The Human Diversity Foundation (HDF) is a

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

company founded in 2022 to publish " race science" through the ''Aporia Magazine'' and ''

Mankind Quarterly ''Mankind Quarterly'' is a pseudoscientific journal that covers physical and cultural anthropology, including human evolution, intelligence, ethnography, linguistics, mythology, archaeology, and biology. It has been described as a "cornersto ...

''. It also publishes Edward Dutton's ''The Jolly Heretic'' podcast. Key persons of the HDF including its founder support

remigration Remigration is a far-right European concept of ethnic cleansing via the mass deportation or promoted voluntary return of non-white immigrants and their descendants, usually including those born in Europe, to their place of racial ancestry, often ...

and

white nationalism White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a Race (human categorization), raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara ...

. In April 2025, the organization was legally renamed Polygenic Scores LLC.

History

The Human Diversity Foundation was founded by

Emil Kirkegaard OpenPsych is an online collection of three pseudoscientific open access journals covering behavioral genetics, psychology, and quantitative research in sociology. Many articles on OpenPsych promote scientific racism, and the site has been describ ...

, a Danish far-right activist, under his legal name William Engman in 2022. It was registered as a

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, US. The other HDF leaders are Matthew Frost, a British former teacher and founder of the ''Aporia Magazine'', and Erik Ahrens, a German

white nationalist White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a Race (human categorization), raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara ...

and social media advisor for the far-right party

Alternative für Deutschland Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

(AfD). The Human Diversity Foundation is a rebrand of the

Pioneer Fund The Pioneer Fund is an American non-profit foundation established in 1937 "to advance the scientific study of heredity and human differences". The organization has been described as racist and white supremacist in nature. The Southern Pover ...

. According to Matthew Frost, assets from the Pioneer Fund were inherited by Emil Kirkegaard and used for the HDF. Emil Kirkegaard leads an "underground research wing" of the HDF consisting of about 10 researchers. Members of the HDF research team include Bryan Pesta, Bo Winegard and Davide Piffer. Pesta, who had received money from the Pioneer Fund, was dismissed from his position at

Cleveland State University Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in oper ...

in 2022 for misusing genetic data in his research. Piffer's writing about

race and intelligence Discussions of race and intelligence—specifically regarding claims of differences in intelligence along racial lines—have appeared in both popular science and academic research since the modern concept of race was first introduced. With th ...

was cited by Payton Gendron, perpetrator of the

2022 Buffalo shooting On May 14, 2022, a mass shooting occurred in Buffalo, New York, United States, at a Tops Friendly Markets supermarket in the East Side neighborhood. Ten people, all of whom were black, were murdered and three, one of whom was black, were inju ...

. Another employee of HDF is Edward Dutton, a former editor-in-chief of ''Mankind Quarterly'' and racist YouTuber who promotes

eugenics Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...

. Dutton has suggested that Black people "don’t do very well academically and don't behave very well either". Dutton was fired from his position at the

University of Oulu The University of Oulu () is one of the largest universities in Finland, located in the city of Oulu. It was founded on July 8, 1958. The university has around 14,200 students and 3,800 staff. 21 International Master's Programmes are offer ...

for plagiarising a student's dissertation. HDF has funded a research paper authored by Russell T. Warne. In October 2024, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' newspaper revealed that

Andrew Conru Andrew Conru is an American internet businessman who has founded e-commerce, advertising, online dating, and personal ad sites including W3, AdKnowledge, WebPersonals, FriendFinder, and Adult FriendFinder. He is the CEO of FriendFinder Networks ...

, an American businessman, had donated more than a million US dollars to HDF. According to their reporting, "After being approached by the ''Guardian'', Conru pulled his support, saying the group appeared to have deviated from its original mission of 'non-partisan academic research'." As of April 2025, their website consists solely of this statement: "We are a non-profit organization which specializes in researching human diversity. We are not looking for more funding at this time."

Neo Byzantium

HDF plans to create a private far-right club called Neo Byzantium to obtain income. Membership starts at £650 and rises to £5,000. It was to be led by Erik Ahrens and Matthew Frost.

