HRC Programme Grants
Funds large investigator-led research teams in New Zealand with sustained, coherent agendas across biomedical and public health priorities.
⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.
The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) Programme Grants is the organisation's flagship large-scale investigator-initiated mechanism, supporting high-performing research teams conducting sustained, coherent programmes of health research in areas of importance or priority for New Zealand. The HRC was established under the Health Research Council Act 1990, operates under a ten-member Council accountable to the Minister of Health, and serves as the primary government vehicle for health research investment in New Zealand. Programme Grants represent the largest individual award the HRC makes, reaching up to NZD 5,000,000 over five years.
The 2026 Programme Grants round accepted full applications from 28 August to 6 November 2025 and is now closed. Eligible applicants are high-performing research teams at universities, research organisations, and nonprofits based in New Zealand; for-profit entities are ineligible and individual applicants cannot apply. Collaboration across institutions is encouraged though not mandated. The programme does not specify a minimum team size, but the scale of the award and the expectation of a coherent multi-year research programme implicitly requires a substantial team. Applications are submitted through the HRC Gateway portal at gateway.hrc.govt.nz.
The 2027 Programme Grants round is expected to open in mid-to-late 2026, based on the annual cadence of the scheme. Teams preparing for the 2027 competition should begin developing their research programme narrative well in advance of the anticipated opening date. The HRC's four statutory functions — advising on national health research policy, identifying research priorities, initiating and supporting research, and fostering researcher recruitment and retention — provide the evaluative framework against which programme-level proposals are assessed. Priority is given to research with clear potential to improve health outcomes for all New Zealanders, with particular attention to Māori and Pacific health equity consistent with the HRC's committee structure.
Programme of health research in an area of importance or priority for New Zealand. Any health-related domain.
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