NHMRC Targeted Calls for Research
A Targeted Call for Research (TCR) is a one-time solicitation for grant applications to address a specific health issue. A TCR specifies the scope and objectives of the research to be proposed, application requirements and procedures, and the review criteria to be applied in the evaluation of applications submitted in response to the TCR.
Click on the following headings to view key dates and call specific documentation for current rounds.
How to apply
Step 1: Internal Notice of Intent (NOI)
All researchers intending to submit an MRFF application are required to submit an 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.
Step 2. Sapphire updates and scheme reading
Register for Sapphire and review/update your Profile. All Chief Investigators (CI) and Associate Investigators (AI) will need to have an active Sapphire account. Any team members without a Sapphire account should request one as early as possible. The NHMRC require at least three working days to create new Sapphire accounts.
- Familiarise yourself with the key MRFF, NHMRC and UQ documentation
Step 3. Completing the application
- Log into Sapphire and complete the application. Sections of the application will validate as they are completed.
- Ensure all required data is entered into the application before the Minimum Data deadline (see Key dates for each call). Applications that do not meet this deadline will not be able to proceed.
Step 4. UQ R&I internal review and feedback
- Sapphire application completion: Ahead of internal review, ensure all online components are complete and valid in Sapphire and supporting documents have been uploaded.
- Sapphire Certification/Submit to RAO: Select 'Certification' from the left-hand menu within your TCR Grant application and follow the instructions to submit the application to the RAO.
- UQR&I Review Request: Email your completed UQ NHMRC TCR Application Certification Form (with Head of School/Institute Signature) to UQ R&I at nhmrc@research.uq.edu.au.
- UQR&I Review: The Research Office will review your application and provide you with feedback as requested in NOI (eligibility & compliance; refinement; or content grantscraft).
Step 5. Final submission
- When your application is complete and fully compliant, the UQ Research Office will submit the application to the NHMRC through Sapphire.
UQ R&I Support and Key documents
Key Documents
NHMRC
Before applying, please review the full suite of documents available GrantConnect the Australian Government grants information system.
Additional information on Targeted Calls for Research is available on the NHMRC website .
UQ documents
- UQ NHMRC Application Certification Form (DOCX, 72.1 KB)
- UQ NHMRC Participating Organisations Certification Form (DOCX, 39.5 KB)
- UQ Guide on Sex, Gender, and Related Variables (PDF, 187 KB)
UQ Library support
A range of resources and workshops from the UQ library are also available to assist researchers applying for this scheme.
- Research impact and metrics drop-in sessions
- Researcher identifiers and profiles
- Library Guide on research impact evidence
Readership and researcher support
Before applying, we recommend you:
- Familiarise yourself with the framework for Applying for Competitive Research Grants at UQ.
- Contact your faculty or institute research manager for advice on peer readership programs.
- Subscribe to 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.
- Read the UQ R&I Grant writing advice and strategy website for tips on preparing your application
2026 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce
This round is open to applications.
Key Dates
- UQ R&I Notification of Intent (NOI): Wednesday, 14 October 2026
- Minimum data requirements in Sapphire: Wednesday, 21 October 2026 17:00 ACT local time
- Applications due to UQ R&I: Wednesday, 21 October 2026
- Applications close with the NHMRC: Wednesday, 4 November 2026 17:00 ACT local time
Overview
The Targeted Call for Research (TCR): Strengthening the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce Pipeline to Improve Health Equity aims to improve understanding of the enablers and barriers influencing attraction, education, recruitment, retention, career progression and leadership across the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce pipeline, including diverse and non-linear workforce pathways. The TCR will support research that evaluates workforce development initiatives, strengthens research and evaluation capability, develops practical and culturally responsive tools and frameworks, and generates evidence-based recommendations to support workforce development approaches and long-term improvements in health equity.
The objectives of this grant opportunity are to:
- Improve understanding of the enablers and barriers influencing attraction, education, recruitment, retention, career progression and leadership across Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce pipeline, including diverse and non-linear workforce pathways.
