicants (all team members)
were working in the USA.
(Figs. 2-2, 2-3, Table 2-5) Fig 2-2 shows the distribution
of Principal Investigators for the 2015 awards among
various countries and Fig. 2-3 shows the total number
of scientists in different countries participating in the
international teams.
Fig. 2-2 :
Countries in which Principal Investigators are working
299
197
124
96
72
58
41
36
28
21
2 0
2 1
17
5 1
5 4
5
8
26
17
3
0 0
2 1
2 1
7
0 0
5
0 0
10
13
0 0
5
10
2 0 0
Singapore was not a MSP at the time of the LI application
EU Letter of Intent
PG :Austria 1, Belgium 8, Cyprus (EU) 2,
Czech Republic 3, Denmark 8, Estonia 1, Finland 7,
Greece 5, Hungary 2, Ireland 1, Luxembourg 1,
The Netherlands 39, Poland 1, Portugal 21,
Romania 2, Slovakia 1, Slovenia 1, Spain 46,
Sweden 19
YI :Austria 2, Croatia 1, Czech Republic 3, Denmark 2,
Greece 1, Ireland 2, The Netherlands 1, Portugal 1,
Slovakia 2, Spain 8, Sweden 5
EU Awarded
PG :The Netherlands 2, Sweden 1
YI : Czech Republic 1, Denmark 1
Other : CDA awardees not in a MSP
Letter of Intent : Israel 2 (PG)
Movements of PIs after submission of the letter of
intent are not considered in these data.
EU Invited
PG :Hungary 1, The Netherlands 5, Portugal 2, Spain 3,
Sweden 3
YI :Czech Republic 1, Denmark 1, Slovakia 1
— 34 —
Fig. 2-3 :
Countries in which awardees are working
Singapore was not a MSP at the time of the LI application
Principal Investigators
EU : Czech Republic 1, Denmark 1, The Netherlands 2,
Sweden 1
Co-Investigators
EU : Belgium 1, The Netherlands 2, Poland 1, Spain 1
Other : Brazil 1, China 2, Israel 7, Taiwan 2
— 35 —
Table 2-5 :
Number of applicants and awardees listed by country of institution
Letter of Intent
PG=Program Grants
YI=Young Investigators
PG
YI
Invited
TOTAL
PG
YI
Awarded
TOTAL
PG
YI
TOTAL
Australia
79
22
101
6
1
7
2
0
2
Canada
92
14
106
6
3
9
2
2
4
10 (c)
436 (a)
62 (a)
498 (a)
32 (b)
8 (b)
40 (b)
7 (c)
3 (c)
France
EU
161
22
183
11
5
16
6
1
7
Germany
189
37
226
18
3
21
11
3
14
India
28
7
35
0
0
0
0
0
0
Italy
196
34
230
3
1
4
1
0
1
Japan
163
22
185
13
3
16
4
1
5
Korea
15
7
22
1
1
2
0
1
1
New Zealand
20
1
21
1
1
2
1
0
1
Norway
12
3
15
1
0
1
1
0
1
Singapore*
19
5
24
2
0
2
1
0
1
Switzerland
55
7
62
8
0
8
1
0
1
UK
248
43
291
22
6
28
10
2
12
USA
721
139
860
62
14
76
19
7
26
195 (a’)
45 (a’)
240 (a’)
15 (b’)
6 (b’)
21 (b’)
9 (c’)
3 (c’)
12 (c’)
2629
470
3099
201
52
253
75
23
98
Non MSPs
TOTAL
*Singapore was not a MSP at the time of the LI application
(a) EU Letter of Intent
PG :Austria 13, Belgium 26, Cyprus 4, Czech Republic 8,
Denmark 26, Estonia 1, Finland 16, Greece 12,
Hungary 9, Ireland 6, Lithuania 1, Luxembourg 1,
The Netherlands 96, Poland 7, Portugal 34,
Sweden 44
YI :Austria 5, Belgium 1, Croatia 4, Czech Republic 4,
Denmark 4, Finland 1, Greece 2, Hungary 2,
Ireland 2, The Netherlands 6, Poland 1, Portugal 4,
Sweden 11
(a’) Non MSPs Letter of Intent
PG :Argentina 8, Bolivia 1, Brazil 14, Burkina Faso 2,
Chile 7, China 32, Colombia 2, Gabon 1, Ghana 1,
Indonesia 1, Israel 79, Madagascar 1, Malaysia 1,
Mexico 11, The Netherlands Curaçao 1, Paraguay 1,
Peru 1, Puerto Rico 1, Russia 3, Saudi Arabia 1,
South Africa 4, Taiwan 13, Thailand 4, Turkey 2,
Uruguay 2, Vietnam 1
YI :Argentina 2, Brazil 4, Chile 2, China 7, Colombia 3,
Iceland 1, Israel 13, Kenya 1, Mexico 1, Nigeria 2,
Peru 1, South Africa 1, Taiwan 1, Thailand 2,
Turkey 1, United Arab Emirates 1, Vietnam 2
(b) EU Invited
PG :Austria 1, Belgium 1, Denmark 2, Hungary 1,
The Netherlands 12, Poland 1, Portugal 2, Spain 9,
Sweden 3
YI :Croatia 2, Czech Republic 1, Denmark 1, Finland 1,
The Netherlands 1, Slovakia 1, Sweden 1
(b’) Non MSPs Invited
PG :Brazil 1, China 1, Israel 10, Taiwan 2, Thailand 1
YI :Argentina 1, China 1, Israel 4
(c’) Non MSPs Awarded
PG :Brazil 1, China 1, Israel 5, Taiwan 2
YI :China 1, Israel 2
(c) EU Awarded
PG :Belgium 1, The Netherlands 3, Poland 1, Spain 1,
Sweden 1
YI :Czech Republic 1, Denmark 1, The Netherlands 1
Movements of team members after submission of the
letter of intent are not considered in these data.
— 36 —
.5
THE 2015 REVIEW
COMMITTEE FOR
RESEARCH GRANTS
Wendy Suzuki
Chair of the Research Grant Review Committee
Chair
Wendy SUZUKI
New York University, United States of America
Italy
Antonella DE MATTEIS
Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine, Naples
Leonardo CHELAZZI, University of Verona
Vice-Chair
Nancy FORDE
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
Japan
Yasunori HAYASHI, RIKEN, Wako
Masataka KINJO, Hokkaido University, Sapporo
Australia
Merlin CROSSLEY
University of New South Wales, Victoria
Republic of Korea
Sung Hee BAEK, Seoul National University
Canada
Nancy FORDE
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby
New Zealand
Vickery ARCUS, University of Waikato
European Union
Jorge GONCALVES
University of Luxembourg, Esch /Alzette
Pieter MEDENDORP
Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Barbara C. NAWROT
Polish Academy of Sciences, Lodz, Poland
Norway
Gareth GRIFFITHS, University of Oslo
Singapore
Ray DUNN
A*STAR Institute of Medical Biology
Switzerland
Christian FANKHAUSER, University of Lausanne
France
Hidde DE JONG, INRIA, Saint-Ismier
Sophie ZINN-JUSTIN
Institute of Biology and Technology Saclay,
Gif-sur-Yvette
United Kingdom
David STRUTT, University of Sheffield
Ivet BAHAR, University of Pittsburgh
Boris SHRAIMAN
University of California, Santa Barbara
Wendy SUZUKI, New York University
Germany
Christoph SCHMIDT
Georg-August-University, Goettingen
Ulrich SCHWARZ, University of Heidelberg
Fred WOLF, Max Planck Institute, Goettingen
Apurva SARIN
Bangalore, India
India
Anna GEORGE
National Institute of Immunology, New Dehli
— 37 —
— 38 —
Chapter
Program
Highlights
3.1
HFSP Nakasone Award
3.2
Annual Awardees Meeting
3.3
25th anniversary celebrations
3. 4
Further milestones in communication
and outreach activities
3.5
Left to right : Guntram Bauer, Rosalyn Huie (Communications)
and Xavier Schneider (IT manager and webmaster)
— 39 —
Honours and prizes
.1
HFSP
NAKASONE AWARD
James Collins of Boston University, USA
The 2015 HFSP Nakasone Award
to James Collins of Boston University
The idea of establishing the prestigious HFSP
Nakasone Award was proposed in July 2009 when
HFSPO held its 20th anniversary celebrations in Tokyo
in the presence of former Prime Minister Nakasone.
The award honours the vision of former Prime
Minister Nakasone for his efforts to launch a program
of support for international collaboration and to
foster early career scientists in a global context.
James Collins received the 2015 HFSP Nakasone
Award for his innovative work on synthetic gene
networks and programmable cells that launched
the exciting field of synthetic biology. He was one
of the first to show that one can engineer biological
circuits out of proteins, genes and other bits of DNA.
He designed and constructed a genetic toggle switch a bistable gene circuit with broad implications for
biomedicine and biotechnology. Building on this
breakthrough, Collins showed that synthetic gene
networks can be used as regulatory modules and
interfaced with the cell’s genetic circuitry to create
programmable cells for biomedical and biotech
applications. Indeed, Collins has developed wholecell biosensors to detect various stimuli (chemicals,
pathogens, heavy metals, explosives), as well as
synthetic probiotics to detect and treat infections
(e.g., cholera). He has also designed and constructed
RNA switches, genetic counters, programmable
microbial kill switches, synthetic bacteriophages to
combat bacterial infections, genetic switchboards
for metabolic engineering, synthetic mRNA for stem
cell reprogramming, and tunable mammalian genetic
switches. Collins’ breakthrough in synthetic biology
is revolutionising the biosciences and expanding our
ability to study and harness complex mechanisms of
living organisms.
The HFSP Nakasone Award recognizes scientists who
have undertaken frontier-moving research in biology,
whether these be conceptual, experimental or
technological breakthroughs. Both senior and junior
scientists are eligible and peer-recognised excellence
is the major criterion for selection. Awardees receive
an unrestricted research grant of 10,000 USD, a medal
and certificate. The award ceremony is held at the
annual HFSP Awardees Meeting where the awardee
delivers the HFSP Nakasone Lecture. The prize
is open to all scientists, not only those who have
received funding from HFSP programs.
HFSPO President, Nobutaka Hirokawa,
watches as Uri Alon, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel,
receives the 2014 HFSP Nakasone Award from Hirofumi Nakasone,
Member of the House of Councillors of the National Diet of Japan
— 40 —
.2
ANNUAL AWARDEES
MEETING
14th Awardees Meeting, Lugano, Switzerland
Fourteenth HFSP Awardees Meeting,
Lugano, Switzerland, 6-9 July 2014
HFSP Awardees Meetings have become important
events in the HFSP calendar. Their aim is to bring
together Grant, Fellowship and Career Development
Award holders from all over the world and from
different scientific disciplines in order to present
and discuss their work. These interactions have
become a source of inspiration for awardees and have
led to new collaborations. The meetings have thus
become an integral element in strengthening the
HFSP community, creating an international network
of scientists at all stages of their careers and on all
fronts of the biological frontiers.
The Awardees Meeting took place at the Università
della Svizzera Italiana. Some 227 participants
including HFSP Long-Term and Cross-Disciplinary
Fellows, Young Investigator and Program Grant
holders, Career Development Awardees and
local HFSP alumni attended. At this meeting,
we introduced ‘poster teaser’ talks, short talks
of five minutes which took place just before the
poster session and were much appreciated by the
meeting participants. In addition, there were 27 oral
presentations and 99 poster presentations. An
enjoyable social programme, organised by Amiconi
Consulting in Lugano, enabled delegates to catch
up with old friends and to make new contacts.
