$400 million to help researchers to pursue big ideas, develop new health and medical breakthroughs and apply them to clinical practice

Guidelines for the 2022 Frontier Health and Medical Research grant opportunity are now available.

The MRFF's Frontier Health and Medical Research initiative will provide $400 million over 9 years for ambitious, exploratory and ground-breaking programs of research (‘moonshots’) that deliver treatments for serious and incurable health conditions through a series of linked projects.

Applications open for expressions of interest on 13 February 2023.

The application process for this continuously open grant opportunity is in two stages:

1. applicants can submit an expression of interest any time over the life of the grant opportunity until the expected close date of 31 March 2026
2. shortlisted applicants can submit full applications for a project of up to 5 years by invitation only.

• refine the focus of the grant opportunity to support earlier stage research with a 10-year time horizon for the program of research (called a ‘moonshot’) to reach the market (up from the previous 5-year time horizon)
• replace a full application at the first stage with a short expression of interest, to minimise workloads for applicants and assessors, and award funding only as an outcome of a second, invitation only, full application stage
• use a continuously open application process to give research teams the flexibility to prepare and submit their expressions of interest when it suits their programs of research
• sequentially fund a series of linked projects (constituting a program of research) that build toward a ‘moonshot’ – an ambitious, exploratory and ground-breaking program of research that utilises health technology to address a challenging clinical problem, and thereby aims to develop a novel treatment for, or means of prevention of, a current or predictable future serious and incurable health condition
• revise the assessment process to support novel, early stage, future-looking projects by focussing on impact, novelty and the strength of the research team in the first, expression of interest stage, and then feasibility and implementation in the second, full application stage
• provide up to $25 million of funding to programs of research, reflecting a quantum of support that would be effective and appropriate for investments in earlier stage research with a focus on preparing for private investment.

More information

You can learn more about this grant opportunity and its redesign by visiting GrantConnect, and reading the MRFF 2022 Frontier Health and Medical Research Grant Opportunity – Frequently Asked Questions.

All MRFF grant opportunities are advertised on GrantConnect.

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