Call for Abstracts

The Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) and the University of Strasbourg (UNISTRA) will organize an international symposium to mark the launch of a new initiative on the campus of the University to foster the exchange, training, and collaboration of young scientists across disciplinary boundaries that link biology with other fields of research.

The symposium will be organized in tandem talks. Researchers are encouraged to submit their research in pairs, introducing the work both researchers developed in collaboration. For researchers who seek a tandem partner, they should submit the abstract individually. The selection committee will then match the duos for the talks in tandem.

Abstract Submission Deadline

15 March

Application procedure

The application will follow a two-step procedure.
1. A research abstract must be submitted by 15th March (both for duo and individual research). 

A scientific committee will select projects for presentation at the inaugural symposium at the least by the end of March. 

All the abstracts submitted that are not selected for a tandem talk will be offered the possibility of being presented as a poster.
2. Selected applicants should submit a document with a maximum of 4 pages covering the following points:
  • Questions to be addressed.
  • Motivation for how the proposed work would impact the life sciences.
  • A justification for why the project requires interdisciplinary collaboration.
  • Personal experience related to the proposed work.
Overall, we ask that the proposed partnership be outlined as explicitly as possible, with solid arguments to explain scientific synergies.
Possible types of collaborations:

  • Participants in existing collaborations who could present joint applications to crystallize interactions away from their current research.
  • Individual scientists with a well formulated scientific question not solvable without contribution from another discipline. They would be searching for scientists at the interfaces, and the Centre would help realize this meet-and-match.
Applications will be shortlisted by the selection committee with broad representation across life science, physics, mathematics, and other fields. They will shortlist proposals (researcher pairs) who will be invited to present their ideas at the inaugural symposium.

Special emphasis will be placed on the following aspects of the proposal:
  • Originality
  • Difference from the applicants’ current research
  • Building on past scientific directions
  • Degree and necessity for the collaboration with the other field, and mutual benefits for each researcher.

Abstract Submission

Applications should be submitted through the following platforms:
Joint Applications/Duo Research
Individual Applications
Any inquiries should be sent via email to events@hfsp.org.