HRC Explorer Grants

HRC Explorer Grants are the council's smallest and most flexible Ideas Funding route, aimed at transformative or unconventional health research ideas under the Health Research Council of New Zealand. The scheme reaches across biomedical, clinical, behavioural, social, public health, Māori health, Pacific health, and translational sciences, and it is open to researchers in any health-related field. Awards go up to NZD 150,000 for up to 24 months. The route is open to universities, research organisations, nonprofits, and individual researchers, provided the work is based in New Zealand. That makes it the easiest entry point in the Ideas Funding stream for early or uncertain ideas that need seed money before a larger study. The 2026 round closed full applications on 30 January 2026, so the current status is between calls on an annual cycle. Explorer is a fit for ideas that are bold but still well-defined. HRC uses it to open the door to research that does not yet belong in a larger grant call, and the strongest applications usually make a crisp case for the problem, the health value, and the next step.

Each grant below is a distinct funding opportunity with its own eligibility, scope, and deliverables.