Up to $5 million for ‘adaptive platform’ and ‘registry based’ clinical trials to conduct world-class health and medical research in areas of unmet medical need.
Current status of program
CLOSED
To register your interest in future rounds or discuss alternative grant opportunities please contact us here.
On this page you will find
What is the Innovative Trials Grant Opportunity (ITG)?
The 2023 Innovative Trials grant opportunity is part of the Medical Research Future Fund’s National Critical Research Infrastructure Initiative. NCRI provides funding through multiple streams to establish and extend infrastructure (facilities, equipment, systems and services) of critical importance that will be used to conduct world-class health and medical research.
Within the NCRI innovation enablers stream, this grant opportunity focuses on promoting development and implementation of ‘adaptive platform’ and ‘registry based’ clinical trials which are thought to offer more efficient evaluation of potential medical therapies over conventional trial designs.
This grant opportunity will provide grants of financial assistance across three streams, to support Australian medical research and medical innovation projects.
Applicants can apply for more than one stream with different applications, but can only submit one application per stream.
Stream 1 (Incubator and Targeted Call for Research): address an area of unmet medical need by promoting the development and implementation of adaptive platform trials. Research proposals in this stream must focus on one of the following Topics:
- Topic A (Incubator): conducting inception projects that build evidence and capability to demonstrate the feasibility of establishing a national adaptive platform trial that would allow for rapid assessment of pharmacological and/or non-pharmacological interventions in an area of unmet need (up to $300,000)
- Topic B (Targeted Call for Research): establishing a new national adaptive platform trial that addresses an area of unmet need, including set up of central infrastructure and conduct of initial launch domains (up to $5,000,000)
- Topic C (Targeted Call for Research): expanding an existing adaptive platform trial by adding new domains that address an area of unmet need (up to $3,000,000).
Stream 2 (Targeted Call for Research): conduct a registry-based randomised controlled trial in an area of unmet medical need by embedding a registry-based randomised controlled trial into a pre-existing clinical registry (up to $1,500,000)
Stream 3 (Targeted Call for Research): generate evidence of the efficiency and cost effectiveness of innovative trial designs over conventional trial designs for:
- Topic A (Targeted Call for Research): adaptive platform trials (up to $1,000,000)
- Topic B (Targeted Call for Research): registry-based randomised controlled trials (up to $1,000,000).
ITG level of support
The grant amount will be up to 100% of eligible project costs (grant percentage). The amounts available for a single grant are as follows:
- Stream 1, Topic A (Incubator): There is no minimum grant amount and the maximum amount available for a single grant is $0.3 million.
- Stream 1, Topic B (Targeted Call for Research): There is no minimum grant amount and the maximum amount available for a single grant is $5.0 million.
- Stream 1, Topic C (Targeted Call for Research): There is no minimum grant amount and the maximum amount available for a single grant is $3.0 million.
- Stream 2 (Targeted Call for Research): There is no minimum grant amount and the maximum amount available for a single grant is $1.5 million.
- Stream 3, Topic A (Targeted Call for Research): There is no minimum grant amount and the maximum amount available for a single grant is $1.0 million.
- Stream 3, Topic B (Targeted Call for Research): There is no minimum grant amount and the maximum amount available for a single grant is $1.0 million.
ITG important dates
- This program is closed.
- Register your interest here with GrantHelper.
ITG objectives
The objective and intended outcome of this grant opportunity are aligned with the following
Australian Medical Research and Innovation Priorities 2022-2024:
- Research Infrastructure and Capability
- Health and Medical Researcher Capacity and Capability
Consistent with the MRFF Act, the objective of this grant opportunity is to provide grants of financial assistance to support Australian medical research and medical innovation projects.
Activities and expenditure eligible for ITG support
To be eligible your project must:
- be aimed at the objectives in Section 1.3 of the guidelines
- include one or more of the following eligible activities:
- minor capital works
- development/installation of research equipment
- employment of personnel
- other direct research costs.
Other activities may also be approved.
To be eligible, expenditure must:
- be a direct cost of the project
- be incurred by you for required project audit activities.
For guidance on eligible expenditure, see Appendix A.