Plenary lectures were presented by Beverly Glover,
University of Cambridge, Botanical Gardens, UK
(“ A trick of the light ? Plant nanostructures that
influence animal behaviour ”), Angela Gronenborn,
University of Pittsburgh, USA (“ The art of border
crossings : reflections on scientific practice and the
need for integrative Multidisciplinarity ”), and James
Spudich, Stanford University, USA (“ The myosin
family of molecular motors : nature’s exquisite
nanomachines ”).
The 2014 Awardees Meeting was the first to be held in
Switzerland and took place in Lugano in connection
with the celebrations of the 25th Anniversary of
HFSPO. Both meetings were attended by some
260 participants.
— 41 —
.3
25TH ANNIVERSARY
CELEBRATIONS
Panel discussion on “ Human Frontiers ” with Claude Nicollier,
Susan Hockfield, Torsten Wiesel and moderator, Adam Smith
Lugano, 5 July 2014
On the occasion of the annual Awardees Meeting in
Lugano, HFSP held a special symposium on “ Human
Frontiers ” to commemorate its 25th anniversary. The
purpose of this symposium was to bring together
experts from other fields to discuss the funding of
frontier research. The symposium was opened by
Mauro Dell’Ambrogio, Swiss State Secretary for
Education, Research and Innovation, who emphasized
the need for continued international collaboration to
enable countries to pool their expertise and optimize
their prospects for the future. HFSP is the ideal tool
for this purpose.
The second part of the symposium was introduced
by moderator Adam Smith, Chief Scientific Officer
of Nobel Media, who asked key questions that were
to frame the discussion. How do we identify and
recognize a frontier when we find one ? Are there
particular ways to structure funding to support
research at the frontiers ? The contributions were
first given in the form of individual talks, starting
with Claude Nicollier, Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology, who talked about space, the last frontier.
His introduction was followed by that of Susan
Hockfield, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
President Emerita and Professor of Neuroscience,
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, who
expressed her concerns about the availability of
funding for projects that aim to investigate problems
beyond known boundaries, particularly when these
span traditional disciplines and countries. Finally
Torsten Wiesel, President Emeritus, The Rockefeller
University and former Secretary General of HFSPO,
reminded the audience that HFSP’s mission was to
support basic research. Internationality needs to be
paired with interdisciplinarity to advance knowledge
in the life sciences.
Hirofumi Nakasone, Member of the House of
Councilors of the National Diet of Japan and son of
the HFSP founder, former Prime Minister of Japan,
Yasuhiro Nakasone, expressed his gratitude to HFSPO
for having established the Nakasone Award to honor
his father’s contribution to international scientific
collaboration and was pleased to bestow the 2014
award on Uri Alon from Israel. From the outset, HFSP
had been perceived as a dynamic program with a
long-term future. In his vision for the future of HFSP,
Mr. Nakasone mentioned several “ grand challenges ”,
to be met by means of destructive innovations and
the bringing together of young minds. He expected
HFSP “ …to take the lead by breathing new life into
different fields and fusing them, by the expansion of
international and intercontinental collaboration and
by the use of flexible ideas of young researchers. I’m
sure that confronting these challenges is the unique
strength of the Program and that it cannot be done
by other international organizations or countries. ”
The three speakers agreed that exploration of the
frontiers can only be successful if scientists from
different disciplines such as engineering, physics,
chemistry and biology join forces. HFSP is therefore
well positioned to remain a key player in the future
of basic research funding.
The full program and complete video footage can be
found on the HFSP website at
http://www.hfsp.org/about-us/
hfsp-25th-anniversary/25th-anniversary-lugano
Frontiers are found in many different fields, not
only in science. One example is architecture; worldrenowned architect Mario Botta gave a lecture about
the challenges presented by some of the buildings
which he had designed. Architects and their work
may sometimes have a special aura but in fact
architecture mirrors history and has the potential to
be strongly critical of society. Yet architecture also has
the responsibility to make our urban environment
livable and hence more enjoyable.
— 42 —
Strasbourg, 28 October 2014
A special event to commemorate the 25th anniversary
of HFSP was held on 28 October 2014 in Strasbourg to
pay tribute to the host city of the HFSPO Secretariat.
For 25 years, the City of Strasbourg and the Region of
Alsace have been important partners of the Program.
Lilla Merabet, Vice-President of the Regional Council,
welcomed some 50 guests to the Maison de la
Région, followed by remarks from HFSPO President
Nobutaka Hirokawa and Alain Beretz, President of
the University of Strasbourg. Beretz emphasized
the eminent role of modern universities as a major
thrust for innovation in the dynamic landscape of
globalization. However, he reminded the audience
that attempts by governments to over-regulate
universities are prone to failure. The University of
Strasbourg played a vital role in the early days of
HFSPO’s operations in Strasbourg and Prof. Beretz
thanked the Program for maintaining its rigor in
supporting frontier research in basic life sciences.
HFSPO Secretariat, 12 quai Saint Jean, Strasbourg
A scientific talk was given by Anne Houdusse,
Institut Curie, who spoke about her career built on
HFSP support. Early in her research, she benefitted
from an HFSP Long-Term Fellowship allowing her to
work in the United States. This support provided her
with a unique opportunity to expand her knowledge
and skills which, on her return to France, would lay
the foundation for own independent laboratory.
Receiving an HFSP Program Grant later on was
instrumental in establishing the reputation of her
research laboratory.
There followed a keynote talk by Jean-Pierre
Bourguignon, President of the European Research
Council (ERC), who reminded the audience that
HFSP was the blueprint for the establishment of the
ERC which also seeks to support “ Frontier Research ”.
He emphasized that it takes organisations such as
HFSPO to provide competitive support to advance
innovation but also to overcome structural barriers
that still limit scientific research.
An evening reception was hosted by the City of
Strasbourg in the presence of former Minister and
Mayor of Strasbourg and currently Vice President
of the City of Strasbourg, Catherine Trautmann. The
guests were reminded of the spirit of trust which
characterises HFSPO : trust in the relationship
between funding partners and in the ability of young
scientists to accomplish great things.
To mark the 25 years of the Program in Strasbourg,
three trams decorated with the HFSP logo have
circulated in the city for a period of six months.
The HFSP Tram was inaugurated in the presence of
Catherine Trautmann and HFSPO Secretary General
Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker on the 15 October 2015.
HFSPO is thankful to its local hosts and looks forward
to continuing the successful collaboration with
Strasbourg and the Region of Alsace.
The full programme of the meeting can be found on
the HFSP web site at
http://www.hfsp.org/about-us/
hfsp-25th-anniversary/25th-anniversary-strasbourg.
The HFSP Tram, Strasbourg, France
— 43 —
.4
FURTHER MILESTONES
IN COMMUNICATION
AND OUTREACH
ACTIVITIES
Registration for 25th anniversary and 14th Awardees meeting,
Lugano, Switzerland
The HFSP web site remains one of our primary
communication tools and awardees are closely
following new content in a regular fashion. During
the past 12 months we registered nearly 240.000 site
visits of which over 30 % were return visitors. It is not
surprising that the section with funding information
is among the most attractive. The Frontier Science
section continues to maintain a high profile, not
least due to our efforts in keeping HFSP’s social
media channels up to date. In 2014 we published
one issue of HFSP Matters including a broad range
of topics from Secretariat news to stories about our
awardees. The newsletter is now being sent to almost
8000 recipients.
HFSPO is a voluntary international effort by countries
and is dependent on the public funds of its members.
It is our statutory mandate “ to make the fullest
possible utilization of the research results for the
benefit of all humankind. ” Therefore HFSP wants to
share the results of its funded projects in the broadest
possible way - not just among researchers but also
with other sectors and the general public. To improve
access to results originating from HFSPO funded
research, the HFSPO Board of Trustees approved a
statement on open access publishing at its meeting
in March 2014 (the full text of the statement can be
found at http://www.hfsp.org/funding/open-accesspolicy).
From 30 August to 4 September, HFSP was present in
the exhibit of the joint EMBO-FEBS meeting in Paris.
The joining of the two organizations provided for a
large scientific audience in the halls and foyers of the
Palais des Congrès, Paris.
Since September 2014, HFSPO is also one of more
than 500 institutional signatories of DORA (The San
Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment),
which is a declaration that challenges the role played
by the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) as the main means
for evaluating science. DORA has been published in
2012 during the Annual Meeting of the American
Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) with the goal of
“ putting science into the assessment of research ”
and thereby promoting the assessment of research
on its own merits rather than on the basis of the
journal in which the research is published.
