The objective of this grant opportunity is to provide grants of financial assistance to support medical research and medical innovation projects that: 

Stream 1 (Incubator): identify health priorities, develop new approaches and/or methodologies and conduct pilot studies addressing health issues and/or barriers that:  

• are co-led, co-produced and/or co-designed with consumers 

• are in partnership with health services  

• increase consumers’ understanding of, and involvement in, research.  

Stream 2 (Targeted Call for Research): develop and/or test scalable and sustainable approaches, in partnership with consumers, that enable self-care interventions or improve quality of life and/or survivorship care. Approaches are for individuals from one or more priority populations, who have experienced or are experiencing long-term diseases and conditions. Approaches may, where appropriate, also deliver for the individual’s families, carers and communities. 

• Topic A: Research projects that focus on cancer 

• Topic B: Research projects that focus on long term physical diseases and conditions other than cancer 

• Topic C: Research projects that focus on mental health challenges, diseases or conditions. 

Applicants to this grant opportunity must propose research that delivers against the above objectives and those of the Preventive and Public Health Research Initiative. 

The objectives of the Regional, Rural and Remote Capacity Building 2026 grant opportunity are to provide financial assistance to support:

• established regional, rural or remote (RRR) researchers, as they lead and develop a team of early to mid-career RRR researchers to build RRR research capacity

• emerging RRR researchers, including clinician researchers, to be future research leaders in their communities

• place-based research conducted in RRR areas that aims to benefit individuals and communities living in those areas.

The intended outcomes of this grant opportunity are to:

• build capacity in the RRR research workforce across Australia, including clinician researchers  

• strengthen health and medical research in RRR communities to improve health equity.

This grant opportunity contributes to NHMRC’s strategic priority to embed equity in health research, including for RRR communities.  

Stream 1 - Innovation enablers

Address an area of unmet medical need by promoting the development and implementation of new research infrastructure by supporting development and/or expansion of research enablers such as biobanks, tissue repositories, novel platforms, and secure health data environments to create valuable research resources. 

Stream 2 - Digitisation of health care

Translate or implement innovative artificial intelligence technologies into health applications that:

• benefit multiple health disciplines/areas

• involve consumers in the research journey to ensure the research is applicable to the needs of the Australian community; and

• increase artificial intelligence workforce capacity and capability, particularly in relation to health, through cross-sector and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Stream 3 - Co-investment partnerships

Utilise co-investment (cash only) with the research sector, state and/or territory governments, and industry, in significant critical research infrastructure (e.g. facilities, personnel and equipment):

• to support development of research capacity, capability and/or effectiveness in an area of unmet medical need, or

• to enable Australian research using new platforms, systems and services in an area of unmet medical need.

Stream 4 - mRNA technology enablers

Leverage and enhance emerging mRNA technologies, platforms, and/or equipment to accelerate development of mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics in an area of unmet medical need.

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An application may only be submitted to one of the above four streams. Applicants must specify the stream to which they are applying in their application.

The objective of this grant opportunity is to provide grants of financial assistance to support medical research and medical innovation projects that:

• Stream 1 (Incubator): conduct early stage, small scale research, led by early career researchers, that seeks to assess the potential and feasibility of novel strategies to address a critical or intractable health issue in one or more Priority Populations.

• Stream 2 (Accelerator): establish a large-scale interdisciplinary research program, led by mid-career researchers, that drives implementation of substantial improvements to health care and/or health system effectiveness for one or more Priority Populations.

• Stream 3 (Targeted Call for Research): utilise co-funding to accelerate the translation of research led by early or mid-career researchers into policy and practice. (Note: a priority population focus is not required).

Applicants to this grant opportunity must propose research that addresses one of the three Streams of research. An application may only be submitted to one of the above three Streams.

The objective of this grant opportunity (GO) is to provide grants of financial assistance to support medical research and medical innovation projects that: 

• Stream 1: (Incubator): investigate biological pathways and mechanistic drivers of PASC subtypes to optimise intervention design and improve clinical outcomes  

• Stream 2 (Incubator): conduct novel pre-clinical and/or early-phase clinical research to improve the understanding of PASC subtypes to inform pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments  

• Stream 3 (Incubator): conduct small scale projects that investigate the similarities and differences of biological drivers and pathological mechanisms between PASC and Topic A OR Topic B (see Guidelines) 

• Stream 4: (Targeted Call for Research): conduct a large-scale project to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of scalable and sustainable approaches for integrated care pathways for people with PASC. 