- Evaluate the effectiveness, sustainability and cultural responsiveness of existing workforce development initiatives, models and strategies including contextual conditions that support their success.
- Strengthen research and evaluation capability in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce through meaningful participation, training and leadership opportunities.
- Develop practical and culturally responsive tools, frameworks and measures to support workforce evaluation, planning and continuous improvement.
- Generate evidence-based recommendations that support scalable, gender-balanced workforce development approaches and long-term improvements in health equity.
The expected outcomes of this TCR are described in Section 2.2 of the grant opportunity guidelines.
This TCR will not support:
- Projects where their primary focus is:
- Delivery or expansion of workforce programs, services or interventions without a substantive research or evaluation component.
- Clinical, biomedical or patient-focused research where strengthening the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce is not the primary focus.
- Development or implementation of policy, legislative, accreditation, education or industrial reforms, rather than generating evidence to inform workforce development.
- Individual staff performance management, competency assessment, accreditation or other workforce management activities.
- Research based entirely overseas (outside Australia). International collaboration should show local context and demonstrate relevance.
The provisional funding allocation for the TCR: Strengthening the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce Pipeline to Improve Health Equity 2026 is $5 million. Following peer review, the top ranked applications will be funded until the funding pool is exhausted. Grants may be requested for between 1 and 5 years, depending on the proposed research program.
Eligibility
- The CIA must be of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent.
- Applicants can only apply as Chief Investigator A (CIA) on one application to this TCR.
- Applicants who wish to apply on multiple applications may not be listed in the CI team on more than two applications.
- At the time of acceptance and for the duration of a grant, the CIA must be an Australian or New Zealand citizen, or permanent resident of Australia, or have an appropriate work visa in place. The CIA must also be based in Australia for at least 80% of the funding period.
Investigator and project eligibility details are outlined in Section 4 of the grant opportunity guidelines.
Notification of Intent (NOI)
Please notify us of your intent to apply by 14 October 2026.
NOIs are mandatory for all UQ-led applications. They help to ensure that the University’s developing field of applicants is well supported. Consolidated listings of NOIs will be provided to respective Faculties, Institutes, School and Centres.
2026 Reframing Women’s Health
This round is currently under assessment.
Key Dates
- UQR&I Notice of Intent (NOI): Wednesday, 15 July 2026 17:00 AEST
- Minimum data requirement in Sapphire: Wednesday, 22 July 2026 17:00 AEST
- Applications due to UQ R&I: Wednesday, 29 July 2026 17:00 AEST
- Applications close with the NHMRC: Wednesday, 5 August 2026 17:00 AEST
Overview
The Targeted Call for Research (TCR) on Reframing Women's Health aims to accelerate research that transforms the diagnosis, care and therapeutic landscape for children with dementia and their families.
The objectives of this grant opportunity are to:
- Improve the quality of sex- and gender-sensitive research design and reporting by developing, testing, or embedding methodologies that correctly define and measure sex and gender, incorporate intersectionality, and improve sex- and gender-disaggregated data and analysis, with sex- and gender-based methodologies integrated as a core component of study design, in alignment with the Statement on Sex, Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation in Health and Medical Research.
- Address priority health issues that disproportionately or differentially affect women by generating evidence or interventions in high-burden areas (e.g, cardiovascular diseases, mental health, musculoskeletal conditions, dementia, anxiety disorders, menopause, migraine).
- Build researcher capability and shifts research culture by implementing training, tools, or frameworks that enhance researcher literacy in sex- and gender methodologies, intersectionality, culturally safe research, including appropriate governance arrangements and codesign approaches that support culturally safe practice.
- Mobilise collaboration and strengthen research ecosystems by encouraging cross-disciplinary partnerships, integrate consumers and priority populations, and leverage existing datasets (including retrospective and linkage studies) with appropriate sex- and gender-frameworks for innovative women’s health research. Collaboration across institutions, disciplines, and sectors is strongly encouraged.
