MRFF 2025 Childhood Mental Health Research

Key dates for MRFF 2025 Childhood Mental Health Research

Applications open in Sapphire: 5 September 2025
UQ R&I NOI close: 18 February 2026
Minimum data requirements in Sapphire: 5pm ACT time 25 February 2026
Applications due to UQ R&I: 4 March 2026
Applications close: 5pm ACT time 25 March 2026

Overview

This MRFF 2025 Childhood Mental Health Research grant opportunity will provide financial assistance to support medical research and medical innovation projects that conduct large-scale implementation research projects to bring evidence-based preventions and treatments, including those that are technologically enabled, into practice that:

are in partnership with local health and community service providers
are co-produced and/or co-designed with children and their families, carers, and the community
support the integration of mental health services for children and their families and carers
build clinical research workforce capacity
address mental health issues that are a priority for the community
measure the impact of the interventions
address barriers and build upon enablers to support and scale implementation.

Applications to this grant opportunity must propose research that addresses one of the three Topics of research. An application may only be submitted to one of the following topics:

Topic A (Aim 2 of Research Plan; Targeted Call for Research): improving the mental health of First Nations children through research led by First Nations researchers that includes meaningful involvement of First Nations communities.
Topic B (Aim 2 of Research Plan; Targeted Call for Research): the organisation undertaking the majority of the research is based in any area according to the Modified Monash Model locator (MM1–7).
Topic C (Aim 2 of Research Plan; Targeted Call for Research): the organisation undertaking the majority of the research, the Chief Investigator A and 50% or more of all Chief Investigators, and all research participants are primarily based in a regional, rural or remote area according to the Modified Monash Model locator (MM2–7).

There is no minimum grant amount and the maximum amount available for a single grant is $5.0 million.

Eligibility

For applications to all Topics (Topic A, Topic B, Topic C), 50% or more of the Chief Investigator team must be early to mid-career researchers and/or peer researchers.

For applications to Topic A, the proposed research is either led by an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander researcher or conducted by a research team comprised of Chief Investigators of which 50% or more are Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander researchers.

For applications to Topic C, the Chief Investigator A and 50% or more of all Chief Investigators, and all research participants must be primarily based in a regional, rural or remote area according to the Modified Monash Model locator (MM2-7)

How to Apply

Internal notice of intent process

All researchers intending to submit an MRFF application are required to submit a mandatory internal Notice of Intent. NOIs will be collated centrally and distributed to Faculties and Institutes in order to provide maximum support to the UQ research community.

Submit Notice of Intent

Step 1. Sapphire updates and scheme reading

Register for Sapphire and update your full profile 'My Profile and CV'. The Grant Opportunity will be run through the new National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grants management system, Sapphire, which replaces RGMS. If any team members are new to Sapphire and need a login/password, start early. The NHMRC require at least three working days to create new Sapphire accounts.
Familiarise yourself with the key MRFF, NHMRC and The University of Queensland (UQ) documentation.

Step 2. Completing the application

Log into Sapphire and complete the application

Step 3. UQ R&I internal review and feedback

Ahead of internal review, ensure all online components are complete and valid in Sapphire and CIA has initiated the Certification process. Application errors will be signalled and can be corrected during the Certification stage.
To initiate internal review, email your completed Funding Application Certification to UQ R&I at mrffgrants@research.uq.edu.au.
Internal review by UQ R&I/feedback provided (compliance/eligibility/grantsmanship).

Step 4. Final submission

Final submission by UQ R&I to NHMRC.

Letters of Support

Signing for all letters of support from UQ is co-ordinated through the Research Office. All Letters of support for MRFF applications, including those led by other institutions, must be accompanied by a completed Funding Application Certification (see below) and authorisations of any enumerated contributions or additional UQ staff beyond the lead CI listed in the letter. We strongly recommend working with your local school/institute research professionals to complete this process.

To provide time for review and signature, we ask that UQ researchers submit draft letters to mrffgrants@research.uq.edu.au no later than two weeks before the external closing date.

Partner Letters

We would encourage applicants to provide drafts of partner letters of support for review by the Research office before organising their final signature to ensure eligibility and compliance. A template Letter of Support is provided below.

Non-UQ Lead Applications

The administering organisation should provide you with a draft letter of support. UQ information from the CEO letter below may assist you in completing the letter.
Complete a generic Funding Application Certification, and get it countersigned by your Head of School/Institute.
Submit both to mrffgrants@research.uq.edu.au, along with evidence for any additional co-contributions.

Readership and research support

Before applying, we recommend you:

Contact your faculty or institute research manager for advice on peer readership programs.
Join the UQ R&I Mailer to stay up to date with round developments.
Access the UQ R&I Grants Library, a helpful resource of past successful proposals.

If offered, attend UQ R&I information sessions and access PowerPoint presentations from presentations and slides.

Key documents

Before applying, please review the full suite of documents available from GrantConnect, the Australian Government grants information system and: