MRFF 2026 National Critical Research Infrastructure

The MRFF 2026 National Critical Research Infrastructure scheme is currently open to applications.

Key dates

Release of Funding Guidelines : 18 February 2026
Applications open in BGH: 18 February 2026
UQ R&I Notice of Intent due: 15 June 2026
Applications due to UQ R&I: 22 June 2026
Applications close in BGH: 5 pm Brisbane time (AEST), 14 July 2026

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 – Innovation enablers: Address an area of unmet medical need by promoting the development and implementation of new research infrastructure by supporting development and/or expansion of research enablers such as biobanks, tissue repositories, novel platforms, and secure health data environments to create valuable research resources.
Stream 2 – Digitisation of health care: Translate or implement innovative artificial intelligence technologies into health applications that:
- benefit multiple health disciplines/areas
- involve consumers in the research journey to ensure the research is applicable to the needs of the Australian community; and
- increase artificial intelligence workforce capacity and capability, particularly in relation to health, through cross-sector and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Stream 3 – Co-investment partnerships: Utilise co-investment (cash only) with the research sector, state and/or territory governments, and industry, in significant critical research infrastructure (e.g. facilities, personnel and equipment):
- to support development of research capacity, capability and/or effectiveness in an area of unmet medical need, or
- to enable Australian research using new platforms, systems and services in an area of unmet medical need.
Stream 4 – mRNA technology enablers: Leverage and enhance emerging mRNA technologies, platforms, and/or equipment to accelerate development of mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics in an area of unmet medical need.

For Streams 1, 2 and 4 there is no minimum grant amount and a maximum amount of $3 million. For Stream 3 there is no minimum grant amount and a maximum amount of $7 million.

Grants funded under Stream 3 will be funded under a co-funding model. Applications are sought from consortia of at least one academic organisation and at least one other organisation which may be industry or state/territory government. The consortia (which includes the applicant) must contribute at least 34% of the total eligible project cost in cash (not in-kind). The MRFF will contribute up to 66% (up to $7 million) of overall eligible project costs.

How to apply

Step 1: Internal Notice of Intent

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.

Submit UQ Notice of Intent

Step 2. Scheme reading

Locate and download the scheme documents from the Business.gov website (business.gov.au).
Familiarise yourself with the key Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and UQ documentation. It is especially important to familiarise yourself with the Grant opportunity guidelines.

Step 3. Begin the application

Sign into the business.gov.au grants portal and start a new application. Register for an account with your UQ email address if you have not used the portal before.
When starting a new application, please enter UQ’s ABN and respond ‘Yes’ to “Are you a charity registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC)?”. If you answer this question incorrectly, you may have to start a new application.
Work through and familiarise yourself with the sections of the application. The online application has substantive sections in addition to multiple required attachments. Use the MRFF and UQ templates that are provided at the bottom this page to complete the application.
Parts of the application form require details about UQ. If these have not already been provided to you, please contact the Research Office at mrffgrants@research.uq.edu.au for these details.
Letters of support are required for all partner organisations, including organisations with CIs on the application. UQ R&I strongly advises applicants to start collecting these early using the template below, as this process is a bottleneck for many applications.

Step 4. UQ R&I internal review and feedback

Ahead of internal review, ensure all application components are complete/valid and add grants-manager@research.uq.edu.au as the primary contact email in your application within the portal.
To initiate internal review, email your completed MRFF Funding Application Certification form (below) to UQ R&I at mrffgrants@research.uq.edu.au and let us know your application is complete and ready for review.

Do not submit the application in the portal at this stage.

UQ Research Office will review your application and provide you with feedback as requested in your NOI (eligibility & compliance; refinement; or content grantscraft).

Step 5. Final submission

When the Research Office has confirmed that your application is complete and fully compliant, the final submission should be completed by the Chief Investigator (CI).
Please contact us early if you believe there may be a problem with submitting the application.

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 UQ MRFF Funding Application Coversheet (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, submit draft letters to mrffgrants@research.uq.edu.au no later than two weeks before the external closing date.

Applications led by UQ

Draft a letter of support using the template CEO letter of support provided in the resource section below. We recommend you work with your local research support to complete the letter.
Submit the draft letter and a complete Funding Application Certification form to mrffgrants@research.uq.edu.au, along with written confirmation of any additional co-contributions.

Applications led by other organisations

The administering organisation should provide you with a draft letter of support. Complete the draft letter with appropriate details of UQ’s involvement in the application. Some of the UQ information in the CEO letter template below may be useful for this.
Complete and sign an MRFF Funding Application Certification form (see below), and get it countersigned by your Head of School/Institute.
Submit both to mrffgrants@research.uq.edu.au, along with written confirmation of any additional co-contributions.

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

Key documents

MRFF

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

GrantConnect MRFF 2026 National Critical Research Infrastructure Grant Opportunity (Guidelines and application templates should be downloaded from here before commencing application)

More information and other opportunity documents are also available on the Business Grants Hub website:

MRFF 2026 National Critical Research Infrastructure Grant Opportunity

UQ forms and resources

Please refer to our Applying to the MRFF webpage for additional information, including additional Guides and Resources, about preparing and submitting an application.

UQ MRFF 2026 NCRI Budget Spreadsheet - Coming Soon