- Enhance translation into policy, education, and practice by translating research outputs to inform clinical guidelines, workforce education, regulatory frameworks, health service design, and societal understanding of sex- and gender-impacts on health.
This TCR will not support:
- Research based entirely overseas (outside of Australia). International research should show local context and demonstrate relevance.
- Projects solely focused on reproductive or sexual health unless they explicitly examine systemic bias or are directly connected to broader life-course health trajectories. Funding available and grant period.
The provisional funding allocation for this TCR is $5 million. Following peer review, the top ranked applications will be funded until the funding pool is exhausted.
A TCR: Reframing Women’s Health 2026 grant can be requested for between 1 and 5 years depending on the proposal.Eligibility
- Applicants can only apply as Chief Investigator A (CIA) on one application to this TCR.
- Applicants who wish to apply on multiple applications may not be listed in the CI team on more than two applications.
- At the time of acceptance and for the duration of a grant, the CIA must be an Australian or New Zealand citizen, or permanent resident of Australia, or have an appropriate work visa in place. The CIA must also be based in Australia for at least 80% of the funding period.
Investigator and project eligibility details are outlined in Section 4 of the grant opportunity guidelines.
Notification of Intent (NOI)
NOIs can be submitted here and are due by 15 July 2026.
Please note this Notice of Intent (NOI) is mandatory for all UQ applications for the NHMRC Targeted Call for Research schemes in 2026. It will help ensure that the University’s developing field of applicants is well supported. Consolidated listings of NOIs will be provided to respective Faculties, Institutes, Schools and Centres.
2026 Childhood Dementia
This round is currently under assessment.
Key Dates
- UQ R&I Notification of Intent (NOI): Wednesday, 13 May 2026 17:00 AEST
- Minimum data requirements in Sapphire: Wednesday, 20 May 2026 17:00 AEST
- Applications due to UQ R&I: Wednesday, 20 May 2026 17:00 AEST
- Applications close with the NHMRC: Wednesday, 3 June 2026 17:00 AEST
Overview
The Targeted Call for Research (TCR) on Childhood Dementia aims to accelerate research that transforms the diagnosis, care and therapeutic landscape for children with dementia and their families.
Please note: For the purpose of this grant opportunity, ‘childhood dementia’ refers to conditions diagnosed between birth and 18 years of age. Research proposals may include participants older than 18 years, provided the initial diagnosis occurred within this 0-18 age range.
The objectives of this grant opportunity are to:
- Develop rapid diagnostic pathways to improve screening and diagnosis. This includes improving clinician awareness, creating standardised protocols, and enabling timely access to treatment and support through rapid diagnostic approaches.
- Design and evaluate evidence-based multidisciplinary care frameworks for children diagnosed with dementia. This should include rehabilitation therapies, symptom management strategies for pain, sleep, communication, mobility and behavioural issues, as well as integrated palliative care approaches. Education for healthcare professionals and carers on managing complex symptoms should also be considered.
- Advance therapeutic development and health system readiness through translational research that will uncover disease mechanisms and identify novel therapeutic targets. This should also include building capacity in the healthcare sector to increase access to disease modifying treatments for affected children. The research should also address systemic barriers such as education, referral pathways and care coordination with the aim to develop evidence-based guidelines to standardise and reduce variation in care.
- Improve psychosocial and family support by developing and testing interventions that address the mental health, grief and wellbeing of families and carers. Research should focus on scalable models for psychological support and care coordination to reduce caregiver burden and strengthen family resilience.
The expected outcomes of this TCR are described in Section 2.2 of the grant opportunity guidelines.
This TCR will not support:
- Research based entirely overseas (outside of Australia). International research should show local context and demonstrate relevance.
- Research that is purely observational and does not specifically lead to an intervention that can be tested.
