Since its founding in 1989, the International Human Frontier Science Program Organization has been reviewed regularly by independent international experts and agencies. The latest one, the 6th HFSPO Grand Review, has been conducted in 2025 and 2026.
The 6th HFSPO Grand Review addressed the uniqueness, excellence and impact of HFSP funded research. It consisted of an evaluation by two independent agencies (Prognos and Digital Science), selected by public tender, and an overall assessment by the High-Level International Recommendation Panel.
The members of the Panel were:
Mona Nemer, Chief Scientific Advisor to the Canadian Government (CHAIR)
Minoru Yoshida, Executive Vice-President RIKEN, University of Tokyo, Japan
Ottoline Leyser, former Chief Executive Officer of UK Research and Innovation
Robbert Dijkgraaf, former Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science; former Director and Leon Levy professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, USA; President-elect of the International Science Council (ISC), Paris
Sylvie Retailleau, former French Minister of Higher Education and Research; University Paris-Saclay
David Julius, Department of Physiology, University of California at San Francisco (2021 Noble Prize in Physiology or Medicine)
Christine Cheung, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Pramod Kumar Garg, Professor and Former Associate Dean, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi; Former Executive Director, THSTO, Dept. of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology
Timo Haapalehto, former Chief Advisor to the Finish Ministry for Economic Affairs and Employment
Claire Donovan, School of Education, University of Greenwich, London
The HFSPO 2025-2026 Grand Review, the most comprehensive review in HFSPO’s nearly 40-year history, concluded that:
"HFSPO delivers exceptional scientific quality, seeds long-term innovation, strengthens international collaboration, and develops scientific talent in ways that national programs alone cannot achieve. For Members of the HFSPO, supporting this organization represents a strategically important investment that provides added value and visibility to their domestic research and development activities. Their membership also speaks to their engagement towards the global life-science community and to their underlying commitment to human kind and global wellbeing. For member states, HFSPO provides both scientific returns and value added in various ways, reinforcing its continued relevance in an increasingly complex and competitive global research landscape."
The High-Level Recommendation Panel further suggested that the HFSPO Members should now consider ways to maintain HFSPO's impeccable reputation and relevance, and to establish a plan to ensure its long-term sustainability.
The HFSPO Board of Trustees, at its Board meeting in Paris in March 2026 and at the Annual General Meeting in Geneva in July 2026, received and discussed the Review and expressed its highest appreciation to the High-level Recommendation Panel and the evaluation agencies for their extensive and positive assessment.
The Board of Trustees and the Secretary-General welcome the Grand Review conclusions and recommendations and will work over the coming period on a strategy to address the recommendations by taking a balanced and inclusive approach with active involvement of the key HFSPO stakeholders, including the Council of Scientists, Review Committee members, Secretariat, and Board of Trustees.
The following documents are accessible for consultation:
High-Level Recommendation Report
HFSP Grand Review 2025 Report by the external agency, Digital Science/Prognos