Copyright: MPI-CBG
The Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) has announced the 2020 winners for the Research Grant applications. Marino Zerial, director at the MPI-CBG, received the highly prestigious and competitive Program Grant Award. These grants are awarded for novel collaborations among highly interdisciplinary and international teams, involving at least two countries. This year, eight Young Investigator Grants and 20 Program Grants were selected for funding. Each team member receives on average $110,000 - $125,000 per year.
Marino Zerial shares his award with Eletra Gizeli (Institute of Molecular Biology & Biotechnology Foundation for Research and Technology, Greece), Toshio Ando (WPI Nano Life Science Institute Kanazawa University, Japan), and Andrew J. Spakowitz (Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, USA). Gaining insights into the structure and function of biological membranes is crucial to understand cell organization. Molecular components, such as lipids and proteins have already been identified, but an understanding of their self-organization and dynamics as well as biophysical and biomechanical properties is still lacking. The joint project with the title “Self-organization and biomechanical properties of the endosomal membrane” will address this problem by employing a combination of soft-matter physics, bio-sensing, microscopy, biochemistry and cell biology, focussing on the early endosome membrane. This project will complement and synergize with research conducted in the frame of the DFG funded Cluster of Excellence “Physics of Life” at the TU Dresden.
The HFSP is a program of funding for frontier research in the life sciences. The International Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSPO) will support over the coming 3 years the top 4% of the HFSP Research Grant applications with over $ 33 million. The 28 winning teams of the 2020 competition for the Research Grants went through a rigorous year-long selection process in a global competition that started with 702 submitted letters of intent involving scientists with their laboratories in more than 50 different countries.
Congratulations to all 2020 winners!
Press Release HFSP