MRFF International Clinical Trial Collaborations Grant 2026 (GO8232): Up to AUD 3 Million for Australian Trial Sites
The Australian Government’s MRFF grant supports Australian involvement in international investigator-initiated clinical trials, with up to AUD 3 million available per grant and applications closing on 16 September 2026.
MRFF International Clinical Trial Collaborations Grant 2026 (GO8232): Up to AUD 3 Million for Australian Trial Sites
The Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) International Clinical Trial Collaborations Grant Opportunity (GO8232) is a targeted Australian Government grant for research teams that are ready to add or coordinate Australian sites in an international investigator-initiated clinical trial. The 2026 round is open now and closes at 5:00 p.m. Australian Capital Territory local time on 16 September 2026. A separate minimum-data submission is due by 5:00 p.m. ACT time on 19 August 2026.
This is a specialised opportunity rather than a general medical research grant. The project must address a specific health need, involve international research counterparts, and produce evidence about a novel treatment, drug, device, or innovative application of an existing intervention in usual-care settings. The Australian component is central: funding can support Australian trial sites or an Australia-based international coordinating centre, but the grant is not designed to fund research carried out entirely overseas.
The opportunity is administered by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. Up to AUD 13 million is available for this opportunity in 2026–27, with no minimum award and a maximum of AUD 3 million for a single grant. A project can request a grant period of up to seven years. The official NHMRC opportunity page links to the current GrantConnect material, which is the authoritative source for amendments and application documents.
Key details
| Detail | Confirmed information |
|---|---|
| Opportunity | MRFF Clinical Trials Activity Initiative: 2026 International Clinical Trial Collaborations Grant Opportunity |
| Grant number | GO8232 |
| Funder and administrator | Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing; administered by NHMRC |
| Funding | Up to AUD 3 million per grant; up to AUD 13 million available for the opportunity in 2026–27 |
| Grant period | Up to seven years |
| Applications open | 11 February 2026 |
| Minimum data due | 5:00 p.m. ACT local time, 19 August 2026 |
| Application deadline | 5:00 p.m. ACT local time, 16 September 2026 |
| Expected assessment | February–March 2027 |
| Expected outcome notification | Q2 2027 |
| Application system | NHMRC Sapphire, with certification and submission by the organisation’s Research Administration Officer |
| Best fit | Australian-led or Australian-participating international clinical trials that have not begun recruitment at Australian sites |
The funding figures are a ceiling, not an automatic award. Applicants are expected to request an amount that is appropriate for the study design, Australian delivery plan, staffing, trial services, and proposed duration. The guidelines say there is no minimum grant amount, but a smaller request still needs to show that the project can deliver its promised outcomes.
What the grant is designed to support
The Clinical Trials Activity Initiative is intended to increase clinical trial activity in Australia, strengthen the evidence base for clinical care, and help patients access trials that are relevant to their health circumstances. GO8232 applies that purpose to international collaboration. Its two stated objectives are to promote Australian involvement in international collaborative investigator-initiated clinical trials through the establishment and coordination of Australian trial sites, and to generate high-quality evidence about novel health treatments, drugs, or devices in usual-care settings.
There are two practical collaboration models. An Australian team may lead an international trial and use MRFF support for overarching coordination of sites in Australia and overseas, together with one or more Australian sites. Alternatively, an Australian team may join a trial initiated by international partners and use the grant to coordinate the Australian contribution and run one or more Australian sites. In both models, the proposal needs a credible division of responsibilities rather than a generic statement that overseas partners will participate.
The guidelines particularly encourage collaborations that make a trial feasible when an Australia-only study would be difficult. Examples include low-prevalence conditions or questions requiring a large participant pool to detect meaningful differences. If that rationale applies, the applicant is expected to show how the international design will be used. The guidelines say it is reasonably expected that the total participant number will be at least double the number recruited through Australian sites in such cases.
Novelty can include an innovative application of an existing intervention. The call also encourages novel trial methodologies and use of established clinical quality registries. Pre-clinical studies, phase I and phase II trials, post-market monitoring, and extensions of ongoing clinical trials are outside the stated fit. Most importantly, recruitment at the Australian trial site or sites must not have commenced when the proposal is made.
Who can apply and who should lead
The applicant must be an MRFF Eligible Organisation approved by NHMRC. Joint applications are encouraged, but there must be an eligible lead organisation that is the main driver of the project and will enter into the Commonwealth grant agreement if the application succeeds. The organisation may work with universities, medical research institutes, hospitals, government bodies, companies, charities, consumer organisations, health-care providers, and professional groups, provided the partnership makes sense for the proposed trial.
The team must nominate a Chief Investigator A (CIA). The CIA leads completion of the application, conducts the research, and carries reporting responsibilities under the grant agreement. Up to 15 Chief Investigators can be included. A person cannot be named as a Chief Investigator on more than one application to this opportunity; if that happens, both applications are ineligible. A CI does not need to hold a postgraduate qualification, although the team must collectively demonstrate the relevant clinical, scientific, operational, governance, and translation capability.