— 44 —
— 45 —
Scientific meetings attended
2014
30 April, Lecture at University of Ottawa Institute
of Technology
Canada
25 March, Israel Science Day
Rehovot, Israel
31 March, Lecture at International Symposium
“ From Functional Genetics to Systems Biology ”
BayGene and BioSysNet, Munich, Germany
30 April – 5 May, Seminar for German Journalists
hosted by Rober t Bosch Foundation and
Leopoldina National Academy of Sciences on
“ Total Immersion into Science ”
Boston, USA
1 April, Gay-Lussac Humboldt Prize - Giving
ceremony
Paris, France
1 May, Lecture at University of Toronto
Canada
3 April, Max Delbruck Center Career Day
Berlin, Germany
5 May, Lecture at McGill University
Canada
11 April, Lecture at the Conférence des Doyens et
Directeurs des UFR Scientifiques des Universités
Françaises (CDUS)
Strasbourg, France
6 May, Lecture at University of Laval
Canada
15 May, Celebration of the 40 years of the European
Science Foundation
Strasbourg, France
24-25 April, Lecture at the scientific symposium
hosted by ALLEA and Norwegian Academy of
Science and Letters on “ Enabling early career
researchers – needs for training of a new
generation ”
Oslo, Norway
20 May, Lecture at the European Network on
Research Careers
Brussels, Belgium
24 April, Lecture at the University of Ottawa
Canada
29 June – 4 July, 64th Lindau Nobel Laureate
meeting
Germany
25 April, Lecture at the University of Montreal
Canada
2-3 July, EMBO/EMBL Anniversary Science and
Policy meeting
Heidelberg, Germany
28 April, Lecture at Queen’s University
Canada
29 April, Lecture at Waterloo University
Canada
3 August, Scientific symposium hosted by the
Vallee Foundation on “ Protein Homeostasis,
metabolism and cancer ”
Boston, USA
— 46 —
2015
30 August – 4 September, Booth at FEBS-EMBO 2014
Paris, France
7 – 9 January, Gene Center of the University of
Munich (LMU) and BioM symposium on “ Academia
meets industry-Industry meets academia ”
Ringberg, Germany
23 September, Festveranstaltung 10 Jahre LindauProgramm, Chinesisch-Deutsches Zentrum für
Wissenschaftsförderung
Beijing, P.R. China
11 February, Lecture at Minerva Foundation
symposium “ Celebrating 50 years of GermanIsraeli diplomatic relations ”
Rehovot, Israel
23 – 26 September, Cell Physics 2014
Saarbrücken, Germany
20 February, Lecture at symposium on “ Education,
prevention and supervision. How to avoid
scientific euphemism, misconduct and humbug ”,
Department of Medical Ethics and the Research
Ethics Network at Lund University
Sweden
26 September, Lecture at KWS symposium on
“ Bildung bewegt Politik ”
Brussels, Belgium
25 – 27 September, Lecture and booth at 52nd
Annual Meeting of Biophysical Society of Japan
Sapporo, Japan
23 – 24 February, Lecture at MIT Workshop Genome
Editing & Cell Systems
Boston, USA
29 September, Lecture at University of Tsukuba
Japan
29 September, Lecture at National Institute of
Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
Tsukuba, Japan
20 March, Lecture at the Robert Bosch Foundation
Fast Track Training Symposium on “ Die
Wissenschaft als moralische Institution ”, Schloss
Marbach
Oehningen, Germany
30 September, Lecture at Keio University
Tokyo, Japan
25 March, Lecture at Mosbacher Kolloquium, Metal
in biology : cellular functions and diseases
Mosbach, Germany
1 October, Lecture at Brain Science Institute, RIKEN
Wako, Japan
5 – 7 October, Session Chair at STS forum
Kyoto, Japan
8 October, Cool Earth forum, METI
Tokyo, Japan
26 November, Lecture at meeting of the Young
Academy
Berlin, Germany
— 47 —
.5
HONOURS AND PRIZES
HFSP GRANTEES AWARDED THE NOBEL PRIZE
Nobel Laureate
HFSP Research Grant
Nobel Prize
Christiane NÜSSLEIN-VOLHARD
1993
1995 (Physiology or Medicine)
Rolf ZINKERNAGEL
1994
Stanley PRUSINER
1994
John WALKER
1996
1997 (Chemistry)
Steven CHU
1993
1997 (Physics)
Paul NURSE
1994
Tim HUNT
1992 / 1997
John SULSTON
1991
Peter AGRE
2000
2003 (Chemistry)
Linda BUCK
1995
Avram HERSHKO
1998
2004 (Chemistry)
Roger KORNBERG
1990 / 1993 / 1997 / 2000
2006 (Chemistry)
Roger TSIEN
1995
2008 (Chemistry)
Jack SZOSTAK
2000
Venkatraman RAMAKRISHNAN
2000/2009
2009 (Chemistry)
Ada YONATH
2003
2009 (Chemistry)
Jules HOFFMANN
1995
Ralph STEINMAN
1996, 2006
Randy SCHEKMAN
1991, 1995
Thomas SÜDHOF
1995
James ROTHMAN
1990, 1994, 2005
Martin KARPLUS
2005
2013 (Chemistry)
Michael LEVITT
2008
2013 (Chemistry)
John O’KEEFE
1994
Stefan HELL
2010
2014 (Chemistry)
— 48 —
The following section lists other awards and prizes to HFSP awardees or alumni from 2014 or earlier that have come to our
attention in FY 2014*
Name
Nationality
Current affiliation
Year of HFSP award
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
FELLOW
John MAUNSELL
USA
University of Chicago, USA
Research Grant 1997
David MCCORMICK
USA
Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, USA
Research Grant 1996, 2000
David SPECTOR
USA
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA
Program Grant 2003
Claudio STERN
UK/Uruguay
University College London, UK
Geoffrey WAHL
USA
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, USA
Program Grant 2001
Rachel WILSON
USA
Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
Program Grant 2007
Hungarian Academy of Sciences /
Peter Pazmany Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary
FOREIGN HONORARY MEMBER
Tamás FREUND
Hungary
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE
FELLOW
Silvia ARBER
Switzerland
Biocenter, University of Basel, Switzerland
Long-Term Fellowship 1996
Sean EDDY
USA
HHMI Janelia Farms Research Campus, Ashburn, USA
Marilyn GUNNER
USA
City College of New York, USA
Research Grant 1995
Marnie HALPERN
Canada
Carnegie Institution for Science, Baltimore, USA
Short-Term Fellowship 1999
Oliver HOBERT
Germany
Columbia University Medical Center, New York, USA
Long-Term Fellowship 1996,
Research Grant 1999
Research Grant 2000
Stefan HOHMANN
Germany
University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Tom KERPPOLA
Finland
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
Program Grant 2003
Christof KOCH
USA
Allen Institute for Brain Science, Washington, USA
Research Grant 1990,
Program Grant 2011
Shohei KOIDE
Japan
Michael LEVINE
USA
University of California, Berkeley, USA
Andrew MURRAY
USA
FAS Center for Systems Biology,
Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
Program Grant 2014
Barry ROSEN
USA
Florida International University,
Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Miami, USA
Paolo SASSONE-CORSI
Italy
University of California, Irvine, USA
Research Grant 2000
Masatoshi TAKEICHI
Japan
RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology, Kobe, Japan
Developmental Biology Institute of Marseilles Luminy,
France
Program Grant 2008
ACADÉMIE DES SCIENCES
MEMBER
Thomas LECUIT
France
ACADEMY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES
FELLOW
Anthony CARR
UK
University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
Research Grant 2000
Leon LAGNADO
UK
University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
Program Grant 2002, 2011
William WISDEN
UK
University of Aberdeen, UK
Research Grant 1998
Research Grant 1992
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
MEMBER
Robert HASELKORN
USA
BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY
FELLOW
Karolin LUGER
Austria/USA
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA
Research Grant 2000
Michael SHEETZ
USA
Columbia University, New York, USA
Research Grant 1991
*It should be noted that Research Grants were awarded up until 2001 when Program Grants and Young Investigator Grants were introduced.
The Short-Term Fellowship program was terminated in April 2010.
— 49 —
BREAKTHROUGH PRIZE IN LIFE SCIENCES FOUNDATION
BREAKTHROUGH PRIZE IN LIFE SCIENCES
C. David ALLIS
USA
The Rockefeller University, New York, USA
Gary RUVKUN
USA
Research Grant 1991
Switzerland
University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Career Development Award 2008
USA
Max-Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology,
Jena, Germany
Program Grant 2012
EMBO
GOLD MEDAL
Sophie MARTIN
MEMBER
Ian BALDWIN
Ineke BRAAKMAN
The Netherlands Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Paul BRAKEFIELD
UK
University of Cambridge, UK
Research Grant 1998
Michael BRECHT
Germany
Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience,
Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
Program Grant 2004
Ian CHAMBERS
UK
MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine,
University of Edinburgh, UK
Program Grant 2010
Daniel CHOQUET
France
Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience,
Bordeaux, France
Program Grant 2006
Stanislas DEHAENE
France
INSERM-CEA Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit,
Saclay & College de France, Paris, France
Program Grant 2007
Winfried DENK
Germany
Max-Planck Institute of Neurobiology,
Martinsried, Germany
Program Grant 2004
Raymond DOLAN
Ireland
Program Grant 2004
Yadin DUDAI
Israel
Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Program Grant 2001
Barry EVERITT
UK
Program Grant 2001
Tamás FREUND
Hungary
Hungarian Academy of Sciences /
Peter Pazmany Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary
Rainer FRIEDRICH
Germany
Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research,
Basel, Switzerland
Program Grant 2010
Volker HAUCKE
Germany
Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology,
Berlin, Germany
Carsten JANKE
Germany
Institut Curie, Paris, France
Program Grant 2008
Ole KIEHN
Denmark
Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
Program Grant 2002
Gilles LAURENT
France
Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research,
Frankfurt, Germany
Research Grant 1990
Young Investigator Grant 2002
Zoi LYGEROU
Greece
University of Patras, Greece
Troy MARGRIE
Australia/UK
MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London, UK Young Investigator Grant 2005
Michela MATTEOLI
Italy
University of Milan & Humanitas Research Hospital,
Milan, Italy
Research Grant 2001
Gil MCVEAN
UK
Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford, UK
Program Grant 2006
Hannah MONYER
Germany
German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
Research Grant 1995
Richard MORRIS
UK
University of Edinburgh, UK
Research Grant 1990, 1994,
Program Grant 2001, 2006
John O’KEEFE
UK
Research Grant 1994
Giacomo RIZZOLATI
Italy
University of Parma, Italy
Wolfram SCHULTZ
Germany
Program Grant 2004
Giorgio SCITA
Italy
IFOM-FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Milan, Italy
Program Grant 2003
Idan SEGEV
Israel
Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Program Grant 2002
Wolf SINGER
Germany
Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research,
Frankfurt, Germany
Michael SIXT
Hungary
Institute of Science and Technology Austria,
Klosterneuburg, Austria
Program Grant 2011
Haim SOMPOLINSKY
Israel
Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Program Grant 2013
Christian SPAHN
Germany
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
Program Grant 2012
Gerhart WAGNER
Germany
Uppsala University, Sweden
Research Grant 1999
— 50 —
ASSOCIATE MEMBER
Sandra SCHMID
USA/Canada
University of Texas Southwestern Medical School,
Dallas, USA
Research Grant 1996
David SPECTOR
USA
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA
Program Grant 2003
YOUNG INVESTIGATOR GRANT
Gad ASHER
Israel
Petr BROZ
Czech Republic/ Biocentre, University of Basel, Switzerland
Switzerland
Filippo DEL BENE
Italy
Institut Curie, Paris, France
Michael HOTHORN
Germany
University of Geneva, Switzerland
Jan HUISKEN
Germany
MPI of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden,
Germany
Cross-Disciplinary Fellow 2006,
Francois LEULIER
France
Institute of Functional Genomics, Lyon, France (IGFL)
Caren NORDEN
Germany
MPI of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden,
Germany
Long-Term 2007,
Maria Teresa TEIXEIRA
Portugal/France IBPC, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France
Kristin TESSMAR-RAIBLE Germany
Max F. Perutz Laboratories, Vienna, Austria
Young Investigator 2010
European Bioinformatics Institute,
EMBL, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK
EUROPEAN RESEARCH COUNCIL
STARTING GRANT
Pedro BELTRAO
Portugal
Christof GEBHARDT
Germany
University of Ulm, Germany
Ilona GRUNWALDKADOW
Germany
Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology,
Martinsried, Germany
Hind MEDYOUF
France/Morocco Technical University of Dresden, Germany
Patrick MUELLER
Germany
Friedrich Miescher Laboratory of the Max Planck Society, Long-Term Fellowship 2008,
Tuebingen, Germany
Alejo EFEYAN
Argentina
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research,
Cambridge, USA
Manuel IRIMIA
