We use cookies to give you a better experience on our website. Learn more about how we use cookies and how you can select your preferences.
Funding to promote development and implementation of innovative clinical trials
MRFF National Critical Research Infrastructure Initiative - 2024 Clinical Trial Enabling Infrastructure grant opportunity
Opening date: Thursday 13 February 2025 10:00am AEDT Thu 13 Feb 2025 10:00am AEDT
Closing date: Thursday 17 July 2025 5:00pm AEST Thu 17 Jul 2025 5:00pm AEST
What do you get?
Grants of up to $7 million. Maximum grant amount varies by funding stream and/or topic.
Who is this for?
Eligible organisations that can support clinical trial projects to improve health benefits for Australians.
About the program
The 2024 Clinical Trial Enabling Infrastructure grant opportunity is part of the Medical Research Future Fund’s National Critical Research Infrastructure Initiative (NCRI).
Within the NCRI innovation enablers stream, this grant opportunity focuses on promoting development and implementation of ‘adaptive platform’ and ‘registry based’ clinical trials which are thought to offer more efficient evaluation of potential medical therapies over conventional trial designs.
This grant opportunity will provide grants of financial assistance across three streams, to support Australian medical research and medical innovation projects that:
- Stream 1: address an area of unmet medical need by promoting the development and implementation of adaptive platform trials. Funding under Stream 1 is available as follows:
- Topic A (Incubator): conducting inception projects that build evidence and capability to demonstrate the feasibility of establishing a national adaptive platform trial that would allow for rapid assessment of pharmacological and/or non-pharmacological interventions in an area of unmet need (up to $300,000).
- Topic B (Targeted Call for Research): establishing a new national adaptive platform trial that addresses an area of unmet need, including set up of central infrastructure and conduct of initial launch domains (up to $5,000,000).
- Topic C (Targeted Call for Research): expanding an existing adaptive platform trial by adding new domains that address an area of unmet need (up to $3,000,000).
- Stream 2 (Targeted Call for Research): conduct a registry-based randomised controlled trial in an area of unmet medical need by embedding a registry-based randomised controlled trial into a pre-existing clinical registry (up to $1,500,000).
- Stream 3 (Targeted Call for Research): establish a new clinical trial practice network or extend an existing clinical trial practice network to consolidate and strengthen sector capability in clinical trials and collaboration, with the aim of embedding evidence-based care in the health system and improving health outcomes, in an area of unmet medical need (up to $7,000,000).
For this grant opportunity, an application may be submitted to one of the above three streams. Applicants must specify the stream they are applying in their application (and topic for Stream 1 applicants).
An organisation may submit more than one application to a single stream, but there are restrictions on the number of applications an individual (Chief Investigator) may submit to a single stream.
To be considered for funding, 20% or more of all Chief Investigators must be early to mid-career researchers.
Check if you can apply
You can apply if you meet the eligibility criteria. The eligibility criteria are a set of rules that describe who we can consider for this grant. You can apply if you:
- are an eligible entity
- have an eligible project
- have eligible expenditure.
The rules are in the grant opportunity guidelines.
You can apply if you:
- have an Australian business number (ABN)
- are incorporated in Australia
And in accordance with s24 of the MRFF Act 2015, are one of the following entities:
- a medical research institute
- a university
- a corporate Commonwealth entity
- a corporation (including businesses and not for profits).
You can’t apply if you are:
- an individual
- a partnership
- an unincorporated association
- a trust (however, an incorporated trustee may apply on behalf of a trust)
- a non-corporate Commonwealth entity
- any organisation not listed in the eligible entity list
- an organisation, or your project partner is an organisation, included on the National Redress Scheme’s list of Institutions that have not joined or signified their intent to join the Scheme
- an employer of 100 or more employees that has not complied with the Workplace Gender Equality Act (2012)
Partner with other organisations
You can partner with one or more other organisations but you must decide who the lead organisation is.
The lead organisation must fill out the application form.
If we give your group the grant, the lead organisation:
- signs the grant agreement
- receives grant payments
- is responsible for making sure your group follows the rules in the grant agreement, including all reporting requirements.
We can only accept applications that provide:
- evidence from your board (or chief executive officer or equivalent if there is no board) that the project is supported, that you can complete the project and meet any costs not covered by grant funding
- a list of all Chief Investigators using the mandatory template (adhering to stream limits and with none listed on more than one application submitted per stream)
- a detailed project plan (max 12 pages excluding appendices)
- a detailed and itemised project budget
- a 1 page statement of how your project will contribute to the Measures of Success for the MRFF
- a detailed risk management plan (max 2 pages)
- details of IP arrangements
- a trust deed (if applicable)
- letters of support from each project partner (where applicable).
How to apply
Check if you’re ready to apply for a grant
Finding a suitable grant opportunity is just the start of the process to get funding. The application process can take time and effort. Understanding the entire process will help you be grant ready and may improve your chances of getting funding.
Use our checklist to find out what it takes to apply for a grant.
When you're ready to apply
When the online form is available, you must submit your application through the online portal. You’ll need to set up an account when you first log into the portal. The portal allows you to apply for and manage a grant or service in a secure online environment.
First we check that you meet the eligibility criteria. Then we assess your application against the assessment criteria. Eligible applications are then assessed against the assessment criteria by an independent committee of grant experts.
The amount of detail and supporting evidence you provide should be relative to the project size, complexity and grant amount requested. You should define, quantify and provide evidence to support your answers. The sample application form displays character limits.
The program delegate will make the final decision taking into consideration the recommendations from the independent committee of experts.
The grant opportunity has 3 streams with the following assessment criteria:
- Assessment criterion 1: Project Impact (40% weighting)
- Assessment criterion 2: Project Methodology (30% weighting)
- Assessment criterion 3: Capacity, capability and resources to deliver the project (30% weighting)
- Assessment criterion 4: Overall value and risk of the project (non-weighted)
Scoring information for all assessment criteria can be found at Appendix C and Appendix D of the grant opportunity guidelines.
Contact
Need help?
Let us answer your question over the phone, email or live chat.
- Phone:
-
Open Hours:
Monday – Friday, 8am – 8pm across Australia
- Website:
Key documents
MRFF grant management resources
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.
-
View the latest reporting templates on the MRFF grant management webpage
Department of Health and Aged Care