Strategic and Leveraging Grants

Research office contact:
research-applications@newcastle.edu.au

For further information please refer to the Partnership Projects section of the NHMRC website.

Continuous Application Process

This scheme allows applicants to apply at any time during the year to allow researchers and partner organisations to develop timely collaborations. Applications will proceed to peer review depending on when they are submitted to NHMRC.

Applications that have met minimum data requirements but are not submitted by the application due date will remain active. The applicant may continue to work on the application and submit to the next available peer review cycle.

The grant commencement date will be aligned with the timing of each of two Peer Review Cycles.

Key Dates

It is strongly recommended all applicants subscribe to the Research Office NHMRC mailing list for up-to-date information on this scheme. We also recommend that you register your interest for this scheme within GrantConnect so you will receive updates as they occur.

• Applicants are strongly encouraged to commence their application in Sapphire ASAP after the scheme opens so that they can:
  • book their preferred day for an Eligibility and Compliance Check.
  • receive a copy of the scheme Essential Instructions developed by the Research Office to assist you in the completion of your application.
• The University deadline for final application (the internal deadline) requires the provision of a submission-ready proposal to the Research Grants Office submitted via Sapphire, as well as a fully signed application coversheet.
• Schools and Colleges may have their own internal dates for the purpose of peer review/Head of School and Assistant Dean (Research) approval etc. Please contact your School Executive Officer and College Research & Research Training Officer or College Research Development Manager for further information on School/College internal processes.

Research Office Contact:
research-applications@newcastle.edu.au

The Centres of Research Excellence (CRE) Scheme provides support for teams of researchers to pursue collaborative research and develop capacity in clinical, population health and health services research. Funding will support the following streams:

• up to 5 CREs in Basic Science Research; including one for dementia research with a basic science research focus
• up to 5 CREs in Clinical Research
• up to 5 CREs in Health Services Research
• up to 5 CREs in Public Health Research

A CRE 2024 grant is awarded for a five year term with a fixed budget of $3M. There can be up to 10 Chief Investigators on a CRE.

For further information please see the NHMRC web page.

Please note: It is strongly recommended all CRE applicants subscribe to the Research Office NHMRC mailing list for up to date information on this scheme.

Key Dates

• Applicants are strongly encouraged to commence their application in Sapphire ASAP after the scheme opens so that they can:
  • book their preferred day for an Eligibility and Compliance Check.
  • receive a copy of the scheme Essential Instructions developed by the Research Office to assist in the completion of the application.
• To enable the allocation of appropriate resourcing, bookings must be made prior to the defined scheme Eligibility and Compliance Check period. Access to book an Eligibility and Compliance Check will no longer be available once the Eligibility and Compliance Check period has commenced. This does not apply for schemes with continuous rounds (i.e. ARC Linkage Projects and NHMRC Partnership Projects).
• The University deadline for final application (the internal deadline) requires the provision of a submission-ready proposal to the Research Grants Office submitted via Sapphire, as well as a fully signed application coversheet.

Key Changes in 2024

Applicants should note the following changes for the CRE 2024 Guidelines:

• The funding allocation to the CRE scheme has increased and the funding distribution across CRE streams has changed (Section 3).
• Funding is available for CRE in Basic Science Research grants, including for dementia research with a basic science research focus (Section 3, section 8.1.2 and Appendix A2).
• CRE assessment criteria and score descriptors have been amended to incorporate assessment of CRE in Basic Science Research stream applications (Section 6 and Appendix B). Guidance is provided on addressing research translation (Appendix C section 7.7).

Documents

The NHMRC is required to publish Grant Guidelines and all associated scheme documents on GrantConnect, the Australian Government whole-of-government, web-based, grant information system. You will need to sign in or create a User Registration account in GrantConnect to access all relevant documentation for NHMRC applications.

Once you have signed in to GrantConnect, the essential documents can be found by searching for the relevant scheme under ‘grant opportunities’ (open schemes) or ‘forecast opportunities’ (upcoming schemes). As the NHMRC often updates documents after the scheme opens, it is highly recommended that you sign up for alerts by editing your profile.

If you encounter any problems accessing or downloading these documents please contact research-applications@newcastle.edu.au or 4921 7733.

