A Project Grant is a funding agreement with an eligible Australian institution to enable an individual researcher or a group of researchers to undertake a scientific investigation.
The Project Grant scheme is the NHMRC's main avenue of support for individuals and small teams of researchers undertaking biomedical, clinical, public health or health services research in Australian universities, medical schools, hospitals or other research institutions.
Standard Project Grants
The Project Grants scheme aims to fund research leading to improved health of all Australians. To achieve this aim the scheme provides support for projects with the following attributes:
- Investigator-initiated research across all fields of research, from basic research through to research in clinical and community settings, relevant to health; and
- single investigators or small teams of researchers (up to 10 investigators) and early career researchers (new investigators).
In 2013, the scheme will also identify and support research in the following areas:
- NHMRC Priority Area of Indigenous Health;
- NHMRC Special Initiative Areas where NHMRC has secured additional funding for particular health and medical research, and where Research Committee has advised its relevance to the goals of NHMRC.
Further details can be found in Part 2 Section 8 of the NHMRC Funding Rules incorporating the Project Grants scheme for funding commencing in 2014 on the Apply for Funding - Project Grants page.
New Investigator Grants
NHMRC seeks to provide support each year to researchers who have previously not received significant research funding through a competitive grants scheme. For eligibility criteria for New Investigator Project Grants please refer to Part 2 Section 7.1 of the NHMRC Funding Rules incorporating the Project Grants scheme on the Apply for Funding - Project Grant page.
Cancer Council funding
All applications for funding by a Cancer Council are to be submitted and reviewed through the Project Grant funding scheme. Further details can be found Cancer Council website.
Cancer Australia – Priority driven Collaborative Cancer Research Grants
Cancer Australia’s Priority-driven Collaborative Cancer Research Scheme is an annual national research project grant scheme which funds cancer research in identified priority areas to help reduce the impact of cancer in the community and improve outcomes for people affected by cancer.
Priority-driven Collaborative Cancer Research grants will support Australian researchers to work collaboratively to generate evidence, increase knowledge, and improve the translation of research into policy and practice in identified priority areas.
All applications for funding by Cancer Australia and its Funding Partners are to be submitted and reviewed through the NHMRC Project Grants funding scheme.
There is no specific limit to funding for each application under the NHMRC Project Grant scheme. Applicants are advised to clearly justify the requested budget paying particular attention to any research cost(s) which may be atypical for the particular field of research.
