Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP)

Can seals keep a beat? 🦭🎵

Harbor seals have some remarkable abilities when it comes to sound and rhythm. They can precisely control the length and pitch of their calls, alter their vocal tract while calling, and even produce rhythmic patterns by repeatedly slapping their flippers.

These abilities make them fascinating subjects for an HFSP-supported team investigating a bigger question: how did rhythm evolve as a tool for communication and social interaction?

Through the project “The Social Origins of Rhythm,” researchers are bringing together animal behavior, neuroscience, marine biology and music cognition to explore the building blocks of rhythm across marine mammals.

🦭 Discover more: https://zurl.co/YGf2M

Three days of frontier science, new connections and a truly international HFSP community.

The 25th HFSP Awardees Meeting brought together around 220 participants from 29 countries in Geneva for scientific talks, lively poster sessions, inspiring lectures, and plenty of conversations in between.

Want to look back at ? Our full recap is now online, with links to the program, the Book of Abstracts, the photo gallery, and the videos.

👉 https://zurl.co/5gZKz

Bats build social networks and their brains map them! 🦇🧠

HFSP-supported researchers found that new groups of Egyptian fruit bats can go from rapidly changing interactions to stable relationships and dominance hierarchies within just a few days.

Inside the brain, hippocampal neurons keep track of other bats, including their identity, social relationships, direction and distance.

The findings connect two sides of social life: how groups organize and how the brain represents the individuals within them.

🔗 Read the full story: https://zurl.co/DzE04

Three days of inspiring science, new perspectives and meaningful conversations! 🙂

From thought-provoking presentations to lively discussions and new collaborations, the HFSP Frontier Workshop "Bridging Fossil Records and Modern Science: Integrative Approaches to Evolution" was filled with memorable moments!

📸 Browse the photos:
https://zurl.co/ABK9d

HFSP Frontier Workshop 2026: Bridging Fossil Records and Modern Science Three days. Countless conversations. (Hopefully!) New collaborations. By bringing together expertise from paleontology, evolutionary biology, mathematics, physics and computational sciences, the workshop has highlighted the value of crossing disciplinary boundaries to address some of the biggest que...

The science presented at the 25th HFSP Awardees Meeting doesn’t end in Geneva. 🧬🌍

Our Book of Abstracts is now available online, bringing together the wide range of research, bold questions, and interdisciplinary approaches shared by HFSP awardees during the meeting.

Whether you joined us in Geneva or want to discover the science presented at , explore the abstracts and revisit the ideas that shaped this year’s meeting.

📖 Read the Book of Abstracts: https://zurl.co/22qrN

Three days of inspiring scientific talks, interdisciplinary discussions and new connections!

We would like to thank all speakers, presenters and participants for making this interdisciplinary meeting such a stimulating exchange of ideas.

By bringing together expertise from paleontology, evolutionary biology, mathematics, physics and computational sciences, the workshop has highlighted the value of crossing disciplinary boundaries to address some of the biggest questions about the history of life.

Thank you for being part of it. More highlights coming soon! 🙂

From conversations to collaborations! 🤝

Between presentations, discussions and conversations over coffee, participants at the HFSP Frontier Workshop are exploring how fossil heritage, paleogenomics, artificial intelligence, robotics and computational approaches can deepen our understanding of the history of life.

Bringing together researchers from diverse disciplines creates opportunities to exchange ideas, challenge perspectives and discover new ways of tackling complex scientific questions.

That's what frontier science is all about. 😁

What happens when paleontologists, evolutionary biologists, mathematicians, physicists and AI researchers come together?

New conversations. New perspectives. New ideas!

The HFSP Frontier Workshop has brought together scientists from diverse disciplines to explore one common challenge: understanding the history of life by combining fossil evidence with the latest advances in genomics, computation and artificial intelligence.

From inspiring presentations to lively discussions and conversations during the breaks, the workshop is a reminder that some of the most exciting discoveries happen where disciplines meet!

Next stop: London! 🇬🇧

The final preparations are underway, and the program is ready for the HFSP Frontier Workshop: Bridging Fossil Records and Modern Science – Integrative Approaches to Evolution.

In just a few days, researchers from around the world will gather at the Royal Society of Chemistry to explore how paleontology, evolutionary biology, AI, mathematics and physics are helping us better understand the history of life.

Take a look at the full program and abstracts:
🔗 https://zurl.co/UW0BO

See you in London!