Cardiovascular Research Capacity Program

Funding for these grants will be provided for three-year research projects. All researchers are encouraged to apply, including clinician researchers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers, researchers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and primary carers who have experienced career disruptions.

Please see below the instructions for submitting an application (these are also included on page 2 of the Application Form and page 4 of the Grant Guidelines).

1. All applications should be submitted by email to MOH-OHMRGrants@health.nsw.gov.au by 5pm (AEST) on 10 September 2025.
2. Applicants must use the Senior and EMC Researcher Grants 2025 Application Form and attach any supporting evidence.
3. All applications will receive an email acknowledging receipt within 72 hours. It is the applicant’s responsibility to follow up if no acknowledgement email is received.
4. The maximum email size is 20MB. Larger emails will be rejected by the NSW Health server and applicants may not be notified that the email has been rejected.

The Office for Health and Medical Research and the NSW Cardiovascular Research Network (CVRN) are hosting a workshop to support researchers intending to apply for the Senior and Early-Mid Career Researcher Grants Program. The purpose of the workshop is to support researchers with their grant applications, offering tips and advice on how to write a successful application, to increase the strength and competitiveness of applications. The program will include presentations on key components of the grant application, delivered by experienced researchers, previous successful recipients and grant administrators.

Date: Tuesday, 6 May 2025

Location: Hybrid – online via Microsoft Teams and face-to-face at the NSW Ministry of Health, 1 Reserve Road, St Leonards

Registration for the workshop is available here.

Pitching sessions enable researchers to receive feedback on their proposed project by ‘pitching’ their idea to a panel of senior researchers.

These sessions will be held online between Tuesday 20 May and Wednesday 4 June 2025. Participation in a pitching session is optional and is a confidential opportunity to pitch your grant proposal to an expert panel for feedback.

If you would like to participate, please express your interest when registering for the Workshop. You will be required to complete and submit a project summary form and 2-page CV prior to your session.

Dates/Times: Between Tuesday 20 May and Wednesday 4 June 2025

Duration: 20 minutes per pitching session

Location: Online via Microsoft Teams

Please express your interest in participating in a pitching session when you register for the workshop.

• Slide presentations from the 2025 workshop can be downloaded here.
• Videos of the 2024 workshop can be viewed on YouTube here. 

• Slide presentations from the 2024 workshop can be downloaded: Part 1 and Part 2. 

• Videos from the 2023 workshop can be viewed on YouTube here. 

• There are more education resources on developing a grant application available on the OHMR website here. 

What is the Cardiovascular Research Capacity Program? 

The Cardiovascular Research Capacity Program is an investment by the NSW Government in high quality cardiovascular research of $150 million over 10 years. The program aims to drive scientific discoveries, develop new and innovative treatments, fund research with the potential to prevent cardiovascular disease and improve health and wellbeing outcomes for people with disease. 

What type of research is eligible for Senior and Early-Mid Career Researcher grants? 

The program funds cardiovascular research which encompasses all diseases and conditions of the heart and blood vessels. Funding will support researchers working in cardiovascular research across basic science, biomedical, clinical medicine and health services research, data science, and population health research. Grants also support research towards the development of novel therapeutics. 

Approximately 60% of total funding will be allocated to basic science research and 40% to clinical medicine and science research, health services research, data science, and population health research. 

 How long is the grant period and how much funding is awarded? 

 Senior and Early-Mid Career Researcher Grants have a 3-year duration. 

• Senior Researcher Grants will be awarded a maximum of $750,000.
• Early-Mid Career Researcher Grants will be awarded a maximum of $450,000*.

 *A small number of outstanding Early-Mid Career Researcher Grant applicants may be awarded an additional $300,000 ($100,000 per year for the 3-year duration of the grant) to enhance the proposed project. Applicants wishing to be considered for this additional funding are required to provide a separate additional budget and justification for this. The proposed research project should be structured to ensure that the main $450,000 component of the research is able to be completed as a standalone project without the requested additional funding, as requests for additional funding will be considered separately based on merit and the availability of funds. 

 How can the funding be spent? 

 Grants are for research projects or programs and can cover a combination of salaries of the research team (clinical and/or non-clinical), backfill for clinicians to quarantine research time, consumables and equipment. 

 Grants may not be spent on capital works, maintenance, organisational overheads, basic office equipment, rent or utilities. The Host Organisation is required to provide appropriate infrastructure support. 

 Who is eligible for Early-Mid Career and Senior Researcher grants? 

 All researchers are encouraged to apply, including clinician researchers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers, researchers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and primary carers who have experienced career disruptions. 

