Research support

MRFF 2024 Clinical Trial Enabling Infrastructure

  1. Home
  2. Resources and support
  3. Research office
  4. Research grants
  5. Funding schemes
  6. Medical Research Future Fund

Key dates for MRFF 2024 Clinical Trial Enabling Infrastructure Grant Opportunity

  • Release of Funding Rules: 20 December 2024
  • Opening Date: 9am AEST time, 13 February 2025
  • UQ R&I NOI Close: 19 June 2025
  • Applications due to UQ R&I: 19 June 2025
  • Applications close: 5pm AEDT time, 17 July 2025

Overview

The objective of this grant opportunity is to provide grants of financial assistance 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:
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Topic C (Targeted Call for Research): expanding an existing adaptive platform trial by adding new domains that address an area of unmet need.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Grants available

The amounts available for a single grant are as follows:

  • Stream 1, Topic A: the maximum amount for a single grant is $0.3 million.
  • Stream 1, Topic B: the maximum amount for a single grant is $5.0 million.
  • Stream 1, Topic C: the maximum amount for a single grant is $3.0 million.
  • Stream 2: the maximum amount for a single grant is $1.5 million.
  • Stream 3: the maximum amount for a single grant is $7.0 million.  

Note – MRFF grants administered by AusIndustry require valid Letters of Support from all project partners included on the application. We recommend organising these letters as soon as possible during grant preparation, as arranging signature may take some time.  Please consult the Guidelines or the template provided below to ensure that you meet the requirements of a valid Letter of Support.

How to Apply

Internal notice of intent process

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 1. Scheme reading

  • Access the scheme documents from the AusIndustry website (filter by scheme name).
  • Familiarise yourself with the key Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and UQ documentation.

Step 2. Completing the application

  • Go to the business.gov.au portal and follow the links to complete the application.
  • Note that the online application has substantive sections in addition to the required attachments – we recommend that applicants familiarise themselves with all parts of the application before commencing.
  • Letters of support are required for all partner organisations. UQ R&I strongly advises applicants to start collecting these early using the template below, as this process represents a major bottleneck for many applications.

Step 3. UQ R&I internal review and feedback

  • Ahead of internal review, ensure all components are complete/valid and send the completed application form to UQ R&I.
  • To initiate internal review, email your completed Funding Application Certification to UQ R&I at mrffgrants@research.uq.edu.au.
  • Do not submit the application in the portal at this stage.
  • Internal review by UQ R&I/feedback provided (compliance/eligibility/grantsmanship).

Step 4. Final submission

  • Final submission should be completed by the applicant. 

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 Coversheet (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.

UQ Lead Applications

  • The draft CEO letter and Coversheet are provided in the resource section below.
  • Complete and submit both to mrffgrants@research.uq.edu.au, along with evidence for any additional co-contributions.

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 researcher support

Before applying, we recommend you:

Key documents

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

•    GrantConnect Forecast Opportunity MRFF National Critical Infrastructure Initiative: 2024 Clinical Trial Enabling Infrastructure

UQ

Contact UQ R&I

Scheme queries

Round coordinator
Research Office Grants Team
If you are applying through UQ but you are not a current UQ staff member, please contact the round coordinator to be added to the UQ R&I mailing list.