University Documents

• External Grant Application Coversheet (includes ARC/NHMRC) (DOC)
• ARC/NHMRC Grant Rounds Submission Procedures (PDF)

Research Office Contact:
research-applications@newcastle.edu.au

The Development Grants scheme provides financial support to individual researchers and/or research teams to undertake health and medical research within Australia at the proof of principle or pre-seed stage that specifically drives towards a commercial outcome within a foreseeable timeframe.

Scheme Objectives

The objectives of the Development Grant scheme are to:

• Increase, facilitate and expedite the translation of health and medical research outcomes through to commercialisation, within a foreseeable timeframe.
• Support proof-of-concept research with a feasible commercialisation pathway and a high likelihood of producing protected IP.
• Provide a potential mechanism through which research outcomes can be progressed to a stage that makes them competitive to receive industry investment through other government schemes or from the private sector.
• Encourage collaboration between health research, the private sector and industry (domestic and international).

2024 Structural Priorities

NHMRC’s current key structural priorities are:

• Funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health researchers
• Improving the health outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• Achieving gender equity for female and non-binary lead investigators

Grant Period and Funding Available

Development Grants are funded for between one and three years. The provisional funding allocation for the 2024 round is $15 million. The amount of funding awarded will be based on an assessment of the requested budget.

Eligibility

At the time of acceptance and for the duration of a grant the CIA must be an Australian or New Zealand citizen, or a permanent resident of Australia and be based in Australia for at least 80% of the funding period. There is no limit to the number of Development Grants a CI can apply for or hold and Development grants do not impact eligibility to apply for any other NHMRC grants.

• An application may be excluded from further consideration if:
  It has a focus on the early stage or knowledge creation stages of research (i.e., research that is fundable through the Ideas Grant scheme).
• The primary objective is a clinical trial (these applications are relevant to the Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies scheme).
• It is beyond the proof-of-concept stage, and therefore more appropriate to receive support from other government agencies or the private sector.

Please note that partnerships with industry/commercial partner/s for the proposed research are not essential at the application stage. However, applicants must provide comprehensive evidence of their strategies to commercialise their product and bring it to market.

Sapphire

Development Grants are managed in Sapphire.

Video tutorials are available from the Sapphire Knowledge Base page and NHMRC has a dedicated Sapphire Help Desk.

For more information on how to activate your Sapphire account, please visit the NHMRC website

Please note: It is strongly recommended all applicants subscribe to the Research Office NHMRC mailing list for up to date information on this scheme.

Key Dates

Please note:

• Applicants are strongly encouraged to commence their application in Sapphire ASAP after the scheme opens so that they can book their preferred day for an Eligibility and Compliance Check.
• To enable the allocation of appropriate resourcing, bookings must be made prior to the defined scheme Eligibility and Compliance Check period. Access to book an Eligibility and Compliance Check will no longer be available once the Eligibility and Compliance Check period has commenced. This does not apply for schemes with continuous rounds (i.e. ARC Linkage Projects and NHMRC Partnership Projects).
• The University deadline for final application requires the provision of a submission-ready proposal to the Research Grants Office submitted via Sapphire, as well as a fully signed cover sheet.

The NHMRC is required to publish Grant Guidelines and all associated scheme documents on GrantConnect, the Australian Government whole-of-government, web-based, grant information system. You will need to sign in or create a User Registration account in GrantConnect to access all relevant documentation for NHMRC applications.

Once you have signed in to GrantConnect, the essential documents can be found by searching for the relevant scheme under ‘grant opportunities’ (open schemes) or ‘forecast opportunities’ (upcoming schemes). As the NHMRC often updates documents after the scheme opens, it is highly recommended that you sign up for alerts by editing your profile.

If you encounter any problems accessing or downloading these documents please contact research-applications@newcastle.edu.au or 4921 7733.

UON Documents

• External Grant Application Coversheet (includes ARC/NHMRC) (DOC)
• ARC/NHMRC Grant Rounds Submission Procedures (PDF)

The Research-NHMRC mailing list is managed by Research Grants and is used to communicate essential information regarding grant opportunities offered by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Information regarding opportunities offered through the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), regardless of who administers the grant (i.e NHMRC, Department of Health, Depart of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources), are also communicated via this list.

Internal EOI processes for limited round MRFF opportunities are also be advertised via this list.

Information about applying, minimum data deadlines, eligibility information, changes to guidelines and conditions of award, progress report requirements etc. are communicated via this list.

