Welcome to Tracker, the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) fortnightly newsletter with the latest information on major activities and funding opportunities.
NHMRC Speaking of Science - Empowering consumers in health and medical research
Why does consumer and community involvement matter in health and medical research? Because real impact starts with real voices.
Join us, Chair of the NHMRC-MRFF Consumer Advisory Group, Ms Ainslie Cahill AM (Monash Partners) and Professor James St John (Griffith University) for Speaking of Science on Tuesday 17 June 2025 from 11:00AM-12:00PM AEST.
Together, our guest speakers will delve into the review of the Statement on Consumer and Community Involvement in Health and Medical Research, and the importance of involving consumers throughout all stages of health and medical research.
As always, there will be a Q&A discussion at the end, so come prepared with your questions.
Please note that this webinar will be recorded and published to NHMRC’s ‘Speaking of Science’ webpage.
If you have any questions for the event organisers, you can reach us at media@nhmrc.gov.au.
A new horizon for grant management at NHMRC
NHMRC is pleased to announce an important decision regarding the future of its grant management system, Sapphire. To achieve the goals of building confidence in Sapphire, reducing administrative burden, optimising data capability and building an innovation culture, NHMRC will transition from the existing vendor-managed system to an internally managed and configured system by mid-2027.
The new Sapphire system will continue to provide all the core functionality offered by the existing system while enhancing overall ease of use. This initiative reflects NHMRC’s commitment to innovation, operational efficiency, and stakeholder engagement, ensuring the system remains fit-for-purpose in a dynamic research funding environment.
To ensure the system meets the needs of the broader research community, NHMRC will establish external reference groups.
Grant management processes will be supported through the existing Sapphire system until mid-2027, with NHMRC continuing to partner with vendors to ensure a smooth transition.
NHMRC will provide regular updates and support throughout the transition to ensure users are prepared for the change.
Please reach out to Sapphire.Refresh@nhmrc.gov.au if you have questions.
Community research priorities portal – call for submissions
NHMRC strives to fund health and medical research that reflects consumer and community priorities and responds to unmet or emerging health needs.
The community research priorities portal has been designed for consumers, community and health organisations to identify health issues where a knowledge gap exists and/or are underfunded. Submitted health issues are reviewed to see if a Targeted Call for Research is required to stimulate research that benefits the health of Australians.
The current cycle closes on Monday 30 June 2025 at 17:00 AEST. Consumers, community and professional groups are encouraged to make submissions through the portal on the community research priorities portal webpage.
Key NHMRC grant program dates
NHMRC grant opportunities are funded through the Medical Research Endowment Account (MREA).
Open:
The 2026 Investigator Grant round opened for applications on Wednesday 4 June 2025.
- Minimum data is due by Wednesday 2 July 2025 at 17:00 AEST
- Applications close on Wednesday 30 July 2025 at 17:00 AEST.
The Investigator Grants 2026 Guidelines and Peer Review Guidelines have now been published on GrantConnect (GO7711).
New users will need to register for a Sapphire account and complete their Sapphire profile. Information on how to do this is available from the Sapphire landing page or on NHMRC’s Sapphire webpage.
Closing soon:
Applications for the 2025 Development Grant scheme close on Wednesday 11 June 2025 at 17:00 AEST.
RAOs please note that there has been a recent addendum added to ‘NHMRC Development Grants 2025 for funding 2026 - Grant Opportunity Documents - GO7567’. All applicants have already been notified through GrantConnect.
Applicants are reminded that:
- Researchers listed on applications must have a Sapphire account. New account registrations must be submitted at least 72 hours prior to application close. The Research Help Centre will continue to respond to Sapphire related enquiries until Wednesday 11 June 2025 13:00 AEST.
- Only applicants who completed minimum data requirements by the deadline on 14 May 2025 17:00 AEST can submit a full application.
- Applications submitted after close of round will not be accepted.
Further information can be found on GrantConnect.
NHMRC - Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD)
Applicants to the 2025 NHMRC-GACD: Strengthening Health Systems grant opportunity are reminded that stage one applications must be submitted to the GACD portal by Monday 16 June 2025 (18:00 CET).
Applicants proposing to undertake research which specifically relates to the health of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples must address NHMRC’s Indigenous Research Excellence Criteria in their stage one application.
We encourage applicants to work closely with their RAOs well in advance of the due date to ensure they can submit applications to the GACD online applications portal.
Applicants are reminded that:
- shortlisted stage one applicants will be invited to submit a stage 2 application and respond to reviewer feedback in the GACD portal, and
- shortlisted Australia based applicants from stage one applying to NHMRC for funding will be required to complete a Sapphire application with their final GACD application uploaded.
Applications submitted after close of round will not be accepted.
Further information can be found on the NHMRC-GACD webpage and GrantConnect.
Please contact help@nhmrc.gov.au for further assistance.
Key dates
Refer to Funding schemes and calendar.
Tracker
See previous editions of Tracker.
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