MRFF and NHMRC – 2025 Australia-UK Platform Studies in Areas of Unmet Clinical Need Grant Opportunity (GO8535)

The Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) – Clinical Trials Activity (CTA) Initiative – 2025 Australia-UK Platform Studies in Areas of Unmet Clinical Need Grant Opportunity will support new, adaptive platform trials (Phase 2 or 3) in areas of unmet clinical need. The platform must be internationally collaborative, with joint project leads based in Australia (for the Australian-based component of the trial) and the UK (for the UK-based component of the trial).

The anticipated outcome of the research is to invest in new, ambitious platform trials in areas of unmet clinical need that support increased access to high-quality, evidence-based and effective health care.

This grant opportunity is a collaboration between the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) UK, the MRFF and the NHMRC to support research in shared areas of interest in Australia and the UK. MRFF and NHMRC funding is available to support the Australian-based arm of the proposed trial.

Application process

Stage 1 and Stage 2 has now been completed for applicants who have applied for funding to the NIHR UK as required under their official call specification. The next stage will occur for applicants who have been invited by the NHMRC as described in the overview of the process below:  

• Applicants who have been notified by the NHMRC via an invitation can apply in the next stage of the process
• Invited applicants will be advised to apply for either MRFF or MREA funding
• Invited applicants will submit their application form through the NHMRC’s electronic system Sapphire
• The submitted applications from invited applicants will be reviewed against the eligibility criteria in the grant guidelines as well as assessing application against IREC, if relevant.
• Following grant recommendations, invited applicants will be notified of the outcomes.