Grants & Funding
A curated database of genomics, bioinformatics, and biomedical research funding - government schemes, international foundations, industry programs, and startup grants open to Australians.
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Current month marked ▲ · Dates are typical close dates based on recent rounds · Always verify on GrantConnect
MRFF, NHMRC, ARC, and Cancer Australia - the backbone of Australian health and medical research.
Always verify current deadlines. Round dates, amounts, and eligibility change regularly. The strips above show typical patterns only - check GrantConnect for authoritative dates before applying.
Part of the $500.1M Genomics Health Futures Mission. Stream 1 ($1M–$4.5M): pharmacogenomics for new medicines. Stream 2 ($5M–$10M): genomics for First Nations high-burden diseases. Seven-year maximum project term.
Flagship 5-year scheme: salary + Research Support Package for outstanding researchers at all career stages. EL1/EL2 (≤10 yrs post-PhD, RSP ~$200–280K/yr) and L1/L2/L3 (RSP $400K/yr). Pool est. $380–400M.
Project-based grants for innovative research addressing specific health questions. Ideal for computational biology methods, genomic epidemiology, and translational bioinformatics. Up to 5 years. CI capping rules shared with Investigator Grants.
Primary ARC scheme for researcher-driven projects. Highly applicable to computational genomics, bioinformatics algorithm development, and AI for biological data. Two-stage: EOI then full application. $30K–$500K/year for up to 5 years.
Prestigious early-career fellowship (≤5 yrs post-PhD) combining salary and research support for 3 years. Excellent for postdocs in single-cell genomics, bioinformatics methods, and computational biology.
Mid-career researcher fellowships (6–15 yrs post-PhD) for researchers in areas of critical national importance. Strong fit for genomics and computational biology. Four-year term with salary and research support.
Industry–university grants requiring at least one industry partner. Ideal for genomics with pathology labs, diagnostic companies, biotech startups, or hospitals. Two rounds per year with co-funding from partners.
Funds large-scale shared research infrastructure. Perfect for sequencing platforms, HPC bioinformatics infrastructure, and biobank facilities. Minimum 3 institutions. Strong co-funding required. Typically $150K–$2M+.
Annual targeted call aligned with the Australian Cancer Plan. 2025–26 round: early-onset cancer genomics, $7M total pool. Future rounds cover evolving cancer priorities. Encourages early- to mid-career researchers.
$501M equity co-investment VC fund for early-stage biomedical companies. Managed by Brandon Capital, OneVentures, and BioScience Managers. Contact fund managers directly - not a competitive grants round.
Helps businesses bring novel products to market - genomics diagnostic tools, bioinformatics software, and precision medicine platforms are strong candidates. Milestone-based funding up to $1M. Rolling applications.
Medium-to-long-term industry-led collaborations. CRC-P (Projects) rounds are shorter and more accessible. Up to 50% of project resources provided as grant. Strong track record in genomics/ag-biotech/clinical translation.
2026 round now open. Stream 1: pharmacogenomics. Stream 2: genomics for First Nations high-burden diseases. Up to $10M per grant, 7 years. Min data 22 Jul · Close 19 Aug 2026.
Bilateral AU–Switzerland funding for AI in healthcare for diverse sex, gender, and underrepresented populations. Requires AU + Switzerland investigators. Min data 28 May · Close 18 Jun 2026.
$10M for research into health of serving and ex-serving ADF members. Response to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. Min data 29 Apr · Close 13 May 2026.
Funds PhD or Research Master's degrees. Opens 8 Apr 2026. Min data 13 May · Close 3 Jun 2026.
Short-term industry-led collaborations. Round 19 includes up to $20M for AI systems. Matched funding $100K–$3M. SMEs and scale-ups building AI or industry solutions with research partners.
Australian hospital foundations, disease charities, and philanthropic organisations funding biomedical and genomics research.
Funds innovative cardiovascular research: Vanguard Grants ($75K, feasibility), Postdoctoral Fellowships, and Collaboration & Exchange Grants. Includes precision medicine, genetic risk, and digital health. 2026 guidelines updated March 2026 with increased salary support.
Equipment and capital infrastructure grants for outstanding research groups at Australian research institutes, universities, and teaching hospitals. Min. $100K. Max 2 applications per organisation per round.
Each state Cancer Council funds local cancer research including genomics, Aboriginal health, rural/remote, clinical, and public health priorities. 1–2 year projects. Early-career investigator grants also available (e.g. Suzanne Cavanagh Award - Cancer Council WA).
Funds maternal and paediatric health research in South Australia - highly relevant for paediatric genomics, rare disease diagnosis, and maternal-foetal genomics. Reviewed by an independent expert committee.
Australia's largest child health research institute. Key programs include AASGARD (AI-driven rare disease diagnosis, $8M MRFF), paediatric genomics, developmental biology, and clinical genetics. Both internal and collaborative funding available.
Funds blood cancer research including genomic profiling, haematological malignancy bioinformatics, and clinical trials. Includes PhD scholarships and project grants. Strong track record with early- and mid-career researchers.