The CIA is generally required to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident at submission. A non-citizen or non-permanent resident may be able to serve as CIA if the required work visa is in place when the grant is accepted, but the CIA must be based in Australia during the grant period apart from reasonable overseas travel. Researchers who do not meet the CIA residency condition may still be eligible to participate as another CI.
The international partners need more than a name on a team list. The assessment criteria ask applicants to demonstrate that overseas partners have the clinical research experience and expertise needed for the proposed trial, that they are committed to the work, and that cooperative arrangements and effective working relationships are in place. Overseas sites must be supported by the international partners or other funding sources. Evidence of that support must be provided before MRFF funding begins.
What the funding can pay for
The budget should be built around direct project needs. Eligible cost categories include equipment, Personnel Support Packages, and other direct research costs. Direct costs may include clinical services above standard care, reasonable trial-related patient expenses, imaging and diagnostic services, project-specific equipment, research facility services, specialist computing, contract staff, and appropriate consumer involvement costs. Personnel requests should match the roles, responsibilities, and percentage of time actually needed.
Australian activity should be the centre of the budget. The guidelines allow funding for research activities in any Australian location and may allow a necessary overseas component when the required equipment or resource is not available in Australia and the activity is critical to completion. Overseas expenditure, including overseas travel, is generally limited to 10 percent of the total grant and must be documented and justified. Funding cannot be used to support overseas trial sites as a standalone activity or to recruit an overseas patient cohort for unrelated research.
The opportunity does not pay indirect research costs such as organisational overheads, general administration, routine infrastructure, ordinary computers and communications, furniture, patent costs, or standard ethics approval costs. It also cannot cover retrospective costs, duplicate a project already funded for the same purpose, or extend an ongoing clinical trial where Australian recruitment has already started. A detailed annual budget and justification are part of the value-and-risk assessment, so the request should be traceable to the work plan and milestones.
Application process and required materials
Applications are submitted electronically in NHMRC’s Sapphire system. Before starting, the lead organisation should confirm that it is an approved MRFF Eligible Organisation and that the CIA and other CIs can access Sapphire. An organisation that is not yet approved must submit an MRFF Eligible Organisation certification form early enough for approval before the minimum-data deadline. The organisation’s Research Administration Officer (RAO) must certify and submit the final application; a researcher cannot bypass that institutional step.
The minimum data package is due on 19 August 2026. It includes an application title, the MRFF Eligible Organisation, a priority-population response, a project synopsis of at least 100 characters, the privacy agreement, research classifications, at least three peer-review areas, five research keywords, and a complete CIA role, name, and email. Placeholder text is not acceptable, and missing minimum data stops the application from proceeding.
The complete application includes the Sapphire profile and application reports, a Grant Proposal PDF, a Declaration of Applicant Interests, relevant Letters of Support, and letters from research facilities when needed. The Grant Proposal must use the prescribed template and stay within the published formatting, file-size, and page limits. Its components cover Project Impact, Project Methodology, Milestones and Performance Indicators, team and investigator capability, a Risk Management Plan, cash and in-kind contributions, Consumer Involvement, Measures of Success, and references.
Letters of Support should be prepared early. A supporting organisation should identify its role, authorised officer, relevant trial sites, and the value and type of its cash or in-kind contribution. For overseas trial sites, another document can be accepted in place of a letter if it confirms the value and source of the contribution. The RAO must also confirm that arrangements for managing the grant have been agreed among the organisations involved.
Timeline and planning strategy
The final submission deadline is 5:00 p.m. ACT time on 16 September 2026, but that should not be treated as the first internal deadline. The 19 August minimum-data date is a hard gate. A team that waits until September to create its Sapphire record, choose classifications, complete the synopsis, and register all investigators may discover that the application cannot proceed even if the narrative is polished.
The guidelines list assessment in February–March 2027, approval and notification in Q2 2027, and grant activity beginning after the grant schedule is executed. The grant can run for up to seven years from its commencement date. The award timetable is not a promise of immediate payment: the lead organisation must sign a binding agreement with the Commonwealth, and research activity should not begin until that agreement is executed.
A practical schedule is to use the period before minimum data to secure the lead organisation’s approval, establish the Sapphire record, confirm the CIA and CIs, obtain a settled international concept design, and agree the Australian-site plan. The next phase should be used for protocol logic, recruitment assumptions, trial governance, consumer involvement, risk controls, budget evidence, and partner letters. Before submission, ask the RAO to review the complete PDF, file names, page limits, declarations, and consistency between the budget and the milestones.
How applications will be assessed
Project Impact carries a 40 percent weighting. A strong response should connect the trial question to a specific health need, show how it builds on existing knowledge, and explain how results could improve Australian health outcomes, practice, or policy. It should also show how consumers, carers, communities, health providers, and other end users shaped the question and planned translation. Work involving a priority population should explain cultural acceptability, leadership, and meaningful involvement of that population.