Spain
Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain
Ignacio VARELA
Spain
University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain
Hugues NURY
France
CNRS, Institute of Structural Biology, Grenoble, France
Irit GAT-VIKS
Israel
Tel-Aviv University, Israel
Noam STERN-GINOSSAR Israel
Malte GATHER
University of St Andrews, UK
Pasteur Institute, Paris, France
Program Grant 2013
Germany
FEBS/EMBO
WOMEN IN SCIENCE AWARD
Pascale COSSART
France
GAIRDNER FOUNDATION
CANADA GAIRDNER INTERNATIONAL AWARDS
Titia DE LANGE
The Netherlands The Rockefeller University, New York, USA
Research Grant 1997
GERMAN RESEARCH COUNCIL
LEIBNIZ AWARD 2015
Tobias MOSER
Germany
University of Goettingen, Germany
Program Grant 2001
GRUBER FOUNDATION
GRUBER NEUROSCIENCE PRIZE
Thomas JESSELL
UK
— 51 —
INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE
MEMBER
W. Mark SALTZMAN
USA
Yale University School of Medicine,
New Haven, USA
Program Grant 2006
Randy SCHEKMAN
USA
University of California, Berkeley, USA
Michael SHADLEN
USA
Program Grant 2011
FOREIGN ASSOCIATE
Pascale COSSART
France
Pasteur Institute, Paris, France
Program Grant 2013
Irma THESLEFF
Finland
Institute of Biotechnology-University of Helsinki,
Finland
Research Grant 1995
LASKER FOUNDATION
ALBERT LASKER BASIC MEDICAL RESEARCH AWARD
Peter WALTER
Germany/USA
University of California, San Francisco, USA
Research Grant 1992
University of Massachusetts Medical School,
Worcester, USA
Research Grant 2000
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
MEMBER
Michael GREEN
USA
Kenneth KEEGSTRA
USA
Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA
Research Grant 1998
Jeff LICHTMAN
USA
Program Grant 2014
Timothy MITCHISON
UK
Andrew MURRAY
USA
FAS Center for Systems Biology,
Program Grant 2014
R. Scott POETHIG
USA
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
Research Grant 1999
FOREIGN ASSOCIATE
Hans CLEVERS
The Netherlands Hubrecht Institute, University of Utrecht,
The Netherlands
Research Grant 1998
Helen NEVILLE
Canada
University of Oregon, Eugene, USA
Program Grant 2002
Krishnawamy
VIJAYRAGHAVAN
India
Dept. of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and
Technology, Government of India, New Delhi, India
Research Grant 1995
Eske WILLERSLEV
Denmark
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Program Grant 2011
USA
Stanford University, USA
Research Grant 1992
PRIZE IN PSYCHOLOGY
James MCCLELLAND
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
NIH DIRECTOR’S NEW INNOVATOR AWARD
Mala MURTHY
USA
Princeton University, USA
Agnel SFEIR
Lebanon
New York University School of Medicine, USA
Weian ZHAO
China
University of California, Irvine, USA
Cross-Disciplinary Fellow 2009
PIONEER AWARD
Denise MONTELL
USA
University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Program Grant 2002
Amy PALMER
USA
University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
Program Grant 2013
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
Research Grant 2000
TRANSFORMATIVE RESEARCH AWARD
Scott FRASER
USA
NORWEGIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND LETTERS
KAVLI PRIZE NANOSCIENCE
Stefan HELL
Germany
Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry,
Goettingen, Germany
Program Grant 2010
Research Grant 1994
KAVLI PRIZE NEUROSCIENCE
John O’KEEFE
UK
— 52 —
ROYAL NETHERLANDS ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
C.L. DE CARVALHO-HEINEKEN PRIZE
James MCCLELLAND
USA
Research Grant 1992
University of Helsinki, Finland
Program Grant 2001
HEINEKEN PRIZE FOR MEDICINE
Kari ALITALO
Finland
ROYAL SOCIETY
FELLOW
Steven CHU
USA
Research Grant 1993
Liam DOLAN
Ireland
University of Oxford, UK
Program Grant 2005
Stephen HARRISON
USA
Research Grant 1996
Sheena RADFORD
UK
University of Leeds, UK
Program Grant 2012
Clifford TABIN
USA
Research Grant 1993
Anthony WATTS
UK
University of Oxford, UK
Research Grant 1995
University of California, San Francisco, USA
Research Grant 1992
ROSALIND FRANKLIN AWARD
Rachel MCKENDRY
UK
SHAW PRIZE FOUNDATION
SHAW PRIZE
Peter WALTER
Germany/USA
WOLF FOUNDATION
WOLF PRIZE IN MEDICINE
Gary RUVKUN
USA
Research Grant 1991
Nahum SONENBERG
Canada
McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Research Grant 1995, 1998,
Program Grant 2005
— 53 —
— 54 —
Chapter
Budget and
Finance
Left to right : Takashi Arai, Jennifer Sayol, Sarah Naett and
Isabelle Heidt-Coquard
— 55 —
4 .1
Guidelines for HFSPO funding
4 .2
Key financial figures for FY 2014
4 .3
FY 2014 Financial summary
4 . 4
Budget for program activities FY 2015
.1
GUIDELINES FOR
HFSPO FUNDING
Since 2014, HFSPO has been supported by voluntary
contributions from its 15 Management Supporting
Parties (MSPs) : Australia, Canada, France, Germany,
India, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand,
Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom,
the United States of America and the European
Union. Singapore joined the Program in July 2014.
MSPs hold regular Intergovernmental Conferences
(IGCs) at which the intended level of contribution
for the next budgetary period is established as a
guideline for the Board.
The then 14 MSPs met at an Intergovernmental
conference (IGC) on 11 June 2013 in Brussels,
Belgium to review the progress made and discuss
the future of the Human Frontier Science Program.
They all renewed their commitment to HFSPO
and acknowledged the need to ensure a sustained
budget in order to maintain the attractiveness of the
Program, improve awarding capacity and be inclusive
of fields as they emerge on the frontiers of the life
science.
At this conference, the MSPs established a threeyear indicative budgetary guideline for the period
FY 2014 to FY 2016. The Brussels guideline is based
on a 4 % annual increase of MSPs’ contributions
for 6 countries (Australia, Canada, Germany, New
Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) and a
2 % annual increase for 7 countries (European Union,
France, India, Italy, Republic of Korea, Norway and the
United States of America). Japan maintains the same
level of contribution throughout the period.
— 56 —
.2
KEY FINANCIAL
FIGURES FOR FY 2014
At HFSPO, the fiscal year (FY) extends from 1 April in
one year to 31 March the following year.
Figures are reported in million USD unless stated
otherwise. Different exchange rates are used in this
report for different purposes :
IGC Brussels reference rates : these are used to
monitor the implementation of the IGC budgetary
guideline in USD over extended periods and avoid
the risk of distortion arising from variations in the
exchange rate. Reference rates may differ from
actual rates.
FY 2014 budget rate : the exchange rate used for
the budget.
FY 2014 daily accounting rates : these are used for
HFSPO’s legal accounts and their consolidation in
EUR or in USD. They are updated daily on the basis
of data published by the European Central Bank.
Table 4-1 :
Exchange rates used in FY 2014 report
Exchange rates 1 USD =
CAD
CHF
EUR
GBP
Brussels IGC for 2014 to 2016
1.00
0.95
0.75
0.65
Budget FY 2014
1.00
0.90
0.75
0.65
Actual FY 2014 (average)
1.14
0.92
0.79
0.62
Budget FY 2015
1.12
0.93
0.80
0.62
2013 for reminder
1.05
0.92
0.75
0.63
— 57 —
.2.1
CONTRIBUTIONS
Contributions received from MSPs during FY 2014 are shown in Table 4-2 below. Actual payments were made in the
agreed currencies, as shown in the first column. The second column shows them in USD, exchanged at the daily
accounting rate.
Table 4-2 :
Contributions received in FY 2014 in currencies (1st April 2014 to 31 March 2015)
Payments
Actual payment LC
(Local Currency)
Australia
Canada
Actual payment in USD
(at accounting rate)
Brussels Joint Communiqué
for 2014
USD
700 000 USD
700 000
700 000
1 811 680 CAD
1 636 892
1 811 680
EU
4 765 000 EUR
6 483 258
6 354 000
France
2 231 000 EUR
2 972 388
2 974 000
Germany
4 269 000 EUR
5 064 305
5 692 000
110 138 USD
110 138
1 009 000
India*
Italy
Japan
844 817 EUR
916 208
1 201 000
21 619 388 USD
21 619 388
22 200 000
Korea
797 000 USD
797 000
797 000
New-Zealand
133 000 USD
133 000
133 000
Norway
620 000 USD
620 000
620 000
Singapore
500 000 USD
500 000
500 000
851 000 CHF
950 662
895 000
UK
Switzerland
1 415 000 GBP
2 349 130
2 178 000
USA
10 129 000 USD
10 129 000
10 129 000
54 981 368
57 193 680
*not yet received in full
Total contributions amounted to 96.1 % of the Brussels goal shown in the third column (compared to 86.5 % last year) :
During FY 2014, 12 MSPs settled their confirmed contribution in full, Australia, Canada, EU, France, Germany, Korea,
New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, UK and USA ;
METI (Japan) decreased its contribution by 14.58 % and paid 4.903 million USD (cf. 5,741 million USD last year, 6,829
million USD in 2012, 8,057 million USD in FY 2011 and 11,582 million USD in FY 2009). The Japanese contribution
decreased by 3.73%, essentially due to the exchange rate between JPY and USD.
Italy paid a total of 845 thousand EUR instead of the budgeted 901 thousand EUR. The Ministry of Research
confirmed that the FY 2014 contribution will not exceed this amount.
India paid an amount of 401.2 thousand USD, corresponding to an outstanding amount of 291.1 thousand USD to
settle the FY 2013 contribution and 110.1 thousand USD for FY 2014. 899 thousand USD is outstanding for FY 2014.
— 58 —
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
At the end of FY 2014, the total amount contributed by the MSPs since the beginning of the Program reaches
1.262 billion USD. Japan, the founder of the Program, has provided 790 million USD, representing 62.6% of the total.
All the other MSPs have contributed 472 million USD together, of which 13.1 % was provided by the USA, 6.1 % by
the EU, 5.7 % by Germany and 4 % by France. Other MSPs contributed 2.5 % or less.
Table 4-3 :
Actual contributions from MSPs per fiscal year at current exchange rate* (million USD)
Australia Canada European France Germany
Union
FY 1989
India
Italy
Japan
Korea
New Norway Singapore SwitzerZealand
land
UK
USA
TOTAL
%
10.42
0.500
0.000 9.900
1.650 0.290
0.330 28.950
FY 1991
0.150 1.620 0.910
0.440 28.440
0.400
0.040 32.00
1.85
FY 1992
0.400 0.180 1.320 0.770
0.190 29.570
0.400 0.510 0.040 33.38
4.31
FY 1993
0.330 0.910 1.250 0.810
1.180 31.300
0.400 0.540 3.500 39.22 17.50
FY 1994
0.540 1.110 1.560 0.990
1.180 34.010
0.400 0.590 3.500 42.88
9.33
FY 1995
0.530 1.000 1.740 1.220
0.190 35.650
0.590 0.580 3.500 45.00
4.94
FY 1996
0.260 0.920 1.370 1.170
0.180 36.730
0.510 0.630 4.000 45.77
1.71
FY 1997
0.250 0.870 1.470 1.020
0.170 37.380
0.530 0.760 4.000 46.45
1.49
FY 1998
0.450 1.110 1.700 1.250
0.290 35.840
0.580 0.760 4.500 46.48
0.06
FY 1999
0.440 1.680 1.750 1.600
0.290 35.770
0.610 0.750 5.000 48.89
3.03
FY 2000
0.450 1.520 1.580 2.100
0.260 37.380
0.550 0.750 5.500 50.09
4.59
FY 2001
0.510 0.870 1.160 2.840
0.680 37.050
0.520 0.800 7.390 51.82
3.45
FY 2002
0.830 2.380 1.400 1.530
31.250
0.530 1.550 8.600 48.07 - 7.24
FY 2003
0.810 4.720 1.910 3.940
31.250
0.630 1.470 10.400 55.13 14.69
FY 2004
0.850 4.080 2.070 3.430
2.120 31.250
0.690 1.630 9.500 55.62
FY 2005
0.466 0.870 4.510 2.170 3.500
0.840 31.248 0.550
0.690 1.720 9.000 55.56 - 0.10
FY 2006
0.485 1.063 4.690 2.545 3.913
0.916 31.248 0.568 0.095
0.697 1.878 9.000 57.10
2.76
FY 2007
0.504 1.286 5.500 2.951 4.174 0.780 1.561 31.248 0.591 0.099
0.698 2.146 9.000 60.54
6.02
FY 2008
0.534 1.240 5.570 3.039 4.910 0.812 0.909 31.248 0.624 0.103 0.500
0.480 2.140 9.364 61.87
2.20
FY 2009
0.566 1.331 5.762 2.439 5.266 0.844
31.248 0.658 0.108 0.520
0.862 1.915 9.832 61.35 - 0.84
FY 2010
0.598 1.441 5.334 2.000 5.037 0.879 1.092 29.523 0.694 0.113 0.541
0.818 1.816 9.930 59.82 - 2.50
FY 2011
0.622 1.614 6.254 2.701 5.036 0.914 1.073 24.773 0.722 0.118 0.563
0.923 2.010 9.930 57.25 - 4.29
FY 2012
0.647 1.680 5.590 2.736 5.115 0.837 1.102 23.545 0.751 0.123 0.585
0.849 2.047 9.930 54.54 - 3.00
FY 2013
0.673 1.662 6.103 2.936 5.451 0.989 1.199 22.457 0.781 0.128 0.608
0.867 2.036 9.930 55.82
0.51
FY 2014*
0.700 1.637 6.483 2.972 5.064 1.009 0.916 21.619 0.797 0.133 0.620 0.500 0.951 2.349 10.129 55.88
0.10
FY 1990
TOTAL
0.200
5.80 20.67 77.30 50.50 71.34
7.06 15.13 789.92
31.42 201.54
6.74
1.02
3.94
0.89
0.50 15.47 31.48 165.52 1 262.37
0.50 % 1.60 % 6.10 % 4.00 % 5.70 % 0.60 % 1.20 % 62.60 % 0.50 % 0.10 % 0.30 % 0.00 % 1.20 % 2.50 % 13.10 % 1 261.87
*India : outstanding payment of 899 kUSD - Italy : outstanding payment of 157 kUSD / cancelled by Ministry of Research
The Asia Pacific region, which includes Japan, remains the main source of funding, contributing 44 % of the total in
FY 2014. After the Asia Pacific region, Europe contributed 35 % and North America contributed 21 %.