Annual competitive grants for diabetes research, including metabolomics, genomic risk stratification, precision medicine, and biomarker discovery. Supports early-career and established investigators. PhD top-up scholarships also available.
Tax incentives, venture programs, and industry-partnership funding for startups, SMEs, and spin-outs in genomics, diagnostics, and biotech.
Australia's biggest life sciences funding mechanism. Companies <$20M revenue receive a 43.5% refundable tax offset on eligible R&D expenditure (38.5% non-refundable for larger companies). Genomics, diagnostics, bioinformatics software, and clinical trials all qualify. Not competitive - claim via tax return.
Supports Australian SMEs and startups in priority sectors including life sciences and medical technology. Provides tailored advisory support and direct grant funding across early and growth stages. Strong fit for genomics tools and diagnostics companies.
Periodic research awards providing access to sequencing resources, instruments, and funding for breakthrough genomics projects. Australian researchers and biotech companies eligible. Check Illumina's website for active programs.
Researcher access programs providing sequencing consumables, instruments, and funding for long-read genome assembly, transcriptomics, and metagenomics. JCU CTBMB runs a local program using MinION flow cells for CTBMB members.
All major pharmaceutical companies fund independent research via IIS portals. Strong fit for precision oncology genomics, pharmacogenomics, and biomarker discovery. Ethics approval required. Apply directly via each company's Medical Affairs / IIS portal.
Brandon BioCatalyst (CSL, government, 50+ research institutes) provides venture capital for early-stage biomedical startups - 50+ companies funded, 85%+ founded by first BioCatalyst investment. WEHI's 66ten Fund ($66M over 10 years) bridges discovery to commercialisation.
Up to 0.20 FTE of dedicated Pawsey expert staff support over 6 months to help researchers maximise impact of HPC and data-intensive work. Open to Australian universities, government agencies, and research institutions.
Matches R&D investment dollar-for-dollar (up to $50K) for eligible startups and SMEs to access CSIRO expertise. Ideal for biotech, genomics diagnostics, and bioinformatics tool companies. Fast approvals, no equity taken.
International foundations and philanthropies accepting applications from Australian researchers and institutions.
Supports transdisciplinary teams at the intersection of genomics, humanities, social sciences, and bioethics. Australian institutions can lead or be co-applicants. Scope checks accepted ~6 weeks before close. Most recent deadline: March 2026.
Major career-stage awards for outstanding researchers in life sciences globally. Open to researchers at Wellcome-eligible organisations internationally, including Australian universities. Up to £3M+ for 5 years of world-leading research.
Funds maintenance and community engagement for critical open-source scientific software - Galaxy Australia is an ideal candidate. Co-funded with Wellcome Trust and Kavli Foundation. Cycle 6 provided $11.7M globally. ~18-month cycles.
Supports computational experts building tools for single-cell biology analysis - scRNA-seq pipelines, atlas projects, and cell-type annotation tools. Open internationally including Australian researchers. Watch CZI science-funding page for active RFAs.
Funds collaborative research between US and international researchers. Australians can be international co-investigators on US-led NIH submissions. Programs cover global brain disorders, infectious disease genomics, and global health equity.
Prestigious international fellowships for frontier life science research. Long-Term Fellowships: Australian postdocs working abroad. Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships: researchers from non-biology backgrounds. Program Grants require multi-country teams.
Funds autism genomics, neurodevelopmental genetics, and mathematical/computational biology globally. SFARI grants support genomic approaches to ASD. Australian researchers at eligible institutions are welcome to apply across most programs.
Funds global health research including pathogen genomics, infectious disease diagnostics, and precision public health. Grand Challenges open globally - Australian researchers have succeeded in genomic surveillance and diagnostics work. Watch grandchallenges.org for active calls.
Competitive fellowships from major tech and research organisations open to PhD students globally. Covers tuition, stipends, mentorship, and research support. Check individual programs for Australian university eligibility and current round dates.
Recognises and supports outstanding PhD students in computer science and related disciplines including computational biology, machine learning, and bioinformatics. Selected students receive a tuition award, annual stipend, and a Google Research mentor. Nominations come via the student's university - check Google's current list of eligible Australian institutions before applying.
12-month fellowship for exceptional PhD students at Asia-Pacific universities, including Australian institutions. Fellows receive a research stipend, travel support to visit MSRA, and access to Microsoft research collaborators. Strong fit for computational biology, AI in genomics, and bioinformatics tool development. Candidates are nominated by their supervisor.
Annual fellowship supporting PhD students working with GPU-accelerated computing, deep learning, and AI. Highly relevant for GPU-driven genomics pipelines, deep learning for protein structure, and accelerated bioinformatics. Fellows receive up to USD $50,000 and direct engagement with NVIDIA researchers. Nominated by research advisor.
Supports PhD students working on challenging problems in computing, AI, and data science aligned with Meta's research areas - including computational biology, AI/ML, and data-intensive science. Fellows receive tuition coverage plus an annual stipend of ~USD $42,000 and opportunities to intern at Meta Research.
Australia's national data and digital innovation group offers PhD top-up scholarships (~$10K/yr additional to primary stipend), collaborative research projects, and postdoctoral fellowships in data science, AI/ML, and applied bioinformatics. Projects arise through university partnerships and direct collaboration with Data61 research groups. Check the Data61 careers page for current openings.