If you currently hold an NHMRC/MRFF grant or fellowship, or intend on applying for one, Research Grants strongly recommends subscribing to this list.

Subscribe to the Research-NHMRC Mailing list (UON staff and students only)

NHMRC uses Sapphire for all grant rounds.

All researchers listed on an NHMRC grant application (including AIs, partner organisations and international CIs/AIs) must have a Sapphire account. New account requests should be submitted as soon as possible and at least 72 hours prior to application close. Any account activation processes started within 72 hours of the round close cannot be guaranteed to be actioned by NHMRC before the round closes.

Researchers should confirm all Profile data is complete and up-to-date prior to submitting an application.

A summary of the key changes for Sapphire Profile and NHMRC’s recommendations for checking your profile data is available on the NHMRC Sapphire - Profile Update webpage.

CI Eligibility Limits and Sapphire

Unlike RGMS, Sapphire does not contain the functionality to perform validation checks to identify potential eligibility issues.

Research Grants strongly recommends that CIAs ensure that all CIs carefully check to ensure they meet the eligibility requirement for the specific scheme – noting that for some schemes eligibility is limited to one application as CI.

The NHMRC will rule all applications ineligible in instances where any CI (CIA-CIJ) is in excess of the maximum number of grants they are eligible to apply for or hold.

Please contact Research Grants if you are unsure of your eligibility so we can assist.

Eligibility for schemes is outlined in the scheme specific Guidelines. CIs are advised to carefully review this information to ensure that all members of the research team to be named on an application meet the scheme specific eligibility requirements.

It is important to note:

• The Investigator Grants 2024 (closed 8 November 2023), Synergy Grants 2024 (opened 7 February 2024) and Ideas Grants 2024 (opening 20 March 2024) are considered the same funding round;
• An Investigator Grant 2024 application will count as one of the maximum two applications across the three schemes;
• If the Investigator Grant 2024 is successful, any Ideas Grant the Investigator Grant applicant is listed on as a CI, irrespective of whether it is CIA-CIJ, will be removed and excluded from consideration.

If any CI (CIA-CIJ) submits an Ideas, Investigator or Synergy Grant application(s), in the same funding round, in excess of the maximum for which they are eligible to apply or hold, the breaching application(s) (i.e. the last submitted) on which that CI is named may be ineligible and excluded from consideration, irrespective of the scheme to which they have applied, and that CI’s position or role on the application.

Research Grants recommends that applicants carefully review the NHMRC eligibility tool and the specific scheme Guidelines, to determine eligibility prior to commencing an application or agreeing to be a CI on an application.  Please contact Research Grants if you are unsure of your eligibility so we can assist.

Minimum data must be entered in Sapphire by the scheme-specific deadline to allow the NHMRC to find suitable peer reviewers for the application. Applicants must complete the required fields with correct information. Using placeholder text such as “text”, “synopsis” or “xx” etc. is not acceptable as minimum data. Minimum data requirements for each scheme are specified in the scheme Grant Guidelines.

Failure to meet the Minimum Data deadline will result in the application not proceeding.

Research Grants uses an online booking process to manage optional Eligibility and Compliance Checks on applications for NHMRC Schemes. Scientific content is not reviewed.

A booking must be made within the allocated E&C Check period for each scheme. Applicants are strongly encouraged to commence their application in Sapphire ASAP after the scheme opens so they can book their preferred day for an E&C Check. Bookings without a Sapphire application ID will be cancelled.

• Make a booking

As per MRFF scheme guidelines, the Chief Investigator A (CIA) must seek written agreement from all CIs for the final MRFF application to be certified in Sapphire for submission, to be named in the application, to participate in the manner described in the application and to the use of their personal information as described in the NHMRC Privacy Policy. The RAO will not be authorised to submit the application to the MRFF until all CIs have completed this step. By certifying the application in Sapphire, the CIA is also agreeing to the conditions set out in the MRFF Certification Form.

Completed MRFF Certification Forms should be returned to Research Grants by 9:00am on the scheme's internal due date.

Download the MRFF Certification Form (DOC)

Please see the NHMRC Submission Procedure on the NHMRC Grants webpage and the Online Booking System User Guide for instructions on how to make a booking for an Eligibility and Compliance Check.

Once complete, the CIA must certify and submit the application in Sapphire via the Certification page. To do this, select the ‘Certification’ page in Sapphire, select ‘Certify and submit to RAO'. This will result in the status changing to 'Submitted to RAO' - which equates to 'Research Administration Office' (NOT the NHMRC).