Fig. 4-1. :
Geographical distribution per continent
— 59 —
.2.3
PAYMENT OF AWARDS
HFSPO paid 53.544 million USD to its awardees during FY 2014 (compared to 52.191 million USD for FY 2013). Fig. 4-2
shows the breakdown of the amount by activity :
Research Grant p ayments amounted to
35.65 million USD (26.3 million USD for Program
Grants and 9.35 million USD for Young Investigator
Grants). This constitutes 66 % of payments made
in FY 2014 (cf. 67.5 % last year).
Payments to CDA holders amounted to 2.9 million
USD and constitute 5.36 % of FY 2014 payments
(cf. 4.8 % last year and 6 % year before).
Resources allocated to the Awardees Meeting in
Lugano, Switzerland, and other outreach activities,
including Program meetings, the Nakasone Award
or Alumni meetings, amounted to approximately
606 thousand USD.
Payments to Long-Term and Cross-Disciplinary
Fellows correspond to 27.7 % of payments in FY
2014 (cf. 27.8 % last year). Actual payments were
slightly below budget for two reasons observed
each year :
- S ome payments planned for FY 2014 were
postponed for reasons such as parental leave
or deferral of the third year in the event of
repatriation. These payments were transferred to
following fiscal years;
- Some fellows terminated earlier than scheduled
e.g. to take up a permanent position.
Fig. 4-2 :
Payments made in FY 2014 by type of award
— 60 —
Table 4-4 and Fig. 4-3 show the geographical distribution of award payments.
Table 4-4 :
Geographical distribution of award payments per MSP over the range of programs in FY 2014 (USD)
MSP
Research
Grants
%
Long-Term +
Cross disc.
Fellowships
%
Australia
1 036 666
2.91 %
305 595
2.04 %
Canada
2 109 897
5.92 %
379 497
2.53 %
Career
Development
Awards
%
200 000
6.90 %
Total
% Total
1 342 261
2.51 %
2 689 394
5.02 %
EU
3 823 468
10.73 %
1 057 107
7.05 %
400 000
13.79 %
5 280 575
9.86 %
France
2 464 158
6.91 %
471 205
3.14 %
200 000
6.90 %
3 135 363
5.86 %
Germany
817 251
5.45 %
500 000
17.24 %
5 611 673
10.48 %
4 294 422
12.05 %
India
154 000
0.43 %
154 000
0.29 %
Italy
1 027 500
2.88 %
1 027 500
1.92 %
Japan
2 168 833
6.08 %
Korea
316 667
0.89 %
75 000
0.21 %
New Zealand
Norway
Singapore
200 000
0.56 %
Switzerland
540 333
1.52 %
224 746
1.50 %
81 594
0.54 %
1 890 579
12.61 %
100 000
300 000
3.45 %
10.34 %
2 493 579
4.66 %
316 667
0.59 %
75 000
0.14 %
81 594
0.15 %
200 000
0.37 %
2 730 912
5.10 %
UK
4 934 237
13.84 %
879 713
5.87 %
200 000
6.90 %
6 013 950
11.23 %
USA
11 127 946
31.22 %
8 767 546
58.46 %
300 000
10.34 %
20 195 492
37.72 %
Non MSPs
Grand Total
1 374 445
3.86 %
121 758
0.81 %
700 000
24.14 %
2 196 203
4.10 %
35 647 572
100.00 %
14 996 591
100.00 %
2 900 000
100.00 %
53 544 163
100.00 %
66,58 %
28,01 %
5.42 %
44.6 % of the total amount of awards paid in FY 2014 supported HFSP awardees in Europe (cf. 43.3 last year), 42.7 %
was allocated to awardees in North America (cf. 39.4 % last year), 8.6 % went to awardees in the Asia-Pacific region
(cf. 11.8 % last year) and 4.1 % to non MSPs (cf. 5.5 % last year).
Fig 4-3 :
Geographical distribution of total awards over all programs paid by HFSPO in FY2014
— 61 —
Fig. 4-4 :
Overview of FY 2014 payments to grant team members
according to country
Fig 4-5 :
Overview of FY 2014 payments to HFSP fellows
according to host country
Research Grants
Fellowship
In FY 2014, all MSPs benefited from an HFSP award,
highlighting sustained efforts throughout the MSPs
to participate in international collaboration.
Fig 4-6 :
Overview of FY 2014 payments to CDA holders
according to host country
— 62 —
.3
FY 2014 FINANCIAL
SUMMARY
The accounting summary (Table 4-5) provides an
overview of income and expenditures. Together,
these result in the cash net financial position.
Contributions paid in currencies other than the USD
are consolidated at the exchange rate of the date of
payment.
Expenditures have been closely monitored and
were much lower in USD than expected also due
to the impact of the exchange rate. The expenses
of the Secretariat for FY 2014, which are mostly in
EUR, amounted to 3.001 million USD, 5.4 % of the
annual amount of contributions. In EUR, office costs
amounted to 3.519 million EUR, 100 thousand EUR
more than in the previous year, essentially due to the
Awardees Meeting and 25th anniversary celebrations
in Lugano. Office costs include meeting and travel
costs for the Board, office expenses and salaries.
Other meeting costs for the Review Committees, the
Council and Selection Committee are included under
“ Meetings and outreach activities ” for an amount of
786 thousand USD.
As regards the FY 2014 budget, all MSPs paid the
expected contribution, except for Italy and India. The
total amount received was 784 thousand USD less
than expected, essentially due to the impact of the
exchange rate between the Euro and the USD. Based
on the 2014 EUR/USD budget rate of 0.75, the Italian
contribution was estimated at 1.201 million USD.
However, at the end of March 2015, when Italy paid
its contribution of 845 thousand EUR, the amount
received was 916 thousand USD since the actual
exchange rate was 0.92.
All Research Grant, Fellowship and Career
Development Award payments for FY 2014 have
been made in full. Program expenses reached
54.333 million USD. Some fellows terminated earlier
than expected because they were either offered
a permanent position or they opted for another
fellowship. Taking into account both the cash flow
and commitments to awardees (i.e. commitments
from previous years at the beginning of the year and
those still to be paid at closing), there should be a
negative balance of around 1.6 million USD at the
end of FY 2014.
HFSPO limits currency exchange as far as possible,
using contributions in one currency for the payment
of awardees in the same currency. Since most
payments are made by the end of October, significant
savings can be made if contributions are received
early. In this respect, it was helpful that the European
Commission and France were able to pay their
contributions at the beginning of fiscal year 2014.
The Indian contribution has been included in the
accounting summary since payment has been
confirmed, though not received in total. 899 thousand
USD is outstanding.
Notes on FY 2014 accounts
Accounts for FY 2014, consolidated in EUR, were
prepared by the chartered accountants MAZARS.
Price Waterhouse Coopers audited and certified these
accounts. HFSPO’s legal accounts are reported on an
accrual basis. They follow the French regulations
(GAAP) applicable to not-for-profit organizations.
Legal accounts are consolidated and stated in EUR.
The currency of consolidation used for HFSPO’s
internal reporting, including this annual report, is
the USD.
Overall financial income will be higher than expected
due to the performance of several long-term
investments.
— 63 —
Table 4-5 :
HFSPO accounting summary FY 2014 (budget and actual rates) – income
Income /
Current commitments
Report FY
Budget 2014
2014
In m USD
In m USD
Expenditures /
New commitments
(actual rate)
1. Contributions
Australia
56.663
55.879
0.700
0.700
Report FY
Budget 2014
2014
In m USD
In m USD
(actual rate)
4.548
3.001
2. Program activities
1. Administrative expenses
55.964
54.333
26.300
26.300
9.350
9.350
Canada
1.812
1.637
Program Grants
European Union
6.353
6.483
Young Investigators
France
2.975
2.972
Fellowships
16.558
14.997
Germany
5.692
5.064
2.900
2.900
India*
1.009
1.009
Meetings and outreach activities
0.856
0.786
58.975
59.383
Italy
1.201
0.916
Japan
21.619
21.619
3. Committed funds beyond FY (in USD)
Korea
0.797
0.797
Committed funds from previous year
New Zealand
0.133
0.133
Program Grants
Norway
0.620
0.620
Young Investigators
Singapore
0.500
0.500
Fellowships
Switzerland
0.946
0.951
UK
2.177
2.349
USA
10.129
10.129
Total Expenses
Annual balance (positive)
2. Interests and capital gain (estimate)
0.250
3. Miscellaneous reimbursements
0.652
0.233
4. Treasury
62.508
58.320
EMTN
33.500
32.500
UCITS in USD
23.797
15.450
UCITS in EUR
2.128
2.557
CURRENT BANK ACCOUNTS
Total income
3.083
7.813
(02/2014)
(03/2015)
119.421
115.084
Annual Balance (negative)
GRAND TOTAL
GRAND TOTAL
1.633
119.421
116.717
*India : outstanding payment of 899 kUSD
— 64 —
2.452
25.800
25.800
9.450
9.450
17.773
20.633
3.500
3.500
119.487
116.717
- 0.066
0.000
119.421
116.717
.4
BUDGET FOR
PROGRAM ACTIVITIES
FY 2015
CONTRIBUTIONS
PROGRAM ACTIVITIES
Planning for the FY 2015 budget was based on MSPs’
contributions as confirmed at the 49th Board meeting
(March 2015). This amounted to 55.86 million USD
(cf. 56.66 million USD last year). The Brussels IGC
guideline indicated a 4 % annual increase for
6 countries and a 2 % increase for 7 others.
Compared to the Brussels goal, there is a slight
decrease due to :
- the exchange rate impact on the contribution of
METI which is JPY based (- 0.6 million USD). This
means that Japan confirmed a smaller amount than
anticipated at the Brussels IGC
- this decrease is partly mitigated by the accession
of Singapore as a new MSP, providing the minimum
contribution of 0.52 million USD.
Financial income from investments, at a similar level
to last year, is expected to amount to approximately
250 thousand USD.
The Program Activity Plan was adopted by the
Board on 24 March 2015. Within the limits of the
projected budget, it decided to make the following
awards :
• 21 Program Grants ;
• 10 Young Investigator Grants ;
• 66 Long-Term and 9 Cross-Disciplinary
Fellowships, with a reserve list ;
• 8 Career Development Awards.