Examples of ineligible expenditure include:
- major capital works projects such as the purchase or construction of new/expanded facilities; works requiring a construction project manager; works that alone or together (where multiple projects are proposed in one application) extend beyond minor/general repair, maintenance and/or upgrade projects
- maintenance or upgrades on buildings or structures owned and/or operated by state/territory governments
- activities, equipment or supplies that are already being supported through other sources or where other Commonwealth, state or territory governments have primary responsibility
- reimbursement of activities that have commenced prior to the execution of a grant agreement
- research activity undertaken outside of Australia, although funding can be sought to support the Australian-based components of multi-national research activity
- costs incurred prior to the agreed project (Activity) start date
- retrospective costs
- any in-kind contributions
- financing costs, including interest
- debt financing
- costs related to obtaining resources used on the project, including interest on loans, job advertising and recruiting, and contract negotiations
- non-project related staff training and development costs
- costs related to preparing the grant application, preparing any project reports (except costs of independent audit reports we require) and preparing any project variation requests
- conference attendance, and associated travel (except in pre-approved circumstances where the research outputs of the activity are to be presented)
- travel or overseas costs that exceed 10% of total project costs except where otherwise approved by the Program Delegate (see above)
- health insurance, travel insurance, foreign currency, airport and related travel taxes, passports and visas
- entertainment and hospitality costs
- personal subscriptions (e.g. personal journal subscriptions)
- personal membership of professional organisations and groups
- airline club membership
- communications costs (mobiles, telephone calls)
- institutional overheads and administrative costs
See the guidelines for full details of activities and expenditure eligible for ITG support.
Other ITG important details that you will need to know
Organisations eligible for ITG support
To be eligible you must:
- have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
- be incorporated in Australia
and in accordance with s24 of the MRFF Act 2015, be one of the following entities:
- a medical research institute
- a university
- a corporate Commonwealth entity
- a corporation (including businesses and not for profits).
All members of the research team must be listed on the application form as Chief Investigators (CIs). Applicants must nominate a Chief Investigator A (CIA) who will take the lead role in conducting the project and report on the outcomes of the project as specified in the grant agreement.
You are not eligible to apply if you are:
- an individual
- partnership
- unincorporated association
- any organisation not included in section 3.1
- trust (however, an incorporated trustee may apply on behalf of a trust)
- a non-corporate Commonwealth entity
- an organisation, or your project partner is an organisation, included on the National Redress Scheme’s website on the list of ‘Institutions that have not joined or signified their intent to join the Scheme’
- an employer of 100 or more employees that has not complied with the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012.
See the guidelines for full details of organisations eligible for ITG support.
ITG assessment criteria
The assessment criteria for Stream 1 (topic A) (Incubator)
- Assessment Criterion 1- Project Impact (40% weighting)
- Assessment Criterion 2 – Project Methodology (30% weighting)
- Assessment Criterion 3 – Capacity, Capability and Resources to Deliver the Project (30% weighting)
- Assessment Criterion 4 – Overall Value and Risk of the Project (non-weighted)
The assessment criteria for Stream 1 (topics B and C), Stream 2 and Stream 3 (Targeted Call for Research)
- Assessment Criterion 1 – Project Impact (40% weighting)
- Assessment Criterion 2 – Project Methodology (30% weighting)
- Assessment Criterion 3 – Capacity, Capability and Resources to Deliver the Project (30% weighting)
- Assessment Criterion 4 – Overall Value and Risk of the Project (non-weighted)
See the guidelines for full details of the assessment criteria.
How do I get the ITG?
Applicants must:
- Read and understand the guidelines.
- Ensure eligibility for the funding. Applicants that do not meet all the eligibility criteria will not be considered.
- Deliver the project as outlined in the application.
- Provide complete information requirements.
Information to prepare for the ITG application
Provide the following documents with your application:
- a detailed project plan, including your project methodology and a project feasibility analysis (maximum 12 pages excluding appendices)
- a list of all Chief Investigators using the template on business.gov.au who have shared authority and responsibility for leading and directing the design, conduct and reporting of the proposed project outlined in this application, including the early to mid-career researcher (EMCR) status and affiliations of each person listed
- a detailed and itemised project budget, including but not limited to disaggregation by project component and Financial Year (FY), and your related fee card
- a statement of how your project will contribute to the Measures of Success for the MRFF as described in the MRFF Evaluation, Monitoring and Learning Strategy (see www.health.gov.au/mrff) in a table format with the following headings: MRFF Measure of Success; How the project will contribute towards the measure of success; Description of outcome or result against which the contribution will be evaluated (maximum one page)
- a detailed risk management plan, and any supporting documentation, describing how you propose to monitor, manage and report identified risks including risks that may arise during your project (maximum two pages)
- details of intellectual property arrangements as an attachment if this is not included within the written content of the application
- evidence of support from the board, CEO or equivalent
- trust deed (where applicable)
- letters of support (where applicable).
See the guidelines for full details of information requirements.
Applying for the ITG
To apply you must complete the online program application form via business.gov.au.
Register your interest here with GrantHelper to explore your alignment with this grant and how we can assist you to increase your chances of success.
ITG resources
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