All schemes except for Partnership Projects

Applications involving Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD) patients, sites and/or HNELHD Chief or Associate Investigator(s) require the appropriate HNELHD manager(s) approval be obtained prior to the University of Newcastle internal deadline.

Please contact the HNELHD Research office if you have any questions relating to HNELHD processes or research involving HNELHD patients or sites.

Please note that applicants who are proposing to access HNELHD patients or sites but who do not have a formal affiliation with HNELHD, will need to ensure the application team includes a HNELHD investigator in accordance with HNELHD requirements.

Partnership Projects

As a Partner Organisation letter of support may be required, Partnership Project applications involving Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD) patients, sites and/or HNELHD Chief or Associate Investigator(s) require the appropriate HNELHD manager(s) approval be obtained prior to the University of Newcastle internal deadline.

Please contact the HNELHD Research office if you have any questions relating to their processes or research involving HNELHD patients or sites.

Please note that applicants who are proposing to access HNELHD patients or sites but who do not have a formal affiliation with HNELHD, will need to ensure the application team includes a HNELHD investigator in accordance with HNELHD requirements.

The NHMRC has released a Toolkit for Consumer and Community Involvement in Health and Medical Research to ‘provide practical advice on engaging with consumers and the community to undertake high quality and relevant research’.

The Toolkit comprises of five individual resources available for download from the Consumer and community engagement page.

The Toolkit has been designed by the NHMRC and its Community and Consumer Advisory Group to complement the 2016 Statement on Consumer and Community Involvement in Health and Medical Research

Research Liaison Librarians

Research Liaison Librarians offer a number of specialist research services and resources, including advice and support for undertaking literature searches, systematic reviews, referencing, citation analysis, current awareness, promotion of research, and management of research data.

Contact your school’s Research Liaison Librarian to discuss your research needs.

Impact Case Studies

The assessment criteria for some NHMRC schemes now include research impact wherein applicants are required to demonstrate the impact of a project or program of research.

Applicants will be assessed based on:

• The significance and reach of their claimed research impact
• The contribution of their research program to the research impact

NHMRC defines the impact of research as the verifiable outcomes that research makes to knowledge, health, the economy and/or society. Impact is the effect of the research after it has been adopted, adapted for use, or used to inform further research. Research impact is the verifiable outcomes from research and not the prospective or anticipated effects of the research. Research impact also includes research that leads to a decision not to use a particular diagnostic, treatment or health policy.

Engagement and Impact Toolkit

Research Services has developed an Engagement and Impact Toolkit which helps to provide:

• a comprehensive overview of how research engagement and impact is increasingly influencing researcher practice, institutional strategies and practices as well as research funding;
• strategies to support research impact at the institutional, faculty and individual level;
• resources to support data capture and effectively communicate research impact.

A series of tiles on the EI Toolkit homepage link visitors to information and resources across major themes including An introduction to the EI Toolkit, Resources, ARC Engagement and Impact assessment, Promoting your research impact and Collecting EI data.

Citation metrics

One aspect of impact evidence is represented by the recognition of scholarly research outputs. Citation metrics are a significant part of this evidence. Please see the UON Library Guides for a more detailed breakdown of this aspect of research impact.

Research Grants can provide researchers with access to view successful applications where the lead Chief Investigator has provided consent. Applications must be viewed in hard copy in the Research Grants office or by arrangement at HMRI.

How to Arrange to View a Successful Application

Please contact the Research Grants Team to request access to view successful applications for a specific scheme. Please include preferred date(s), time(s) and location.

Presentations

Grant Accelerator Session Recording and Presentations - available via the Research Advantage Resources Hub

Please note a University login is required to access presentation resources

All research projects that are either partially or fully supported by NHMRC funding are required, by the NHMRC Funding Agreement, to appropriately acknowledge the NHMRC contribution to research and other activities in any correspondence, public announcement, advertising material, research report or other material produced for the research project.

The acknowledgement should mention the NHMRC as a funding body, include the Grant Identification Number for the Research Activity and specify that the contents of the published material are solely the responsibility of the research institutions involved or individual authors and do not reflect the views of NHMRC.

Whilst this acknowledgement most often occurs within research outputs, such as journal publications, efforts should also be made if participating in dissemination activities such as conferences or interviews with media outlets.