Funding available
The provisional funding allocation for this TCR is $5 million. Following peer review, the top ranked applications will be funded until the funding pool is exhausted. The amount of funding for a grant will be based on assessment of the requested budget. Applications must clearly justify the requested duration and budget and how they will support the proposed outcomes of the research. Peer reviewers will consider this information and may recommend the reduction of the duration and/or budget to ensure the research aims and objectives can be achieved while ensuring value with money. A reduced budget does not reduce the scope of the proposed grant activity.
Grant period
A TCR: Childhood Dementia 2026 grant can be requested for between 1 and 5 years depending on the proposal.
Eligibility
- Applicants can only apply as Chief Investigator A (CIA) on one application to this TCR.
- Applicants who wish to apply on multiple applications may not be listed in the CI team on more than two applications.
- At the time of acceptance and for the duration of a grant, the CIA must be an Australian or New Zealand citizen, or permanent resident of Australia, or have an appropriate work visa in place. The CIA must also be based in Australia for at least 80% of the funding period.
Investigator and project eligibility details are outlined in Section 4 of the grant opportunity guidelines.
2026 Serving and Ex-Serving Australian Defence Force Members Mental Health and Wellbeing
This round is currently under assessment.
Key Dates
- UQR&I Notice of Intent (NOI): Wednesday, 22 April 2026 17:00 AEST
- Minimum data requirement in Sapphire: Wednesday, 29 April 2026 17:00 AEST
- Applications due to UQ R&I: Wednesday, 29 April 2026 17:00 AEST
- Applications close with NHMRC: Wednesday, 13 May 2026 17:00 AEST
Overview
The Targeted Call for Research (TCR) on Serving and Ex-Serving Australian Defence Force (ADF) Members Mental Health and Wellbeing aims to generate high-quality evidence and develop practical, implementable actions to improve mental and physical health and promote wellbeing among serving and ex-serving ADF members, with consideration given to the impact on their support networks, including family, dependants and carers.
The objectives of this grant opportunity are to facilitate research that:
- Focuses on translation and implementation, with actions and methods that can be adopted by mainstream community health services.
- Targets prevention and early intervention strategies that improve long-term health outcomes and builds the evidence for scalable and implementable programs and/or strategies that aim to improve holistic and functional outcomes throughout the patient journey.
- Promotes collaborative and multidisciplinary research approaches that recognise the complex and intersecting physical and mental health needs of serving and ex-serving ADF members, and ways to improve these through prevention and early intervention.
This TCR will not support:
- Research based entirely overseas (outside of Australia). International research should show local context and content and demonstrate relevance.
- Research that is purely observational and does not specifically lead to an intervention that can be tested.
- Research that does not provide evidence that will contribute to policy or practice.
- Any research that has already been funded by another funding organisation including the Department of Veterans’ Affairs Veteran and Family – Learning and Innovation Network of Knowledge (VF-LINK) initiative.=
Funding Available
A total of $10 million will be allocated across three streams:
- Stream 1 ($3 million): One flagship project up to $3 million for up to 5 years.
- Stream 2 ($4 million): Up to $1 million per grant for up to 3 years.
- Stream 3 ($3 million): Up to $500,000 per grant for up to 3 years.
The overall aims and project requirements for each stream, including capacity-building requirements, can be found on Section 3.1 of the grant opportunity guidelines.
Eligibility
- Applicants can only apply as Chief Investigator A (CIA) on one application to this TCR.
- Applicants who wish to apply on multiple applications may not be listed in the CI team on more than two applications.
- At the time of acceptance and for the duration of a grant, the CIA must be an Australian or New Zealand citizen, or permanent resident of Australia, or have an appropriate work visa in place. The CIA must also be based in Australia for at least 80% of the funding period.
Investigator and project eligibility details are outlined in Section 4 of the grant opportunity guidelines.
Contact UQ R&I
Scheme and Sapphire queries
nhmrc@research.uq.edu.au
Round coordinator
Pre-Award Health Team
If you are applying through UQ but you are not a current UQ staff member, please contact the round coordinator so that you can be added to a mailing list for updates.