UK Biobank controversy

In October 2024, journalists from ''The Guardian'' reported that Emil Kirkegaard and HDF had accessed

UK Biobank UK Biobank is a long-term prospective biobank study in the United Kingdom (UK) that houses the de-identified biological samples and health-related data of half a million people. The volunteer participants aged 40-69 were recruited between 2006 ...

data. Hidden camera footage revealed Matthew Frost in 2023 claiming that "they've managed to get access to the UK Biobank," and to know more "talk to Emil". In response, a UK Biobank representative commented that they have "continued to monitor and prevent attempts to access the resource by Kirkegaard and other researchers believed to be connected with him". The representative also commented that HDF are "not bona fide researchers".

Publications

''Aporia Magazine''

HDF operates the online magazine ''Aporia'' as a scientific racism outlet. Matthew Frost founded ''Aporia'' in 2021 and sold it to Emil Kirkegaard. Frost has stated that the magazine should be read "by the elite, people aspiring to the elite". Diana Fleischman is its podcast host. She attended the 2023 Natal Conference with members of the New Right. Bo Winegard, ''Aporias executive editor, stated that he believed racial stereotypes were "reasonably accurate" and requested that his readers embrace "white identity politics". Winegard was dismissed from his position at

Marietta College Marietta College (MC) is a private liberal arts college in Marietta, Ohio, United States. Its campus encompasses approximately six city blocks next to downtown Marietta and enrolls 1,200 students. History Marietta College began as the Muskin ...

. In 2020, Winegard published a retracted paper which drew on

Richard Lynn Richard Lynn (20 February 1930 – July 2023) was a controversial English psychologist and self-described " scientific racist" who advocated for a genetic relationship between race and intelligence. He was the editor-in-chief of '' Mankind Qua ...

's flawed IQ data. Winegard's race and intelligence research was criticized for resembling

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

Noah Carl Noah Carl is a British researcher who co-owns the '' Daily Sceptic'' blog. He was investigated and subsequently dismissed from his position as a Toby Jackman Newton Trust Research Fellow at St Edmund's College, Cambridge after over 500 academics ...

, editor of ''Aporia'', was sacked from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

over allegations that he had collaborated with far-right extremists. White nationalist

Jared Taylor Samuel Jared Taylor (born September 15, 1951) is an American white supremacist and editor of ''American Renaissance'', an online magazine espousing such opinions, which was founded by Taylor in 1990. He is also the president of ''American Re ...

appeared on the ''Aporia'' podcast in 2024 to complain about multiracial societies. He commented that "there is no possibility of blacks and whites living peacefully together".

''Mankind Quarterly''

HDF have stated that they own ''

''. It has been described as a "pseudo-scholarly outlet for promoting racial inequality".

''The Jolly Heretic''

HDF publishes Edward Dutton's ''The Jolly Heretic'' podcast and newsletter. Dutton is reported to be on the HDF payroll at approximately $40,000 per year. In November 2023, ''The Jolly Heretic'' earned

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

62,400 in annual revenue which was put into the HDF. The podcast includes documentaries and interviews from Dutton. In May 2024, Dutton released ''1492'', a documentary about Muslim rule in medieval Europe. The full documentary can be viewed by paid subscribers. In the documentary Dutton compares the

Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula The Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (; 711–720s), also known as the Arab conquest of Spain, was the Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania in the early 8th century. The conquest resulted in the end of Christian rule ...

in the 700s to contemporary Muslim immigration to Europe.

Far-right activism

HDF plans to create a white-only

ethnostate An ethnocracy is a type of political structure in which the state apparatus is controlled by a dominant ethnic group (or groups) to further that group's interests, power, dominance, and resources. Ethnocratic regimes in the modern era typically ...

by forcibly expelling non-ethnically European minorities, a tactic they describe as "

". This term has become a popular

euphemism A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...

in recent years among far-right political groups in Germany and Austria to refer to the mass deportation of minorities. HDF has connections to the German far-right political party

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

(AfD). HDF Leader Matthew Frost has stated that AfD's key policy should be remigration if the party were to take power. Kirkegaard suggested that families that had settled for two or three generations should be paid to leave. Erik Ahrens, a HDF leader, has defended the ''

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

'' and has stated that he wants to create a home for "white, Christian people", as he believes they are under threat from

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

. Ahrens has commented that " isvision is to one day run in Germany, in a Trump-like fashion", adding "It hasn't been done for 100 years, to run a populist movement centred around a person. I was looking for who can be this, and I probably have to go into that role."