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MRFF 2026 Clinician Researchers: Nurses, Midwives and Allied Health

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Key Dates

  • Release of Funding Guidelines: 26 August 2026
  • Proposals open in Sapphire: 26 August 2026
  • UQ R&I Notice of Intent due: 7 October 2026
  • Minimum data requirements in Sapphire: 14 October 2026, 5pm ACT local time
  • Applications due to UQ R&I: 14 October 2026
  • Applications close: 11 November 2026, 5pm ACT local time

Overview

The MRFF Clinician Researchers Initiative aims to support the next generation of Australian health professionals to drive research, improve clinical care and practice, and build research capacity across the health system. The 2026 Clinician Researchers: Nurses, Midwives and Allied Health Grant Opportunity provides funding for research led by nurses, midwives and allied health professionals that improves health care practice, service delivery and patient outcomes.

Grants up to $1.5 million for projects of up to 3 years’ duration will be provided under two streams:

  • Stream 1 (Targeted Call for Research): conduct clinician researcher-led research within health services to accelerate translation of evidence into practice. Furthermore, projects should:
    • Address a clearly defined health care priority from local health care and/or practice, and
    • Have the potential to improve clinical practice or health system effectiveness and therefore better outcomes for consumers, and
    • Be embedded within health services or coordinated across networks and thus able to provide immediate benefit to consumers, and
    • Where possible, build clinician researcher capacity and capability.
  • Stream 2 (Targeted Call for Research): conduct clinician researcher-led research that strengthens health system performance, workforce innovation and/or service improvement. Applicants must apply in one of four sub-streams (Topics):
    1. Models of care
    2. Professional scope of practice
    3. Workforce development: regional, rural and remote settings
    4. Workforce development: pathways to research

Successful applicants under Stream 2, Topic D will be required to engage with the Department of health, Disability and Ageing during the conduct of the project to inform policy development.

Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to read the grant opportunity guidelines to inform themselves of additional requirements pertaining to each of the topics above.

There is no minimum grant amount.

Eligibility

Applications to both Streams must propose research conducted by a team of at least two and no more than 15 Chief Investigators where:

  • the CIA is a clinician researcher AND
  • at least 60% of all Chief Investigators (including the CIA) are clinician researchers (nurses, midwives, or allied health professionals).

Multidisciplinary research teams are encouraged but the Chief Investigator A and 60% of the CI team must be registered nurses or midwives or allied health professionals.

A clinician researcher is defined as an individual who holds current professional registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) or the National Alliance of Self-Regulating Health Professions, is a registered art therapist or registered sonographer, or is a social worker eligible for full membership of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).

There is no requirement for a Chief Investigator to hold a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) to be eligible to participate in this grant opportunity.

Application limits

An application may only be submitted to one of the above two streams. That is, the same application (or a substantially similar application) cannot be submitted to both streams.

A Chief Investigator may be named on a maximum of one application per stream. If a CI is named on more than one application submitted to a stream of this grant opportunity, both applications in that stream will be considered ineligible.

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.

Submit UQ Notice of Intent

Step 2. Sapphire updates and scheme reading

  • Register for Sapphire and update your full profile 'My Profile and CV'. 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. 
  • Download guidelines and application templates from GrantConnect. Familiarise yourself with the key MRFF, NHMRC and UQ documentation (see below). 

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 above). Applications that do not meet this deadline will not be able to proceed.

Step 4. 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 the UQ Research Office at mrffgrants@research.uq.edu.au with your completed MRFF Funding Application Certification form (below).
  • UQ 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.

Letters of Support

UQ Letters

Most MRFF applications administered in Sapphire will not require a letter of support from UQ. This is usually only necessary if UQ is committing cash to the project.

We ask that UQ researchers submit draft letters for signing to us no later than two weeks before the external closing date. We strongly recommend working with your local school/institute research professionals to complete this process.

Partner Letters

We 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 partner letter of support is provided below.

Non-UQ Lead Applications

  • The administering organisation should provide you with a draft letter of support. We recommend you work with your local research support to complete the letter. 
  • 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 evidence for any additional co-contributions.

Readership and researcher support

Before applying, we recommend you:

Key documents

MRFF

Please note: An addendum (PDF, 559.7 KB) was issued for this opportunity on 11 September 2026. The addendum involved changes to the grant opportunity Guidelines and Grant Proposal Template. Applicants should ensure they download and use v1.1 of these documents when developing their applications.

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

UQ forms and resources