Overview

Hevolution Foundation Geroscience Research Opportunities (HF-GRO) will provide up to $25 million in 2023 (the total budget planned over 5 years: $115M USD) to fund projects in Aging Biology or Geroscience (no Clinical Trials). Hevolution envisions funding approximately 40-60 projects in Aging Biology or Geroscience in 2023. Projects will be for 4 to 5 years in length, and with a budget of up to $300-500k direct costs/year; funding will be made available to independent investigators with labs in the USA, Canada, and Europe.

Calls for other regions, including Asia and the Middle East, will be announced at a later time.

HF-GRO is an international pilot initiative from Hevolution Foundation aimed to launch our efforts in healthy aging research. The major goal of this initiative is to identify and support research that will further the Foundation’s mission of “Extending healthy lifespan for the benefit of all humanity”.

The program provides support for research projects in the basic biology of aging, as well as projects that translate advances in basic research from the laboratory towards the clinic (translational geroscience). The work should focus on strategies to improve healthy aging by addressing basic principles of aging biology and geroscience.

Therefore, this initiative will support research approaches that address:

  • The maintenance and/or improvement of these mechanisms during aging.
  • How this might delay or improve the outcome of age-related diseases.

The Purpose

Funding Range

Hevolution Foundation Geroscience Research Opportunities (HF-GRO) will provide up to $25 million in 2023 (the total budget planned over 5 years: $115M USD) to fund approximately 40-60 projects in Aging Biology or Geroscience in 2023.

  • Overhead/indirect costs of up to 25% of the total research cost of the grant can be requested but will also be capped at levels commensurate with regional standards

Preference, both in length and funding level, will be given to projects that advance basic biology knowledge into translation (geroscience). The final project length and budget will be decided by Hevolution Foundation after acceptance of the initial LOI and determined based on the likelihood of the project leading to improvements in healthy aging.

The final budget to be allocated to selected projects will be decided by Hevolution Foundation and notified to applicants after LOI review.

Therefore, the table below should be used solely as a general reference.  

Region Budget (US dollars)
Canada $ 300-400K
USA $ 400-500k
Europe $ 300-400K

The budget allowed will be commensurate with regional levels of government funding for research projects (see table)

Final funding decisions will be non-appealable.

  • Applicants must be based in the United States, Canada, or Europe.

  • Applicants must be independent investigators/group leaders with independent research space and the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research.

  • Multiple PIs, Co-Is, and collaborators are allowed as long as they also meet all previous criteria. However, the award will go to the primary institution, where a substantial proportion of the work (at least 50%) must be conducted at the primary institution, including appropriate oversight of all matters related to the grant (scientific, programmatic, and financial.)

  • The proposed research project must be in the basic biology of aging or geroscience.

  • This grant opportunity is open to applicants from academic, government-funded research organizations, or non-profit institutions. Each applicant is allowed to submit only one project to the HF-GRO grant program.

Non-Responsive Applications: The HF-GRO initiative does not provide support for :

  • Research on age-related diseases without a clear focus on the underlying biology of aging.

  • Projects that deal strictly with clinical topics such as the diagnosis and/or treatment of disease and health outcomes.

  • Projects that include clinical trials.

  • Investigators who are conducting research at a for-profit institution

Projects that deal strictly with clinical problems such as the diagnosis or treatment of disease, or the social context of aging are not eligible.

This program does not support clinical trials, or disease-specific projects.

Questions about eligibility and suitability of the research projects can be addressed to Hevolutiongrants@afar.org.

Eligibility

Selection Criteria

The following criteria will be used to determine the merit of an application:

  • Quality of the proposed research

  • Alignment of the research topic with Hevolution’s goals and mission

  • Innovation and creativity of the approach

  • Qualifications and track record of the applicant

  • Excellence of the research environment; including the availability of all tools and platforms needed to perform the work proposed

HF-GRO will use a 2-step approach, whereby applicants will:

  1. Submit a short Letter of Intent (LOI, see instructions here)

  2. Applicants whose ideas are deemed meritorious will be notified and advised to submit a full proposal application.

At both stages of review, special emphasis will be placed on innovation and creativity, as well as alignment with Hevolution's mission and goals (www.hevolution.com).

Application Requirements

Application Procedures

Please refer to the LOI instructions. Incomplete applications cannot be considered. All Letters of Intent must be uploaded to the application form

Both the Letters of Intent and the full applications will be reviewed by a Selection Committee composed of international experts in aging biology and geroscience.

Hevolution Foundation will provide a summary of the reviewer critiques only at the level of the full proposal review

Please review this which includes instructions for submitting an LOI.

Click here for our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page.

If you are using animals in your research, please review Principles of Animal Use for Gerontological Research.

The Letter of Intent deadline for the 2023 program is 15th June 2023, and the expected award start date is early 2024.

Date 15th May 2023 15th June 2023 Mid-September 2023 January 2024
Phase LOI open submission LOI deadline Deadline to submit full application Award start date

Timeline

Reporting Requirement

An interim progress report is required after each year of funding, and final scientific and financial reports are required within three months following the end date of the award. Continuation of the award into subsequent years will be upon approval of the annual report. Guidelines for submitting reports as well as other administrative questions can be found here.