A range of scholarship programs exist for ASEAN citizens to pursue postgraduate study and research - including programs for study in Australia and within the ASEAN region. Bioinformatics and genomics are eligible fields under several schemes. Programs include Australia Awards, the ASEAN University Network (AUN), and country-specific government scholarships. Eligibility varies significantly - most programs target citizens of Southeast Asian nations.
Grants from state governments, hospital foundations, and philanthropies specific to particular states and territories. Filter by state below.
Funds child health research in South Australia. Includes project grants, equipment grants, and PhD scholarships. Strong history of funding genomics, rare disease, and developmental biology research at Adelaide institutions.
SA's primary charitable funder for cancer research. Funds 1–2 year project grants for SA researchers, including genomics, cancer biology, and translational oncology. Beat Cancer funding historically over $170M to SA researchers.
Supports clinical and translational research at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Funds postgraduate scholarships, project grants, and equipment. Strong fit for genomics-informed clinical research and precision medicine at RAH.
Funds translational cancer research in Victoria including genomics, cancer biology, clinical trials, and health services research. Multiple funding schemes: Translational Research Program, Early Career Research Fellowship, and Clinician Research Fellowship.
Victorian Government programs supporting tech and biotech startups. Includes grants for accelerators, pre-seed investment programs, and founder development. Health tech and genomics diagnostics companies are eligible sectors.
Multiple funding programs for NSW cancer researchers: Career Development Fellowships, Research Equipment grants, and targeted priority-driven programs. Strong history of funding genomics and precision oncology research in NSW.
Queensland Government funding for SMEs and startups developing innovative products and services. $50K–$200K grants. Health tech, genomics tools, and biotech diagnostics qualify. Strong focus on job creation in QLD.
WA's leading independent medical research funder. Raine Priming Grants ($25K, seed funding), Raine Study Grants, and Research Fellowships. Strongly supports genomics, bioinformatics, and precision medicine research in WA.
Major WA paediatric research funder. Supports child health research at Perth Children's Hospital including genomics, rare disease, cancer biology, and clinical research. Annual competitive grants and PhD scholarships.
Tasmania's leading medical research institute. Funds research in cardiovascular health, neurological disease, cancer, and population genomics. Internal and collaborative external funding. Strong epidemiological and genomic cohort work.
All grants sorted by typical close month - plan your application calendar at a glance.
| Grant | Best For | Amount | Typical Close | Funder |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NHMRC Investigator EL1/EL2 | Early career ≤10 yrs post-PhD | Salary + RSP, 5 yrs | Jul–Aug | NHMRC |
| ARC DECRA | Postdocs ≤5 yrs post-PhD | ~$100–130K/yr, 3 yrs | ~Mar | ARC |
| MRFF Genomics Health Futures | Genomics / pharmacogenomics | $1M–$10M/grant | Jan–Feb | MRFF / NHMRC |
| ARC Discovery Projects | Computational biology & algorithms | $30K–$500K/yr, 5 yrs | EOI Dec · Full Apr | ARC |
| ARC Future Fellowships | Mid-career 6–15 yrs post-PhD | ~$130–200K/yr, 4 yrs | Jun–Aug | ARC |
| NHMRC Ideas Grants | Specific research questions | ~$150K–$2M | Apr–May | NHMRC |
| CARI (Cancer Australia) | Cancer genomics, translational | $7M pool | Watch GrantConnect | Cancer Australia |
| R&D Tax Incentive | Biotech startups <$20M revenue | 43.5% refundable offset | Annual tax return | ATO / Industry |
| ARC Linkage Projects | Industry–university collaboration | Variable + co-funding | 2 rounds/year | ARC |
| Heart Foundation Vanguard | Cardiovascular genomics feasibility | ~$75K | ~Mar–Apr | Heart Foundation |
| Wellcome Genomics in Context | Interdisciplinary genomics teams | Significant multi-year | ~Mar (periodic) | Wellcome (UK) |
| CZI EOSS | Open-source bioinformatics tools | $50K–$400K | ~18-month cycles | Chan Zuckerberg |
| HFSP Fellowships | Postdocs → international positions | ~USD $55–65K/yr | ~Aug | HFSP (International) |
| Biomedical Translation Fund | Early-stage biomedical companies | Equity investment | Rolling | Govt / Brandon Capital |
| Google PhD Fellowship | PhD students (comp sci / bioinformatics) | Tuition + stipend | ~Oct – Nov | |
| Meta Research PhD Fellowship | PhD students (AI / ML / data science) | Tuition + ~USD $42K/yr | ~Sep – Oct | Meta |
| NVIDIA Graduate Fellowship | PhD students (GPU / deep learning) | Up to USD $50K | ~Aug – Sep | NVIDIA |
| Microsoft Research Asia Fellowship | PhD students (Asia-Pacific universities) | Stipend + travel | ~Sep | Microsoft Research |
| CSIRO Data61 PhD Scholarship | Australian PhD students (data sci / AI) | ~$10K/yr top-up | Rolling | CSIRO Data61 |
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