Program activities in FY 2015 will cost 55.39 million
USD (56.05 million USD last year).
Of this amount, Program activities for FY 2015
include the15th HFSP Awardees meeting to be
held in San Diego, USA, the Nakasone Award 2015,
attendance at scientific meetings and travel for
Council and Review Committee members. These
expenses will amount to 781 thousand USD.
Payments to awardees in FY 2015 will amount to
54.61 million USD (cf. 55.19 million USD last year,
54.09 million USD in FY 2013 and 54.35 million USD
in FY 2012).
— 65 —
Table 4-6 :
Overview of HFSPO budget for FY 2015 including all commitments for future years.
INCOME
IGC - USD
In mio LC
1. Contributions
n.a.
Budget
2015
Budget
2015
EXPENDITURES
In mio LC In mio USD
57.0
55.86
Australia
USD
0.73
0.73
0.73
Canada
CAD
1.88
1.68
1.68
In mio LC In mio USD
1. HFSP operation
EUR
USD
3.34
4.18
2. Program activities
55.39
European Commission
EUR
4.86
6.08
6.08
Program Grants
21
25.35
France
EUR
2.28
2.84
2.84
Young Investigators
10
9.10
Germany
EUR
4.44
5.55
5.55
Fellowships
75
17.16
India
USD
1.03
1.03
1.03
Italy (not confirmed)
EUR
0.92
1.15
1.15
Awardees meetings
0.25
0.31
Japan
USD
21.04
22.20
21.04
Program meetings (RC, COS, SEL)
0.32
0.40
Korea
USD
0.81
0.81
0.81
Outreach activities - Alumni network
0.03
0.03
Nakasone Award
0.03
0.03
8
3.00
New Zealand
USD
0.14
0.14
0.14
Norway
USD
0.63
0.63
0.63
Singapore
USD
0.52
0.52
0.52
3. Not yet paid as of
Switzerland
CHF
0.89
0.95
0.95
CDA
0.80
LT
0.78
Office costs to go for FY2014
1.01
UK
GBP
1.47
2.37
2.37
USA (not confirmed)
USD
10.33
10.33
10.33
2. Interests and capital gain
3. Treasury as of
2.59
0.25
USD
17/2/15
EMTN
4. Committed funds beyond FY
54.20
58.60
Program Grants
25.05
45.50
Young Investigators
UCITS in USD
6.89
Fellowships
Saving accounts in EUR
3.61
Current bank accounts
2.60
4. Contribu.to receive
from previous fy
USD
2.206
Total income + assets
(incl. 60kusd in kind)
USD
116.91
Balance ( negative)
Grand total
17/2/15
USD
116.91
8.75
17.50
2.90
5. Negative balance
from previous FY
Total expenses +
committed funds
116.36
Balance (positive)
0.552
Grand total
116.91
OVERVIEW OF HFSPO BUDGET
FOR FY 2015
HFSPO continues to operate on a sound financial
basis. For Program activities in FY 2015 and
beyond, and for operational costs, it has committed
116.91 million USD. HFSPO expects to receive
55.86 million USD in MSPs’ contributions for FY 2015.
Together with resources from past contributions,
interest and income from investments, the total
amount available for FY 2015 and beyond will be
over 116.91 million USD. The anticipated balance
between income and expenditure should be positive
and amount to about 0.5 million USD.
— 66 —
— 67 —
— 68 —
ppendix
Program
Highlights
A .1
History of the Program
A .2
Joint Communiqué
of the Intergovernmental Conference
on the Human Frontier Science Program,
Brussels, 11 June 2013
A .3
Summary of decisions
of the Board of Trustees in 2014
A . 4
Long-Term and Cross-Disciplinary
Fellowships awarded in 2014
A .5
made in 2014
A .6
Research Grants awarded in 2014
— 69 —
The Secretariat of the Program, the International
Human Frontier Science Program Organization,
was founded in October 1989 in Strasbourg, France.
The first President of the Program was Ambassador
Miyazaki (Japan), the first Chairman of the Council
of Scientists was Dr. Edward Rall (US) and the first
Secretary General was Sir James Gowans, former
Secretary of the Medical Research Council, UK.
.1
HISTORY
OF THE PROGRAM
1990 The peer review process was established and
the first awards were made in March.
A1.2 Further development of the Program
Intergovernmental Conferences bring together
representatives of the Management Supporting
Parties, i.e. those countries that support the Program
directly, plus the European Union, representing the
remaining EU countries, to discuss overall policy and
strategy. Since 2004, they also establish an indicative
financial framework for the following three years.
A1.1 Beginnings
1986 A feasibility study was carried out by leading
Japanese scientists under the auspices of the
Japanese Prime Minister’s Council for Science of
Technology, to explore possible means to encourage
international collaboration in basic research.
1st Intergovernmental Conference, Tokyo, Japan,
January 1992 : This conference recognised the
achievements made in the initial phase of the
Program and the desirability of continuing the HFSP.
It was decided to carry out a general review of the
program from both scientific and organisational
standpoints.
1987 Discussion was expanded to include scientists
from the G7 summit nations and the European Union,
resulting in the « London Wise Men’s Conference » in
April 1987, which endorsed the suggestion.
Prime Minister Nakasone of Japan proposed the
Human Frontier Science Program at the Venice
Economic Summit in June. The Economic Summit
partners and the Chairman of the European
Community welcomed the initiative and activities
aimed at implementing it as soon as possible were
started.
2nd Intergovernmental Conference, Washington,
DC, USA, May 1997 : It was decided to continue the
HFSP for another five years. The MSPs reaffirmed
the goals of the Tokyo Joint Communiqué aimed at
increased and equitable funding for the Program.
A further review of the Program was requested for
March 2001.
1988 Further international talks were held from
November 1987 to March 1988 in the form of an
International HFSP Feasibility Study Committee,
which culminated in April 1988 in the « Bonn Wise
Men’s Conference » - this established an outline
of the program activities and defined the general
scientific areas and types of activity to be supported.
Prime Minister Takeshita of Japan reported the
conclusions of the international feasibility study
at the Toronto Economic Summit in June. The
assembled Heads of State welcomed the proposal
for implementation in the near future.
3 rd Intergovernmental Conference, Berlin,
Germany, June 2002 : The MSPs agreed to the
continuation of HFSP for a further five years on the
basis of its scientific value and the implementation
of a number of initiatives introduced by the Secretary
General. A working group was set up to consider the
future finances, status and scope of the Program.
4 th Intergovernmental Conference, Bern,
Switzerland, June 2004 : The delegates agreed upon a
general indicative financial framework for 2005-2007
in order to reach a total budget of 60 million USD
and a 50 : 50 distribution of contributions from Japan
and the other countries. An annual increase was
recommended to maintain the awarding capacity of
the Program.
1989 An International Scientists Committee, which
had started work in 1987, gave further shape to the
Program, defining its organization and the details of
its program activities, research areas and selection
procedures. Intergovernmental conferences were
held in June and July 1989 in Tokyo and Berlin,
respectively, which led to endorsement of the plan
by the participating governments. It was agreed
to implement the HFSP for an initial experimental
phase of 3 years.
5th Intergovernmental Conference, Ottawa, Canada,
June 2007 : The representatives agreed on an
indicative three year budgetary plan 2008-2010 and
endorsed the Board recommendation of March 2007
that an annual minimum contribution be required
of any new MSP.
— 70 —
2010 Review of the Human Frontier Science
Program : a questionnaire based review to evaluate
the success of the initiatives since 2000 and a
bibliometric analysis of awardees’ publications. A
further study of commercialization resulting from
HFSP funded research was carried out at the request
of the Ministry of Trade, Economy and Industry, Japan.
6 th Intergovernmental Conference, Canberra,
Australia, May 2010 : The representatives recognised
the success of HFSP in setting new paradigms for
research and in funding excellent individual and
collaborative projects over a 20 year period. As the
Program enters a new phase of its development,
representatives asked the Board to develop a new
financial framework for consideration at the next
IGC. For the period 2011-2013, an indicative financial
framework was agreed.
A1.5 Leadership and management
The MSPs nominate representatives to the Board of
Trustees to take responsibility for the management
of the Program in collaboration with the Council of
Scientists. A President and two Vice-Presidents are
elected by the members from among the Trustees for
a three-year term. The Board of Trustees appoints a
Secretary General for a term of three years to execute
the Program in accordance with the decisions of the
Board of Trustees and the Council of Scientists.
7 th Intergovernmental Conference, Brussels,
Belgium, June 2013 : The representatives renewed
their commitment to the Program on the basis of its
added value as the only bottom-up global program
supporting frontier research in the life sciences
and recognised the need for a sustained budget to
maintain the attractiveness of the Program. They
adopted indicative budgetary guidelines for the
Program (2014-2016).
President of the Board of Trustees
Hiromichi Miyazaki (Japan)
A1.3 Membership of HFSPO
November 1989 –
Kozo Iizuka (Japan)
Masao Ito (Japan)
Akito Arima (Japan)
Nobutaka Hirokawa (Japan)
HFSPO was established at the initiative of the
Japanese government, led by Prime Minister
Nakasone. The founding MSPs were Canada, France,
Germany, the European Union, Italy, Japan, the UK
and the USA. Switzerland took up membership
in 1990. At the 3rd Intergovernmental Conference
(Berlin, 2002), MSPs agreed to take active steps
to expand the membership of HFSPO to enhance
the intercontinental balance of the Program and
promote international collaboration. The Guidelines
for membership were subsequently revised and the
Board accepted the following new members :
March 1995
April 1995 – March 2000
April 2012 to present
Chair of the Council of Scientists
Edward Rall (USA)
March 1990 (2nd meeting) to March 1993 (8th meeting),
Klaus-Peter Hoffmann (Germany)
November 1993 (9th meeting) to March 1995 (12th meeting)
Pierre Chambon (France)
March 1996 (13th meeting) and March 1997 (14th meeting)
Albert Aguayo (Canada)
2004 Australia and the Republic of Korea
2006 New Zealand and India
2008 Norway
2014 Singapore
Arturo Falaschi (Italy)
Pierre Magistretti (Switzerland)
A1.4 Reviews of HFSP
Heinrich Betz (Germany)
March 2004 (21st meeting)
A number of reviews have been carried out at the
request of the MSPs.
Joachim Seelig (Switzerland)
March 2005 (22nd meeting) and March 2006 (23rd meeting)
Rudi Balling (Germany)
1996 General Review : a questionnaire based review,
with comments by an expert scientific panel.
March 2007 (24th meeting)
Paul Lasko (Canada)
March 2008 (25th meeting) to March 2010 (27th meeting)
2001 Second General Review : a questionnaire based
review, with a bibliometric analysis.
Rae Silver (USA)
March 2011 (28th meeting) to July 2012 (31st meeting)
Young-Joon Kim (Rep. of Korea)
2006 Review of the Human Frontier Program’s
Initiatives 2000-2005 : a questionnaire based review
to evaluate the success of the initiatives introduced
under the leadership of Secretary General, Torsten
Wiesel.
July 2013 (32nd meeting) to July 2014 (33rd meeting)
Salvatore Oliviero (Italy)
Secretary General
November 1989 – March 1993
James Gowans (UK)
Michel Cuénod (Switzerland)
Torsten Wiesel (USA)
April 2000 – June 2009
Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker (Germany) July 2009 to present
2007 Report of the expert review panel on HFSP :
an additional review by a panel of eminent scientists,
who were invited to comment on the 2006 report and
to identify issues for further evaluation.
