Funding Opportunities
Announcement – Funding Opportunity – Call For Proposals – 30 January 2025
Effects of the Usage of Digital Technology on Brain Development, Social Behaviours and Mental Health in Children and Young People
Background and motivation
A long-standing interest of HFF has been the effect and impact of usage of digital technology on young people. The rapid rise and use of this technology has permeated much of society and transformed the way many humans interact. There has been a broad array of research efforts that mostly have involved relatively crude measures of the amount of usage of digital technology (e.g. total screen time) and the observed effects and impact on health. Despite these efforts, the full implications – both positive and negative – on human physiology, psychology, behaviour, well-being and mental health remain unclear.  
We believe there is an opportunity to help advance the research and the field of knowledge in this area, both by strengthening existing as well as creating new methods and approaches to better model and unpick the complexities of this topic.
The Foundation
HFF is a grant-giving foundation based in London. Its mission is to support education, communities and the pursuit of knowledge. The Foundation’s current focus is in three main areas: education; the arts; and science. Since its inception in 2009, it has pledged over $75M to impactful projects in the UK, US and China. Through its donations, the Foundation hopes to improve the prospects of individuals, and to support the work of organisations seeking to ensure a safe and successful future for all society.
Funding opportunity
HFF is establishing a research portfolio on the Effects of the Usage of Digital Technology on Brain Development, Social Behaviours and Mental Health in Children and Young People.
We are pleased to announce an open call for proposals with a total budget of up to £10M/$13M.
We welcome applications for Huo early-career fellowships, junior faculty research grants and special projects (as detailed further below). We are keen to support multi-disciplinary work. We want to help train the next generation of exceptional scientists in this rapidly evolving field.  Applications should attempt to understand mechanisms, causal pathways and directions.
Awarded grants can be held at colleges, universities and research institutes in the UK and in the US only. The organisation should have charitable status or a nonprofit status such as 501(c)(3).
As detailed in the timeline below, applications should be submitted via our online grant system by 23 May 2025, and will then be peer-reviewed and shortlisted proposals considered by a funding committee panel of external experts. Funding decisions will be issued in November 2025, with the first annual grant payment in December 2025 for research activity to begin in early 2026.
Award timeline
30 January 2025 – call announced with grant and application information
24 March 2025 – grant system opens for applications (link will only become active on 24 March)
23 May 2025 by 23.59 (UK time), 18.59 (Eastern), 15.59 (Pacific) – deadline for submission of applications
Summer 2025 – applications considered by external peer-review
12 September 2025 – applications shortlisted for the funding committee panel
15–29 September – if shortlisted for the funding committee panel, applicants respond to peer-review comments
16–17 October 2025 – shortlisted applications considered by funding committee panel
w/c 17 November 2025 – funding decisions released
December 2025 – award agreements issued and first annual payment made
January 2026 – start of award grants
Three grant schemes – and other particulars
1. Huo early-career fellowships – up to three years, up to £130k/$169k pa – to support talented and promising postdoctoral researchers on the path to independence. Typically, the researchers must be within four years of completing PhD and without their first permanent position. Fellows should have a sponsor, who has a permanent position at the host institution. Find out more about applying for this grant.
2. Junior faculty research grants – up to three years, up to £200k/$260k pa – to support focused research projects led by new lecturers/assistant professors, who typically took up their first permanent/tenure-track position within the last two years. Find out more about applying for this grant.
3. Special projects – up to four years, up to £300k/$390k pa – these larger and longer-term awards will allow researchers of all career stages, collaborating as a multi-disciplinary team with different expertise and skills, to take an integrated approach to tackle the more difficult questions in this domain. Find out more about applying for this grant.
PLEASE NOTE WE WILL CONSIDER ONLY ONE SPECIAL PROJECT PROPOSAL FROM EACH LEAD INSTITUTION. THE LEAD INSTITUTION IS THE COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OR RESEARCH INSTITUTE WHERE THE LEAD APPLICANT IS LOCATED.
Programme contact
HFF Science Team science@huofamilyfoundation.org