NHMRC Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Grants
Funds clinical trials and cohort studies in Australia addressing major evidence gaps in healthcare.
The NHMRC Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Grants 2026 round supports high-quality clinical trials and cohort studies that address important gaps in health knowledge and generate reliable evidence for clinical or public health decision-making. This scheme is the designated NHMRC pathway for projects in which a clinical trial or longitudinal cohort design is the primary research objective. The 2026 round has a defined timeline: applications open September 9, 2026, with a minimum data due date of October 7, 2026, and a final application closing date of November 4, 2026. Submissions are made through Sapphire, the NHMRC online grants management system.
Eligibility is confined to Australian universities and eligible research organisations; for-profit companies and nonprofits without eligible research organisation status may not apply as lead organisations. The scheme is explicitly not the correct vehicle for projects with a mixed design where a trial or cohort study is secondary to other objectives — those projects belong in NHMRC Ideas Grants. Award amounts are not published on the scheme overview page; budgets are assessed against the scope of each proposed study. Specific page limits, scoring rubric, and budget guidelines are contained in the Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies 2026 Guidelines PDF available on GrantConnect.
The scheme reflects NHMRC's emphasis on generating rigorous clinical evidence, and applications are expected to demonstrate that the trial or cohort design is the most appropriate methodology to answer the stated research question. A Chief Investigator A must be named and affiliated with an eligible Australian host organisation. Investigators planning to submit should monitor GrantConnect for the official opportunity notice when the round opens in September 2026 and consult the guidelines PDF for the current round's specific requirements, including any changes to statistical analysis plan requirements or ethics clearance timelines relative to prior rounds.
High-quality clinical trials and cohort studies addressing important evidence gaps in health knowledge, where a trial or cohort design is the primary research objective, funded through Australian NHMRC's 2026 grant round.
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