— 71 —
c) Representatives confirm their aim to maintain
the uniqueness of HFSP in supporting innovative,
frontier research in the life sciences, encouraging
high risk research and promoting international
collaboration in the spirit of science without
borders.
d) Representatives note that the range of programs
within the HFSP portfolio complement each other
in providing scientists with opportunities to carry
out frontier research at all stages of their career,
with particular attention to early career scientists.
The representatives recognise the value of all three
programs (Research Grants, Fellowships and Career
Development Awards), and agree that the Research
Grant program has the highest priority on account
of its unique value in supporting emerging fields.
e) Representatives acknowledge the need of ensuring
a sustained budget to maintain the attractiveness
of the programme, improve awarding capacity
and be inclusive of fields as they emerge on the
frontiers of the life sciences.
.2
JOINT COMMUNIQUÉ
OF THE
INTERGOVERNMENTAL
CONFERENCE ON
THE HUMAN FRONTIER
SCIENCE PROGRAM,
BRUSSELS, 11 JUNE 2013
Representatives of the Management Supporting
Parties (MSPs) of Australia, Canada, France, Germany,
Italy, India, Japan, The Republic of Korea, New
Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United
States of America and of the European Union met at
an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on 11 June
2013 in Brussels, Belgium to review the progress
made and discuss the future of the Human Frontier
Science Program (HFSP).
3. Finances
a) While representatives acknowledge and commend
the leading role of Japan in supporting HFSP for
over 20 years, they also acknowledge that the time
has come for greater burden-sharing to ensure
that the Program continues to make profound
contributions in extending the frontiers.
b) Representatives accept a financial framework
for their indicative contributions to HFSP for the
period 2014-2016 (see Annex).
c) Representatives recognise the need to move
towards the development and application of new
principles for calculating financial contributions
in the long-term, taking into account quantitative
and/or qualitative indicators.
d) Representatives intend to consider the possibility
of seeking additional resources from the private
sector.
1. Mission and added value of the Human Frontier
Science Program
a) Representatives recognise that the ever-growing
complexity and diversity of science makes
international collaboration more imperative than
ever.
b) Independent reviews acknowledge that HFSP has
an impressive track record in stimulating worldclass excellence in high-risk/high-impact science
and career development which, because of HFSP’s
particular niche (small-scale, bottom-up, high-risk,
interdisciplinary, intercontinental), has significant
added value.
c) Representatives recognize that as a result of the
investment made up to now, HFSP is uniquely
positioned as the only bottom-up global program
supporting frontier research in the life sciences.
d) Representatives acknowledge the role of Japan
as the initiator of HFSP, its largest contributor
and the cornerstone of its hitherto success and
sustainability.
4. New membership
a) Representatives acknowledge that HFSP should
invite potentially interested new parties to apply
for membership of HFSP.
b) A greement on new memberships should be
subject to (i) the quality and capacity of frontier
research in the life sciences conducted by the
interested new party(ies); (ii) the willingness and
ability of the interested new party(ies) to support
HFSP financially in the long-term, in accordance
with a GDP-based formula and a minimum
contribution set by the Board.
c) Representatives note that the contributions of any
new party are to be added to the total amount
contributed by the other MSPs.
2. Continuation of the Human Frontier Science
Program
a) Representatives renew their commitment to HFSP.
b) Representatives confirm the mission given to
HFSP to promote research into the ‘complex
mechanisms of living organisms’ along the lines
of the HFSP Strategic Outlook 2010-2016.
5. Next Meeting
a) The next meeting of the HFSP IGC will be held
in the United Kingdom in 2016, unless unforeseen
circumstances make it necessary to hold a meeting
before that date.
— 72 —
ANNEX
Indicative budgetary guidelines 2014 – 2016 (In K local currencies)
MSP
Curr
Australia
USD
Budget FY 2014
700
Budget FY 2015
728
Budget FY 2016
757
Canada
CAD
1 812
1 884
1 960
EU1
EUR
4 765
4 861
4 958
France
EUR
2 231
2 275
2 321
Germany
EUR
4 269
4 440
4 617
India
USD
1 009
1 029
1 050
Italy
EUR
901
919
937
Japan2
USD
22 200
22 200
22 200
New Zealand
USD
133
138
144
Norway
USD
620
633
645
Republic of Korea
USD
797
813
829
Switzerland
CHF
851
885
920
UK
GBP
1 415
1 472
1 531
USA3
USD
10 129
10 331
10 538
Financial contribution of the EU is subject to adoption of the future relevant Work Programmes under Horizon 2020 (the EU Framework
Programme for Research and Innovation 2014-2020)
A review of this program’s performance in Japan may be conducted. This amount is subject to change, depending on its results,
and on exchange-rate fluctuations due to the yen based contributions from METI
3
Numbers subject to revision for 2015 and 2016
1
2
Australia
Tony Kingdon
Canada
Kelly VanKoughnet
European Union
Robert-Jan Smits
France
Roger Genet
Germany
Hans Michael Biehl
India
K. VijayRaghavan
Italy
Raffaele Liberali
Japan
Sotaro Ito
New Zealand
Bruce McCallum
Norway
Anders HANNEBORG
Republic of Korea
Sanghun Lee
Switzerland
Isabella BERETTA
United Kingdom
Mark PALMER
Carmen Huber
— 73 —
.3
SUMMARY
OF DECISIONS
OF THE BOARD OF
TRUSTEES IN FY 2014
49th Board meeting (March 2015)
The Board unanimously approved the following
awards for FY2015 :
21 Program Grants and 10 Young Investigator
Grants, with 2 in reserve should funds become
available,
66 Long-Term Fellowships, with a reserve list of
25 and 9 Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships, with a
reserve list of 2,
8 Career Development Awards, with a reserve list
of 4.
The Board established a working group to consider
the question of incentives for membership and the
financial cost of awards to non MSPs.
The Board unanimously approved the annual
accounts for FY 2013.
The Board agreed that the working group should
continue to consider a possible framework for
receiving private funds. An additional working group
was formed to accompany the process of establishing
the delegations of authority to responsible persons
within the Organization.
The Board agreed to postpone approval of the
Assurance Framework until after completion of
the Secretariat response and the implementation
of an audit of governance. The Terms of Reference
for Internal Auditors were approved with minor
corrections.
The Board unanimously approved the Program
Activity Plan and Budget for FY 2015.
The Board unanimously agreed that the annual
Council meeting continue to be held in the context
of the Awardees Meeting. The next Council meeting
will be held in La Jolla, USA, on 16 July 2015.
The Board unanimously approved the re-election of
Dr. Nobutaka Hirokawa as President for a second term
of three years.
— 74 —
.4
LONG-TERM AND
CROSS-DISCIPLINARY
FELLOWSHIPS4
AWARDED IN 2014
1. Long-Term Fellowships
Name
Nationality
ADAM Yoav
GERMANY/ISRAEL
ARRUDA-CARVALHO Maithe BRAZIL/FRANCE
Host institute
Host country
Harvard University, Cambridge
USA
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York
USA
BACCELLI Irene
FRANCE
University of Montreal
CANADA
BAVA Felice Alessio
ITALY
Stanford University
USA
BELTRAMO Riccardo
ITALY
University of California, San Diego
USA
BEN-DAVID Uri
ISRAEL
The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge
USA
BHATIA Dhiraj Devidas
INDIA
Institut Curie, Paris
FRANCE
BITON Moshe
ISRAEL
The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge
USA
BLITZ Einat
ISRAEL
Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Bad Nauheim GERMANY
CAIATI Maddalena Delma
ITALY
USA
CHOE Han Kyoung
KOREA
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
USA
COELHO Miguel
PORTUGAL
USA
COOK David
USA
Wageningen University
THE NETHERLANDS
DEBERNARDI Juan Manuel
ARGENTINA
University of California, Davis
USA
DIAO Yarui
CHINA
USA
EICHTEN Steven
USA
The Australian National University, Canberra
AUSTRALIA
ELYADA Ela
ISRAEL
USA
ERKEK Serap
TURKEY
European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg
GERMANY
FLATT Justin
USA
University of Zurich
SWITZERLAND
FUMAGALLI Matteo
ITALY
UK
GERBER Alan
SWITZERLAND
The Rockefeller University, New York
USA
GIBEAUX Romain
FRANCE
University of California, Berkeley
USA
GLEISS Adrian
GERMANY
University of Western Australia, Perth
AUSTRALIA
HAGGLUND Martin
SWEDEN
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim
NORWAY
HARRIS Andrew
UK
University of California, Berkeley
USA
HASENFUSS Sebastian
GERMANY/USA
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston
USA
HAYANO Motoshi
JAPAN
Harvard Medical School, Boston
USA
HORNBERG Hanna
SWEDEN
University of Basel
SWITZERLAND
HUILGOL Dhananjay
INDIA
USA
HUTTENHAIN Ruth
GERMANY
University of California, San Francisco
USA
IP Pak Kan Jacque
CHINA
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston
USA
— 75 —
Name
Nationality
Host institute
Host country
JOHANSSON Linda
SWEDEN
The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla
USA
KANIE Tomoharu
JAPAN
Stanford University
USA
KELLER Claudia
SWITZERLAND
Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Freiburg GERMANY
KENNEY Justin
USA
Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
CANADA
KOIVOMAGI Mardo
ESTONIA
Stanford University
USA
KOJIMA Ryosuke
JAPAN
ETH Zurich, Basel
SWITZERLAND
KRZYZOSIAK Agnieszka
POLAND
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge
UK
KULMUNI Jonna
FINLAND
University of Sheffield
UK
LAI Alvina
MALAYSIA
University of Oxford
UK
LAMPERT Fabienne
AUSTRIA
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich
SWITZERLAND
LI Ying
CHINA
USA
LUDIN TAL Aya
ISRAEL
USA
MALINAUSKAS Tomas
LITHUANIA
USA
MATHIESON Iain
UK
USA
MERSCH Danielle
LUXEMBOURG
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge
UK
MIERMONT Agnes
FRANCE
UK
MIKUNI Takayasu
JAPAN
Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Jupiter
USA
NAOR Adit
ISRAEL
Stanford University
USA
NORA Elphege
FRANCE
USA
PAUL Petra
AUSTRIA
SWITZERLAND
PENNEY Jay
CANADA
USA
PESCHEK Jirka
GERMANY
USA
PETZOLD Georg
GERMANY
Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel
SWITZERLAND
RAAB Matthew
USA
Institut Curie, Paris
FRANCE
RAI Arpan Kumar
INDIA
SWITZERLAND
RIGLAR David
AUSTRALIA
USA
ROSENTAL Benyamin
ISRAEL
Stanford University
USA
RUBINO Stephen
CANADA
USA
SAGNER Andreas Martin
GERMANY
MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London
UK
SAITO Yasuhiro
JAPAN
SANVISENS DELGADO Nerea SPAIN
The University of Health Network, Toronto
CANADA
USA
SCHROEDER Bjoern Ole
GERMANY
University of Gothenburg
SWEDEN
SHEFFER Michal
ISRAEL
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston
USA
SHEFFIELD Nathan
USA
Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna
AUSTRIA
STELZER Yonatan
ISRAEL
MIT / Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge
USA
STERN Shay
ISRAEL
VINCK Martin
THE NETHERLANDS Yale University, New Haven
USA
USA
WABNIK Krzysztof
POLAND
USA
WARTLICK Ortrud
GERMANY
UK
WILSON Marcus
UK
Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto
CANADA
WOLFF Steffen
GERMANY
USA
XIOL Jordi
SPAIN
USA
YAMAGISHI Yuya
JAPAN
USA
YONA Avihu
ISRAEL
USA
ZABALLA Maria Eugenia
ARGENTINA
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
SWITZERLAND
ZEISEL Amit
ISRAEL
Karolinska Institute, Stockholm
SWEDEN
— 76 —
2. Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships
Name
Nationality
Host institute
Host country
BAKER Michael
UK
Stanford University
USA
BEN-SASSON Ariel
ISRAEL
University of Washington, Seattle
USA
BITTIHN Philip
GERMANY
USA
BREA FERNÁNDEZ Roberto
SPAIN
USA
DAS Manasmita
INDIA
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
USA
EREZ Amir
GERMANY/ISRAEL
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York
USA
FUERTHAUER Sebastian
AUSTRIA
New York University
USA
KUANG Yi
CHINA
Kyoto University
JAPAN
SENGUPTA Anupam
INDIA
TOUTI Fayçal
FRANCE/MOROCCO Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston
USA
WANG Yong
CHINA
CANADA
USA
These awards were initiated during FY 2014. For a list of fellowships awarded in 2015, see the HFSP web site (http://www.hfsp.org/).