Project Methodology carries 30 percent. Reviewers will look for a scientifically sound and feasible project plan, including the trial design, participants, intervention and comparator where relevant, recruitment targets, diversity, statistical approach, data use, governance, milestones, and performance indicators. The application must address how sex, gender, variations of sex characteristics, and sexual orientation are integrated into the research or provide a reasoned explanation for why specific variables are not relevant.
Capacity, Capability and Resources carries the remaining 30 percent technical weighting. The team should show the mix of clinical, scientific, project-management, trial-operations, consumer, and translation skills needed to deliver the work. International partners should have a clear role and evidence of commitment. A long publication list is less persuasive than a concise record of relevant impact, trial delivery, service or policy change, and the ability to manage the proposed international structure.
The fourth criterion, Overall Value and Risk of the Project, is non-weighted but still decisive. It considers the Measures of Success statement, budget, contributions, and risk plan. To receive funding, an application must reach at least a satisfactory score on every criterion: the guidelines specify a score of 4 or higher on each weighted technical criterion and a Good or Excellent rating for the overall value-and-risk criterion. Applications rated Excellent on overall value and risk are prioritised, with technical scores then used to further prioritise proposals.
Preparation advice and common mistakes
Start with the Australian decision the trial could inform. A proposal that only describes an international protocol may not explain why Australian sites, patients, health services, or policy makers need the evidence. State the clinical or health-system gap, identify the Australian contribution, and show how the trial results could be used in usual care. Tie each proposed cost and milestone to that chain of logic.
Do not treat partnership as an afterthought. Confirm who owns the protocol, who coordinates which sites, who pays for overseas work, how data and governance will operate, and what happens if recruitment or regulatory approvals fall behind. A signed or otherwise credible partner commitment is stronger than a statement that discussions are underway.
Avoid presenting an unstarted concept as a ready-to-submit trial. The guidelines expect a detailed concept design and cooperative arrangements before application. At the same time, do not claim that an Australian site is eligible if it has already begun recruiting. Check the recruitment status in writing across all proposed Australian sites.
Budget conservatively. A request close to the AUD 3 million ceiling is not inherently stronger. Explain personnel effort, site services, patient-related direct costs, equipment, data work, consumer support, and any overseas spending. Keep indirect costs out, identify in-kind contributions accurately, and disclose other funding. False, incomplete, or misleading information can lead to exclusion and may trigger research-integrity consequences.
Finally, make the proposal readable to more than one discipline. NHMRC says assessors may include scientific experts, consumers, industry experts, health-service providers, and international reviewers. Define technical terms, make the benefit to Australian patients visible, and use milestones that a reviewer can test: ethics approval, first participant, recruitment rate, site performance, budget progress, data outputs, trial close-out, and publication or implementation steps.
Frequently asked questions
Can a research team outside Australia apply directly?
Not as the lead applicant for this opportunity. The application must be made through an MRFF Eligible Organisation approved by NHMRC, with the CIA based in Australia under the stated conditions. International researchers can participate as CIs or partners when the collaboration and Australian trial activity are clear.
Does the grant fund the entire international trial?
No. It can fund the Australian-based components of a multinational clinical trial and, in the appropriate model, Australian coordination of international activity. Overseas trial sites must have support from international partners or another source, and overseas expenditure is generally limited to 10 percent of the grant.
Is AUD 3 million guaranteed to every successful project?
No. AUD 3 million is the maximum for one grant. There is no minimum award, and applicants should request an amount appropriate to the work, duration, and eligible costs. The total opportunity has up to AUD 13 million available in 2026–27.
What is the most important date right now?
For a team preparing a new submission, the first hard date is 5:00 p.m. ACT time on 19 August 2026 for minimum data in Sapphire. The complete application must then be certified and submitted by the RAO by 5:00 p.m. ACT time on 16 September 2026. Late applications are not accepted except in the limited extension circumstances described in the guidelines.
Where should applicants get the current forms and amendments?
Start with the NHMRC GO8232 opportunity page, then use the linked GrantConnect record and Sapphire materials. GrantConnect is the authoritative source for alterations, addenda, questions and answers, and changes to closing times. Applicants should also work through their organisation’s RAO and use NHMRC’s Research Help Centre at [email protected] for questions submitted by the published enquiry deadline.
Official links and next steps
- NHMRC MRFF International Clinical Trial Collaborations Grant Opportunity (GO8232) — official overview and GrantConnect link.
- NHMRC funding calendar — opening, minimum-data, and closing dates.
- Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care: $13 million for international clinical trials in Australia — policy context and total funding announcement.
- NHMRC Research Help Centre — questions should be routed through the MRFF Eligible Organisation’s Research Administration Officer.
The immediate next step is institutional, not just scientific: confirm the lead organisation’s MRFF eligibility, open the Sapphire record, and ensure the minimum data can be submitted by 19 August. If the international concept, Australian-site recruitment status, partner support, and direct-cost budget are not yet settled, the team should resolve those issues before investing in final prose. The opportunity is a good fit for an operationally mature collaboration that can show why Australian participation will produce evidence useful to Australian patients and health care.