 For the purpose of these Grants: 

• an Early-Mid Career Researcher is defined as a researcher who is within 15 years of the conferral of their PhD (or equivalent) on the date on which applications close and has not reached full professorial level. PhD students who expect to have their PhD conferred by 31 December 2025 are eligible to apply. Early-Mid Career Researcher Grant applicants will be assessed in three categories: 0-2 years post-PhD, 3-7 years post-PhD and 8-15 years post-PhD. Note: Please also refer to the section titled Relative to opportunity in the Guidelines.
• a Senior Researcher is defined as a researcher who is 15 years or more postdoctoral OR a researcher who is less than 15 years postdoctoral, but who has reached full Professor level. Note: Associate Professors may apply as Early-Mid Career researchers if they are less than 15 years postdoctoral.

 Which organisations can host Early-Mid Career and Senior Researcher grants? 

 The host organisation must conduct health and medical research in NSW and must be a NSW-based university, medical research institute, not-for-profit organisation or a local health district or other NSW public health organisation. The host organisation must agree to employ the researcher and to provide appropriate infrastructure support for the duration of the grant. 

 Funds will not be paid to Local Health Districts. Host organisations may choose to use a separate organisation to administer the funding, referred to in the Guidelines as an administering organisation. 

Can I apply for multiple grants from the NSW Cardiovascular Research Capacity Program? 

Only one Senior Researcher OR Early-Mid Career Researcher grant application will be accepted per applicant for each round.  

1. Nominations will only be accepted from eligible host organisations.
2. The host organisation prepares a full nomination using the 2025 Cardiovascular Elite Researcher Grants Nomination Form and submits it to NSW Health via email to moh-ohmrgrants@health.nsw.gov.au by 5pm (AEST) on the due date. A maximum of two nominations may be submitted per host organisation in total in FY2025-26.
3. All applications will receive an email to acknowledge receipt within 72 business hours. It is the applicant’s responsibility to follow up if no acknowledgement email is received.
4. The maximum email size is 20MB. Larger emails will be rejected by the NSW Health server and you may not be notified that the email has been rejected.

Can a researcher who previously lived in NSW be nominated?

Cardiovascular Elite Postdoctoral Researcher Grants are open to researchers who currently live and work interstate or overseas. Researchers already residing in Australia, even if on temporary visas, are not eligible. The researcher must not currently live or work in Australia but may be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident of Australia who has been living and working interstate or overseas.

Can a researcher who is not an Australian citizen or a permanent resident of Australia be nominated?

Yes, however awarding of funding will be conditional on obtaining an appropriate working visa for the full term of the funding period.

Will relocation costs for the nominated researcher be included in the grant?

A one-off funding amount of up to $10,000 for the researcher’s relocation expenses (and up to another $20,000 for family relocation expenses) may be available with appropriate justification. See section ‘How to claim for reimbursement of relocation costs’ in the Cardiovascular Elite Postdoctoral Researcher Grant Guidelines 2025 V1 for further information on reimbursement for eligible relocation costs.

Can an Elite Postdoctoral Researcher Grant recipient continue clinical duties?

Yes, however the nature, FTE commitment and alignment with research activities for these should be detailed in the nomination. The Chief Executive of the Local Health District or other employer will be required to sign the declaration on the nomination form to confirm the employment opportunity.

What can the Elite Postdoctoral Researcher Grant funding be used for?

• Research that is conducted the New South Wales public health system or an affiliated organisation (university, medical research institute, industry partner).

• A combination of salaries of the elite researcher, research team, backfill for clinicians to quarantine research time, consumables and equipment.

What expenses/activities are not eligible to be included in the Elite Postdoctoral Researcher Grant budget?

• Capital works, general maintenance costs, organisational infrastructure or overheads, telephone/ communication systems, basic office equipment such as desks and chairs, rent and the cost of utilities.

The Office for Health and Medical Research and the NSW Cardiovascular Research Network (CVRN) hosted a workshop on 9 May 2024. The purpose of the workshop was to support researchers intending to apply for the Senior and Early-Mid Career Researcher Grants Program in 2024. There were also online pitching sessions available. Registration for both the workshop and pitching sessions has now closed.

• Videos of the 2024 workshop can be viewed on YouTube here.
• Slide presentations from the 2024 workshop can be downloaded: Part 1 and Part 2.
• Videos from the 2023 workshop can be viewed on YouTube here.
• There are more education resources on developing a grant application available on the OHMR website here.

Cardiovascular Collaborative Grants 2024

Senior and Early-Mid Career Grant

Elite Research Leadership Grant

Elite Postdoctoral Researcher Grant