South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT mentioned on Saturday that 7 South Korean researchers have been selected for the 2026 Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP).
HFSP is a research support programme arrange in 1989 by main superior international locations to support revolutionary and difficult international joint research in life sciences. It has supported greater than 8,500 researchers in 73 international locations up to now. Of its beneficiaries, 31 have received Nobel Prizes.
The newest picks embrace 3 research grants, 2 accelerators and a pair of fellowships. The ministry mentioned South Korean researchers are being recognised for their research capabilities on the earth’s top-level life sciences research support programme.
A complete of 1,180 research proposals have been submitted for this yr’s research grant programme, the most important in HFSP historical past. In the grant class, 3 South Korean researchers have been included amongst 34 groups selected. They will conduct international joint research with annual research funding of about $300,000 to $400,000 for the following 3 years.
Jin-hyeon Kim (김진현), a principal researcher on the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), was selected for research to develop next-generation neural circuit management expertise that selectively inhibits energetic synapses. Researchers from Japan’s RIKEN and Stanford University within the United States will participate within the research.
Tae-won Seo (서태원), a professor at Hanyang University, will conduct research with researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel to establish the underground ecosystem of mole-rats utilizing robotics expertise. Gil-ju Lee (이길주), a professor at Pusan National University, will conduct research with researchers on the University of Oxford in Britain to establish the optical ideas of trilobite eye constructions.
The accelerator class is a programme that expands research scope by including new researchers to current HFSP research groups. Two South Korean researchers have been included amongst 10 finalists. They will obtain about $100,000 a yr for the following 2 years.
Jae-kyung Kim (김재경), a professor on the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), will conduct mathematical mannequin research with researchers from South Africa, Turkey and different international locations to analyse the ecology of tick and virus transmission in a climate-change atmosphere. Hye-jin Yoon (윤혜진), a professor at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), will conduct research with researchers from Britain, Germany and Canada to establish metabolomics-based biochemical pathways for producing worry indicators.
In the fellowships class, 2 South Korean researchers have been included amongst 55 selected. They will obtain about $60,000 a yr for the following 3 years.
Hyun-hyeok Tae (태현혁), a health care provider, will research the molecular mechanism of vesicle heterogeneity that determines mobile secretory plasticity at Yale University within the United States. Dae-hee Han (한대희), a health care provider, is ready to check the synaptic signalling mechanism within the motor studying course of on the University of California San Diego within the United States.
Hyeok-chae Koo (구혁채), first vice minister on the Ministry of Science and ICT, mentioned, “The selection of 7 South Korean researchers this year is a remarkable achievement for our scientific community.” He added, “We will continue to actively support more domestic researchers so they can participate in global research cooperation.”