For all Streams, applications must reflect the complexity, variability and heterogeneity of PASC, and demonstrate meaningful co-design with consumers across all stages of research.  

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To be competitive for funding, applicants must propose to conduct research that delivers against the above objectives and those of the Emerging Priorities and Consumer Driven Research Initiative. 

The objective of this grant opportunity is to provide grants of financial assistance to support medical research and medical innovation projects that:

Stream 1 (Priority areas 2.1 and 2.2, Incubator Grants): Small-scale developmental projects to improve:

• Topic A: the early detection and response to new trends of substance use

• Topic B: the understanding of, and how to address the rise of, anxiety disorders in children and young Australians (0 to 25 years)

• Topic C: the understanding of, and how to address the rise of, depression in children and young Australians (0 to 25 years)

• Topic D: the understanding of, and how to address the rise of, self-harm in children and young Australians (0 to 25 years)

Stream 2 (Priority areas 3.1 and 3.2, Targeted Call for Research): Mid-career researcher (MCR)-led large-scale implementation research projects involving multi-institutional collaborations consisting of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary teams to bring into practice new evidence-based preventions, interventions, models of care and improvements to workforce capability.

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Applicants to this grant opportunity must propose to conduct research that delivers against the above objectives and those of the Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission described in the Roadmap and Implementation Plan.

The objective of this grant opportunity is to provide grants of financial assistance to support medical research and medical innovation projects that:  

• Promote Australian involvement in international collaborative investigator-initiated clinical trials research through the establishment and co-ordination of clinical trial site/s in Australia.

• Provide high-quality evidence of the effectiveness of novel health treatments, drugs or devices in ‘usual care’ settings, which will support a decision on whether to deliver the intervention in an Australian setting.

The intended outcome of the research is to improve the health and wellbeing of Australians by investing in new clinical trials that support increased access to high-quality, evidence-based and effective health care. 

Applicants to this grant opportunity must propose a clinical trial in Australia in collaboration with international counterparts. The clinical trial should not have commenced recruitment at the Australian trial site/s. 

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Please note the 2026 MRFF International Clinical Trial Collaborations grant opportunity will be open for one round only.  

The objectives of this grant opportunity are to provide financial assistance to support:

• Established regional, rural or remote (RRR) researchers, as they lead and develop a team of early to mid-career RRR researchers to build RRR research capacity

• Emerging RRR researchers, including clinician researchers, to be future research leaders in their communities

• Place-based research conducted in RRR areas that aims to benefit individuals and communities living in those areas.

The objective of this grant opportunity is to provide grants of financial assistance to support medical research and medical innovation projects that: 

• Investigate and trial approaches, including adapting successful trials, to advance equity in primary health care services. 

• Are co-designed with primary health care services and consumers. 

The objective of this grant opportunity is to provide a grant of financial assistance to an organisation or consortium to run an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community-Controlled program to support Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander led health and medical research projects.

This grant opportunity offers funding to support medical research and medical innovation programs of research that deliver a ‘moonshot’ by creating a treatment for a currently serious and incurable health condition, through a series of linked projects. The program of research can propose to develop novel health technologies and/or re?purpose existing health technologies in a novel way.

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The initial application process to secure funding through this grant opportunity will be conducted in two stages:

• expression of interest (EOI) – outlining a proposed program of research comprising of a series of linked projects with a 10-year time horizon

• full application, (invitation only – following EOI) for a project of up to 5 years under the program of research.

Applicants may propose to commence research at any stage in the research pipeline from proof-of-concept, with the intention of achieving full implementation of the proposed technology in 10 years.

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Funding for subsequent projects under the program of research that continue to progress the technology towards full implementation can be sought by submitting additional full applications to this grant opportunity (i.e. applicants do not need to recommence with an EOI). These applications may be submitted by invitation only.