Medical Research Support Program 2024-2028

All applications must be submitted using the application kit available on the NSW Health and Medical Research website.

Valid applications must include:

• a completed Standard Application Form, with all supporting documentation included as separate, clearly labelled files
• a completed Grant Income Spreadsheet
• a copy of the applicant organisation’s most recent audited financial statement
• a signed Letter of Declaration.

Completed applications should be sent to MOH-OHMRGrants@health.nsw.gov.au by 5pm Wednesday 17th July. 

Incomplete applications and/or applications received after this time will not be considered.

Questions about the application process may be directed to the Office for Health and Medical Research at MOH-OHMRGrants@health.nsw.gov.au.

To receive funding from the MRSP, organisations must demonstrate that they meet ALL eligibility criteria.

• Located in NSW 
  The applicant organisation must be located in NSW.
   
• Health and medical research is the primary  purpose of the organisation 
  Conducting health and medical research must be the primary purpose of the organisation. This does not exclude organisations that carry out other activities such as teaching and consultancy that are secondary to the research function. It does, however, exclude organisations for which research is a subsidiary function, for example, pharmaceutical companies whose primary purpose is to manufacture and sell pharmaceuticals.
  
  Evidence of the applicant’s purpose may include its mission statement and annual reports.
   
• Organisational independence
  The applicant organisation must be a discrete organisational entity with independent management, governance and processes, demonstrated by:
  • legal recognition of the organisation as a discrete operational entity
  • an independent board or equivalent body that is not legally controlled by a university, local health district, specialty network, and/or a public or private health care facility
  • organisational mechanisms to determine its own research direction and strategy, including a director with clear responsibilities regarding the organisation’s research direction and activities
  • identifiable infrastructure and overall organisational budgets, and control over how funds are spent, including externally audited financial statements
  • an intellectual property policy that is congruent with the National Principles of Intellectual Property Management for Publicly Funded Research (NHMRC, 2021).

• Conducting high-quality research at sufficient scale 
  The applicant organisation must be conducting high-quality research at a sufficient scale, as demonstrated by an average annual income from eligible competitive grants of at least $3 million over the period 2021–2023.
  
  Nationally competitive health and medical research grants from the following sources are eligible for inclusion:

  • Australian Research Council
  • Cancer Australia
  • Medical Research Future Fund
  • National Health and Medical Research Council

  Not all grants from these sources are eligible for inclusion. A grant is eligible only if it meets all the following criteria:

  • Funds are provided on a nationally competitive basis.
  • Funds are awarded for health and medical research.
  • The scheme is advertised nationally and available to all Australian research organisations.
  • The scheme has a well-defined mechanism for competition and selection by a qualified panel.

  Additionally, the applicant institute must be responsible for the provision of infrastructure support for any research project claimed as eligible income. Grant recipients must report and be accountable to the applicant institute’s director (or equivalent). Where a researcher’s salary is paid by another organisation, a formal workplace agreement between the application institute and the researcher must be in place. 
  
  The Ministry of Health’s decision on the eligibility of grants is final. 

• Financial viability 
  The applicant organisation must demonstrate financial viability with a liquidity ratio greater than 1.0 and a low level of debt. Applicants will be required to provide their most recent audited financial accounts as evidence of this.
  
  Please note that as part of the application process, a responsible person from the organisation (Director, Chief Executive, Chief Financial Officer or equivalent) will be required to sign a formal letter of declaration to:
  • certify the accuracy of evidence provided to fulfil criteria 4 and 5
  • agree to NSW Health exchanging information provided in the application with other NSW Government-funded research infrastructure programs.

MRSP funding is NOT available to:

• Affiliations of convenience – weakly affiliated research groups that represent themselves as a single entity solely for the purpose of meeting the eligibility criteria
• Organisations that facilitate research – research communities representing themselves as research organisations, hubs or consortia
• Controlled entities or units of other organisations – research groups that have, for example, a university or health service as their parent entity.

Step 1: Initial eligibility appraisal 

Following the closing date for applications, the Office for Health and Medical Research (OHMR) will make an appraisal as to whether each applicant has satisfied all eligibility criteria. OHMR may request further information from applicants to clarify or confirm material contained in the application.

Step 2: Independent review of applications 

An independent review panel will review OHMR’s initial appraisal. The panel will be chaired by the Executive Director, OHMR and include the Chief Financial Officer, NSW Health and three independent members, including one interstate member.

Step 3: Recommendation to Minister

The panel will make a recommendation to the Minister for Medical Research on which applicants should enter the program and the proposed funding allocation for Period 1.

Step 4: Successful applicants announced

Once the Minister has made a decision, all applicants will be informed in writing of the result. This decision is final; no further correspondence will be entered into.

Step 5: Funding agreements initiated

OHMR will make contact with successful applicants to establish funding agreements.