GO8494: Regional, Rural and Remote Capacity Building grant opportunity 2026

The objectives of this grant opportunity are to provide financial assistance to support: •established regional, rural or remote (RRR) researchers, as they lead and develop a team of early to mid-career RRR researchers to build RRR research capacity •emerging RRR researchers, including clinician researchers, to be future research leaders in their communities •place-based research conducted in RRR areas that aims to benefit individuals and communities living in those areas.

The intended outcomes of this grant opportunity are to: •build capacity in the RRR research workforce across Australia, including clinician researchers •strengthen health and medical research in RRR communities to improve health equity.

Funding will be available under 2 application streams: •Stream 1: the Chief Investigators are primarily resident in a regional, rural, remote or very remote area according to the Modified Monash Model (MM 2–7). •Stream 2: the Chief Investigators are primarily resident in a rural, remote or very remote area according to the Modified Monash Model (MM 3–7).

The applicant team may be based at a single institution, organisation or campus in one RRR region or may be a geographically disparate network linking across more than one RRR region.

Applications that include at least one health service provider and clinician researcher are encouraged.

Applications that address health services and programs to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people are also encouraged.

Grants are to support a program of research that may consist of multiple smaller-scale research projects.

Grantees will have the flexibility to pursue important new research directions as they arise, adjust their resources accordingly, and to form collaborations as needed.