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NIHR/NHMRC/MRFF – 2025 Australia-UK Platform Studies in Areas of Unmet Clinical Need

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Overview

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) UK, Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Australia are inviting applications for ambitious platform trials (Phase 2 or 3) in areas of unmet medical need. The platform must be internationally collaborative, with joint leads based in Australia (for the Australian-based component of the trial) and the UK (for the UK-based component of the trial).

Existing platforms are not eligible to apply for further funding under this call, and should apply through other existing MRFF, NHMRC and NIHR funding schemes.

Funding Duration
  • for the Australian-based component the maximum grant amount that can be requested is up to $5 million AUD over 7 years, with a total contribution of up to $15m AUD.
  • for the NIHR UK-based component, there is approximately £2.6m per award over 7 years, with a total contribution of up to £7.8 million GBP.  

Application Process

Applications to this funding opportunity will follow a three-stage application process.

Australian investigators must be included in the application for funding submitted to the NIHR UK as required under the official call. Investigators with Stage 1 and Stage 2 applications assessed as fundable by the NIHR UK must be invited to apply for either MRFF or NHMRC funding as described in the overview of the process below:

Stage 1. Initial application to NIHR (January-July 2025)

  1. Applications that are jointly led by Australian and UK researchers are submitted to the NIHR through the NIHR’s UK electronic online system REALMS . For application requirements, see the guidelines on the NIHR scheme page.

Deadline: 23 July 2025 10:00 UK (UTC+1) / 19:00 AEST(UTC+10))

Stage 2. Full application to NIHR (October-November 2025)

  1. Top-ranked applicants are invited to the next stage to provide a full application to the NIHR UK via REALMS.

Deadline: 27 November 2025 (10:00 UK (UTC+0) / 21:00 AEDT (UTC+11)) 

  1. Full applications are assessed and recommendation on applications considered fundable for the UK component proceeds.

Stage 3. Application to NHMRC/MRFF (anticipated January-July 2026)

  1. NIHR UK provides a list of recommended applications to the Department of Health and Aged Care and the NHMRC.
  2. Applicants are invited to apply for MRFF or NHMRC funding through the NHMRC online system Sapphire.

Deadline: TBA, anticipated June 2026

  1. Applications are reviewed and grant recommendations will be made.
  2. Final outcomes will be notified to the UK and Australian joint leads of all applications.


Key resources

Note. Application resources for Australian applicants invited to apply for MRFF or NHMRC funding under this call will be made available when the scheme opens in Sapphire in 2026.

NIHR Resources

NHMRC/MRFF Resources

For questions, please contact the Pre-Award Health team via
nhmrc@research.uq.edu.au.

Contact UQ R&I

Scheme and Sapphire queries

Round coordinators
Pre-Award Health team

If you are applying through UQ but are not a current UQ staff member, please contact the round team above so that you can be added to a mailing list for updates.