Funding for medical research and innovation infrastructure

The 2022 National Critical Research Infrastructure grant is part of the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and the National Critical Research Infrastructure Initiative. This 3 stream program will fund organisations to undertake innovative project solutions to complex health problems in areas of unmet need to improve Australian's quality of life and the health system sustainability.

The successful organisations aim to improve health outcomes, by:

• enhancing Australia's research infrastructure
• addressing areas of unmet need in the research sector through greater access to quality data and health interventions
• utilising investment through greater collaboration with industry, government and medical sector to enable research to be translated into greater health benefits.

The objective of this program is to provide grants to Australian medical research and innovation projects that align with the following streams:

Stream 1

Address an area of unmet need by promoting the development and implementation of new research methodologies or applications including ‘omics’-led approaches and enhanced infrastructure linkage strategies by supporting development and/or expansion of research enablers such as:

• biobanks
• tissue repositories
• novel platforms
• secure health data environments to create valuable research resources.

Stream 2

Develop and translate into practice:

• digital therapeutics
• artificial intelligence enabled health interventions and technologies (eg wearables integrated into clinical practice)
• applications or other software for use in clinical practice.

Stream 3

Utilise co-investment with the research sector, state and territory governments and industry in significant critical research infrastructure (eg facilities and equipment) to support:

• development of research capacity
• capability and/or effectiveness in an area of need
• easily accessible facilities and platforms for the wider research community, including within industry.

Reporting templates are available from the MRFF grants management webpage. The page also provides other resources for MRFF grant administration, including current policies and relevant forms and templates.