The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) e-ASIA Joint Research Program supports Australian participation and collaboration in leading international collaborative research through the e-ASIA Joint Research Program (e-ASIA JRP). The e-ASIA JRP formulates and supports international joint research projects in the East Asia region on a multilateral basis and promotes the interaction of researchers through scientific workshops.

Program description

The e-ASIA JRP selects research projects through an open call for proposals. Fields of cooperation are decided among the e-ASIA participating member organisations and funding is for up to 3 years.

NHMRC’s participation in the e-ASIA JRP is consistent with NHMRC’s International Engagement Strategy and Corporate Plan.

The 2025 NHMRC e-ASIA grant opportunity will support Australian participation and partnership in international collaborative research through the e-ASIA JRP 14th call for proposals under the Health Research stream.

NHMRC e-ASIA 2024 – Health Research stream

NHMRC has allocated up to $3 million to support up to 4 grants (with a capped maximum value of $750,000 per grant) for the Australian component of successful projects in the e-ASIA JRP 14th Health Research stream. Applications are invited for projects commencing in 2026 addressing the research topic of Infectious Diseases and Immunology (including Antimicrobial Resistance) as identified in the e-ASIA JRP Health Research 14th call text available on the e-ASIA website.

Participating member organisations in this call are:

  1. Australia – National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
  2. China – The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
  3. Indonesia – National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN)
  4. Japan – Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED)
  5. Malaysia - Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM)
  6. Philippines – Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCHRD)
  7. Singapore – Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
  8. Thailand - Program Management Unit for Human Resources (PMU-B)
  9. United States of America – National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
  10. Vietnam - Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST)

Application process

  1. e-ASIA and member organisations open the call.
    1. The Lead Principal Investigator of the collaborative project is required to submit the Common Application to the e-ASIA Program Secretariat by the specified due date of 31 March 2025. For more details please visit the e-ASIA website.
    2. Collaborating partners are responsible for submitting completed applications to respective member organisations supporting the topic call in line with their application closing dates.
    3. Applicants from Australia-based teams must also submit an application as outlined in the Grant Opportunity Guidelines to NHMRC through Sapphire by 17:00 AEDT 2 April 2025.
  2. NHMRC conducts eligibility checks for Australian collaborations.
  3. NHMRC conducts peer review of applications submitted.
  4. NHMRC submits short listed eligible applications to the e-ASIA Joint Review Meeting.
  5. e-ASIA Joint Review Meeting compiles a final ranking list and recommendations for funding presented to the e-ASIA Board for approval.
  6. NHMRC funding recommendations approval process.

Eligibility

The e-ASIA JRP has specific eligibility criteria for applicants. Applications will be excluded from consideration if eligibility requirements are not met, including:

  • A minimum of 3 collaborating partners from supporting member organisations participating in a call topic, per application.
  • Applications specific to each participating member organisation must be completed by the Chief Investigator in their respective country. More detailed eligibility requirements can be found in the e-ASIA 14th Health Research call text available on the e-ASIA website.

For details regarding the 2025 NHMRC e-ASIA JRP peer review process, refer to the:

  • 2025 NHMRC e-ASIA JRP Peer Review Guidelines available on GrantConnect.

Grant at a glance

Duration of funding
3 years
Level of funding
$3,000,000

Key changes

NHMRC requires that collaborations must include a Principal Investigator (PI) from at least one member organisation from the following countries:

  • Indonesia
  • Malaysia
  • Philippines
  • Singapore
  • Thailand
  • Vietnam

NHMRC has streamlined the application process and removed the requirement for an NHMRC Grant Proposal. Applicants are required to upload the e-ASIA Common Application which includes a Grant Proposal.

Before you submit an application, please make sure you have:

1

Grant submission advice

Read all relevant reference material

GrantConnect GO Documents

2

Liaise with your Administering Institution

to identify any specific requirements that the institution may have

3

Ensure your application is complete and correct.