4
.5
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
AWARDS MADE IN 20145
Name
Nationality
Institute of CDA
Country of CDA
BELL Stan Oliver
GERMANY
IMBA - Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Vienna
AUSTRIA
BRUGUES FERRE Jan
SPAIN
Max Planck Institute for Physics and Complex Systems, Dresden
GERMANY
DELERIS Angélique
FRANCE
Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris
FRANCE
KELLER Georg
SWITZERLAND
Friedrich-Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel
SWITZERLAND
KIYOMITSU Tomomi
JAPAN
Nagoya University, Nagoya
JAPAN
KLINGE Sebastian
GERMANY
USA
MIZUMOTO Kota
JAPAN
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
CANADA
OURY Franck
FRANCE
Institut Necker Enfants-Malades, Paris
FRANCE
REICHMANN Dana
ISRAEL
The Hebrew University, Jerusalem
ISRAEL
STERN-GINOSSAR Noam
ISRAEL
The Weizmann Institute, Rehovot
ISRAEL
VAN DEN BOGAART Geert
THE NETHERLANDS Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen
THE NETHERLANDS
VAN ZON Jeroen
THE NETHERLANDS FOM Institute AMOLF, Amsterdam
THE NETHERLANDS
ZANIC Marija
CROATIA/USA
USA
Vanderbilt University, Nashville
These awards were initiated during FY 2014. For a list of CDAs awarded in 2015, see the HFSP web site (http://www.hfsp.org/).
5
— 77 —
Predicting cell type-specific signaling pathway
response
SHERWOOD Richard, USA
HO Joshua, Australia
.6
Beyond simple choices : computational and
neuronal mechanisms for complex spatial
behaviors
VAN DER MEER Matthijs, (The Netherlands), Canada
KEMERE Caleb, USA
PEZZULO Giovanni, Italy
RESEARCH GRANTS
AWARDED IN 20146
Wireless optogenetic interrogation of nonimage forming photoreceptor function by Nanoantennae
XIANG Yang, (China), USA
HAN Gang, (China), USA
XUE Tian, China
Note that nationality is given in brackets if different
from country of laboratory
1. YOUNG INVESTIGATORS
A control systems approach to understanding brain
and behavior
BIZLEY Jennifer, UK
FROHLICH Flavio, (Switzerland), USA
2. PROGRAM GRANTS
Probing and controlling single neuron synaptic
function in the brain with light, intrabodies and
sensors
ARNOLD Don, USA
DE KONINCK Yves, Canada
GRIESBECK Oliver, Germany
An extracellular RNAi pathway as a mechanism of
parasite-host communication
BUCK Amy, UK
ABREU-GOODGER Cei, Mexico
CLAYCOMB Julie, (USA), Canada
Nucleoid proteins and DNA structure, global
regulation of the bacterial transcription network
(renewal)
COSENTINO LAGOMARSINO Marco, (Italy), France
CICUTA Pietro, (Italy), UK
DORFMAN Kevin, USA
SCLAVI Bianca, (Italy), France
Molecular mechanisms and epigenetic control of
beneficial transposons: lessons from ciliates
BARABAS Orsolya, (Hungary), Germany
LANDWEBER Laura, USA
Single-molecule studies of ribosome assembly:
coupling transcription and assembly
BOCKELMANN Ulrich, (Germany), France
NIERHAUS Knud, Germany
PETERMAN Erwin, The Netherlands
UEDA Takuya, Japan
Understanding emergence and loss of synchrony in
excitable tissues using nanomechanical biosensors
FEINBERG Adam, USA
VAN DER MEER Peter, The Netherlands
Deciphering non-coding RNA regulatory networks
and their role in cancer cell biology
BROWN Brian, (Canada), USA
BOZZONI Irene, Italy
PANDOLFI Pier Paolo, (Italy), USA
RAJEWSKY Nikolaus, Germany
Development of brain mechanisms underlying
speech preference in infants: is speech special?
GEFFEN Maria, USA
GERVAIN Judit, (Hungary), France
Real-time imaging of fast conformational
dynamics of ion channel gating with plasmonic
nano-antennas
RICHARDS Christopher, USA
KURATA Harley, Canada
VOSCH Tom, (Belgium), Denmark
Understanding the human microbiome: structurefunction feedback in polymicrobial micro-colonies
BROWN Sam, UK
WHITELEY Marvin, USA
Modeling information flow between tissues during
metabolic adaptation and dysfunction
RUAS Jorge, (Portugal), Sweden
TEIXEIRA Ana, (Portugal), Sweden
VEGIOPOULOS Alexandros, Germany
WU Jun, (China), USA
Oxidized lipidome : the unspoken language of
non-apoptotic cell death
CONRAD Marcus, Germany
KAGAN Valerian, USA
KLEIN-SEETHARAMAN Judith, (USA), UK
URSINI Fulvio, Italy
— 78 —
Unfolding the principles of genome folding and
dynamics in bacteria
DAME Remus Thei, The Netherlands
GRAINGER David, UK
HEERMANN Dieter, Germany
JENSEN Grant J., USA
Frontal neuronal language networks through
primate evolution
PETRIDES Michael, Canada
HOPKINS William, USA
PROCYK Emmanuel, France
An engineering approach to understand local
translation in cell-fate decisions
SAITO Hirohide, Japan
GUEROUI Zoher, France
WANG Dan Ohtan, Japan
A neural circuit approach to cognition and its
limits in microbrains
GIURFA Martin, (Argentina), France
CHITTKA Lars, (Germany), UK
RIFFELL Jeffrey, USA
The development of the C. elegans nervous system
at synaptic resolution
SAMUEL Aravinthan, USA
BESSEREAU Jean-Louis, France
LICHTMAN Jeff W., USA
ZHEN Mei, Canada
Optomechanics : a novel approach for studying the
actomyosin cell cortex at multiple scales
GRILL Stephan, Germany
BRYANT Zev, USA
YAP Alpha, Australia
Crossing the ultimate tipping point : predicting
death in C. elegans
KAMMENGA Jan E., The Netherlands
ALLESINA Stefano, (Italy), USA
Quantitative structure-function analysis of
cerebral cortex assembly at clonal level
SHI Song-Hai, (China), USA
HIPPENMEYER Simon, (Switzerland), Austria
HUANG Kun, (China), USA
SIMONS Benjamin, UK
Dissecting the mechanochemistry of membrane
invagination with designer DNA-based probes
KRISHNAN Yamuna, India*
BATHE Mark, USA
IPSEN John, Denmark
JOHANNES Ludger, (Germany), France
A psychophysical and neuroengineering approach
to human magnetoreception
SHIMOJO Shinsuke, (Japan), USA
KIRSCHVINK Joseph, USA
MATANI Ayumu, Japan
Mechanosensation : from the periphery to the
brain and back
LÓPEZ-SCHIER Hérnan, (Argentina), Germany
ELGOYHEN Ana Belen, Argentina
ENGERT Florian, (Germany), USA
Sensors and modulators of autophagy networks
in vivo
SIDHU Sachdev, Canada
DIKIC Ivan, (Croatia), Germany
KOMATSU Masaaki, Japan
SANDER Chris, (Germany), USA
Adapting metazoan opsins for optogenetic
applications
LUCAS Robert, UK
SCHERTLER Gebhard F.X., (Austria), Switzerland
TERAKITA Akihisa, Japan
Probabilistic computation of location in the rodent
and human hippocampus
WOLBERS Thomas, Germany
FIETE Ila, USA
NOLAN Matthew, UK
Mitochondrial G Protein signaling in astrocytes : a
new player in the tripartite synapse
MARSICANO Giovanni, (Italy), France
ARAQUE Alfonso, Spain*
HIRASE Hajime, Japan
MCDAID Liam, (Ireland), UK
Sensory-motor integration in cerebrospinal fluid
contacting neurons
WYART Claire, (USA), France
DELMAS Patrick, France
LEWIS Katharine, (UK), USA
Using experiment, simulation, and theory to
understand social evolution in yeast and bacteria
MURRAY Andrew, USA
NELSON David R., USA
TADDEI François, France
Bridge over troubled synapses : synthetic
extracellular protein scaffolds for neuronal
connectivity
YUZAKI Michisuke, Japan
ARICESCU Alexandru, UK
DITYATEV Alexander, (Russia), Germany
6
These awards were initiated during FY 2014. For a list of the
Research Grants awarded in 2015, see the HFSP web site
(http://www.hfsp.org/).
*Moved to another country after the application
— 79 —
— 80 —
— 81 —
HFSPO
Registre des Associations de Strasbourg
Volume 58 - Folio 99
Achevé d’imprimé en juin deux mille quinze
sur les presses de Faber
The International Human Frontier Science Program
Organization (HFSPO)
12 quai Saint Jean
BP 10034
67080 Strasbourg CEDEX
France
Fax. +33 (0)3 88 32 88 97
e-mail : [email protected]
Web site : www.hfsp.org
Japanese web site : http://jhfsp.jsf.or.jp
HFSP thanks Sandro Weltin (pp. 10, 12, 15, 17, 27, 39, 55),
Isabelle Coquard (p. 43), Jérôme Dorkel / Strasbourg
Eurométropole (p. 43), Pete Kiehart (p. 25), Emanuele
Reguzzoni (pp. 41, 42, 44) for supplementary photos in
addition to those provided by the National Research
Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore (p. 9),
Salvatore Oliviero (p. 14), Vidita Vaidya (p. 22), Wendy Suzuki
(p. 37), James Collins (p. 40) and shutterstock - Sanjatosi,
Luca_Luppi, pockygallery, doodko.
Illustrations, including the cover page, are on the theme of
coloured water droplets.
Acknowledgements
HFSPO is grateful for the support of the following organizations :
Australia
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Canada
Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR)
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)
European Union
European Commission - Directorate General Research (DG RESEARCH)
France
Strasbourg Eurométropole
Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche (MESR)
Région Alsace
Germany
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
India
Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology
Italy
Ministry of Education, University and Research
Japan
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
Republic of Korea
Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP)
New Zealand
Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC)
Norway
Research Council of Norway (RCN)
Singapore
National Research Foundation of Singapore (NRF)
Switzerland
State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI)
United Kingdom
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
Medical Research Council (MRC)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
The International Human Frontier
Science Program Organization (HFSPO)
12 quai Saint Jean - BP 10034
67080 Strasbourg CEDEX - France
Fax. +33 (0)3 88 32 88 97
e-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.hfsp.org
Japanese web site: http://jhfsp.jsf.or.jp

Annual report 2014 - Human Frontier Science Program

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