FHRI COVID-19 Focus Grants to Promote the Health and Wellbeing (Australia)

Deadline: 16-Oct-20

The FHRI Focus Grants: COVID-19 Program will provide grants to promote the health and wellbeing of Western Australians in the context of COVID-19.

The Western Australian Future Health Research and Innovation Fund Act 2012 (the Act), which commenced on 24 June 2020, is the enabling legislation for the Future Health Research and Innovation (FHRI) Fund.

The Act provides that in 2020/21 the Minister for Health must give priority to research and innovation related to human coronaviruses with pandemic potential. The FHRI Focus Grants: COVID-19 Program has been developed to fulfill this legislative requirement.

The purpose of the funding is to address health and wellbeing challenges relevant to COVID-19, such as infection prevention and control, surveillance, diagnostics, therapeutics, acute medical impacts, and direct and indirect repercussions across a range of health conditions, such as mental health and chronic diseases.

Funding Streams

Stream 1: Research Grants – high-quality COVID-19 related research projects that will generate knowledge that has the potential to be translated into improved policy and/or practice.
Stream 2: Innovation Grants – high-quality COVID-19 related innovation projects that will develop new ideas, research, and/or technology to create new processes, products, and/or services.
Stream 3: Infrastructure Grants – essential infrastructure that supports COVID19 related research and innovation.

Funding Information

Research:
- Grants $250,000 (ex GST) / 2 years
- Installment 1 (50%) on the signing of the funding agreement and receipt of all relevant ethics and governance approvals and IP agreement (where required)
- Installment 2 (50%) subject to satisfactory progress being achieved against the project milestones, demonstrated in a mid-project Progress Report
Innovation:
- Grants $50,000 (ex GST) / 1 year
- Considered on a case-by-case basis and will be based on key deliverable milestones identified in the project plan.
Infrastructure:
- Grants $1 million (ex GST) / 2 years
- Considered on a case-by-case basis and will be based on key deliverable milestones identified in the project plan.

Eligibility Criteria

Applications can be made by an individual or a team led by a Coordinating Principal Investigator (CPI) for Stream 1 (Research) or by the Project Lead for Stream 2 (Innovation) or 3 (Infrastructure). Grants must be managed by a WA administering institution with a registered Australian Business Number.
The CPI/Project Lead must:
- be an Australian citizen or permanent resident in Australia
- be employed by the WA administering institution for the period of the grant.
A CPI/Project Lead can submit more than one application for this Funding Program.
For applications to be considered eligible, all sections must be completed (including all required signatures) and submitted according to the application instructions.

Application Criteria

Research Grants – Applications for these COVID-19 related grants must:
- Propose high-quality research which is likely to result in the generation of new and significant knowledge.
- Demonstrate the potential for translation and the proposed pathway for implementation of research findings into improved health policy and practice.
Innovation Grants – Applications for these COVID-19 related grants must:
- Propose a project which is likely to generate highly innovative outcomes with the potential for major impact.
- Demonstrate the potential for translation and the proposed pathway for implementation of the innovation to create new processes, products, and/or services.
Infrastructure Grants- Applications for these COVID-related grants must:
- Relate to facilities, resources, and services that are used by the research and innovation communities to conduct research and foster innovation.
- Propose a high-quality plan for procurement and implementation of the infrastructure.
- Demonstrate how the infrastructure has application across disciplines and institutions and will:
  - build WA research capability, drive research collaborations and accelerate the generation of research and innovation outcomes; and/or
  - enable the development, demonstration, and delivery of new products, services, or processes.