In October, the Government announced changes to the science funding system including the establishment of a single, independent board, Research Funding New Zealand (Research Funding NZ), which will be responsible for making most funding decisions.

At that time an in-principle decision was made to transfer health research funding from the Health Research Council to Research Funding NZ, pending appropriate legislative and operational transition plans.

The Government has now confirmed the Health Research Act 1990 will be repealed and The HRC disestablished.

The majority of HRC functions will be transferred to either Research Funding NZ, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), or the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Implementation will be phased, and exact timings are dependent on the passing of the Science, Innovation and Technology Bill and the relevant provisions coming into effect.

It is likely the full transition of funding responsibilities will occur by 2028.

Where functions will move:

• Funding decision-making to Research Funding NZ and administration to MBIE.
• Ethics function to be considered by the National Ethics Advisory Committee on Health and Disability Support Services Ethics (NEAC) in MoH. NEAC will be responsible for developing a new National Standard on Ethical Conduct in Human Research which will define the core components of the national ethics system and clarify the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders.
• Science review of new medicines to Medsafe in MoH.
• Workforce development to MBIE and MoH.
• National health research policy and advice to MoH (with MBIE supporting alignment between the health and science systems).

The current HRC advisory committees (e.g. Public Health Research, