Today

Welcome to Tracker, the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) fortnightly newsletter with the latest information on major activities and funding opportunities.

Release of the Statement on Consumer and Community Involvement in Health and Medical Research

NHMRC and the Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF) have released the new joint Statement on Consumer and Community Involvement in Health and Medical Research (the Statement). The new Statement replaces the 2016 version and reflects NHMRC and CHF’s commitment to embedding consumer and community involvement in all health and medical research.

The Statement reflects the reality that consumer and community involvement is essential for high quality health and medical research. It is intended to guide everyone involved in health and medical research and to influence involvement in policy, practice, and decision making.

NHMRC will work with the sector to implement the Statement over time across grant schemes and any changes to NHMRC grant guidelines and assessments will be communicated with the sector. We encourage consumers and researchers to consult the new Statement when preparing and reviewing applications for grant funding and consider how consumer and community involvement will lead to higher quality research and better health outcomes.
 

Speaking of Science - Being All In: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership, research sovereignty and systems change

National Reconciliation Week’s (27 May – 3 June) 2026 call for being ‘All In’ is a reminder to all Australians to commit wholeheartedly to reconciliation every single day.

For our May Speaking of Science, we will be joined by leading researcher Associate Professor Veronica Matthews to reflect on the evolution of Indigenous health research. Drawing from her personal experiences of NHMRC investment across both the CRE-STRIDE project and the STAUNCH Synergy Grant, Associate Professor Matthews will discuss what being ‘All In’ means to her. 

There will be a Q&A session at the end, so we encourage you to attend and ask questions!  

This webinar will take place on Friday 22 May 2026 from 11:00AM – 12:00PM (AEST).

Register on Microsoft Teams here.
 

Cancer Australia Research Initiative - Targeted Call for Research (TCR): Early-Onset Cancer 2025 funding outcomes announced

In a joint funding initiative, NHMRC and Cancer Australia are investing $15 million into high quality health and medical research to enhance understanding of early onset cancer. 

Seven projects will share in the $15 million investment under the 2025 Cancer Australia Research Initiative (CARI) TCR into early onset cancer, of which $7 million will be provided by NHMRC and $8 million from Cancer Australia. Research generated from these projects will enhance understanding of early onset cancer and develop new clinical approaches for earlier diagnosis and screening, and innovative models of care to ensure effective management for those diagnosed. 

The media release for this announcement is available on NHMRC's news centre.
 

Invitation for Public Submissions: Australian Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Care Guideline

Health Evidence Synthesis, Recommendations and Impact (HESRI) at Adelaide University is seeking NHMRC approval under section 14A of the National Health and Medical Research Council Act 1992 for its Australian Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Care Guideline.

The guideline is funded by FightMND and is being developed as a living guideline.

Public consultation on the first set of draft recommendations is open until Monday 1 June 2026 at 17:00 (AEST). The draft recommendations provide advice on diagnosis and medications to modify disease.

To view these recommendations and make a submission visit the Australian MND Guideline website.
 

Last chance: participate in our website survey

We’re reviewing how people find and use Guidelines and related content on the NHMRC website and would value your feedback.

Please take a short survey (15–30 minutes) to help us improve the accessibility and usability of our Guidelines content.

The survey is now open and will close on Wednesday 13 May 2026 at 11:59PM (AEST).

Access the survey on NHMRC’s Consultation hub.

Thank you in advance.
  

Medical Research Future Fund – grant opportunities key dates

The following MRFF grant opportunity has a minimum data due date approaching:

Details on how to apply for MRFF grant opportunities and all MRFF close dates are available on GrantConnect. Applicants are reminded that only applicants who completed minimum data by the due date can submit an application. It is also the applicant’s responsibility to ensure they meet all eligibility requirements, including limits on the number of times a person can be named as a Chief Investigator on applications submitted to a grant opportunity.

Applicants should ensure:

MRFF grant assessment committee self nomination
Register your interest to become a member of a MRFF grant assessment committee.
 

Key NHMRC grant program dates

NHMRC grant opportunities are funded through the Medical Research Endowment Account (MREA).

The following grant opportunity has minimum data due soon:

  • NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarships

    • Minimum data due on Wednesday 13 May 2026 17:00 (AEST)
    • Applications will close on Wednesday 3 June 2026 17:00 (AEST). 

    Minimum data fields are outlined in Appendix C, Section 3 of the Postgraduate Scholarships 2026 Guidelines. The guidelines and other supporting documents are available on GrantConnect (GO8345). 

    Applicants must complete the required fields with correct information, including the research stream and scholarship category. Using placeholder text, including in the application title, is not acceptable as minimum data. The application title must describe the nature of the research and not include the name of the applicant or the name of the grant opportunity. Requirements for the application title are given in section 6.1 of Appendix C.

     

    Failure to meet these minimum data requirements by the deadline will result in the application not proceeding. Note that it is not possible to start a new application after this date.

    New user registrations 
    Applicants and their supervisors who do not yet have a Sapphire account should register on Sapphire as soon as possible. Submission of a registration form and activation of a Sapphire account must occur at least 3 business days before applications close, noting that account activation processes cannot be guaranteed in less than this time.

    For enquiries, please contact help@nhmrc.gov.au.

The following grant opportunity has now closed:

  • 2026 Ideas Grants round 
    Applications for the Ideas Grants scheme closed on Wednesday 6 May 2025 with a total of 2,452 applications submitted.


    The peer review membership is currently being finalised. Peer reviewers will declare conflicts of interest and suitability in late May and early June, with peer review assessments scheduled for July and August.
     

Key dates

Please see the funding schemes and calendar page.
 

Tracker

See previous editions of Tracker.

Do you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter? They can visit the Newsletter sign up page.

If you have any questions about the newsletter, email communications@nhmrc.gov.au. 

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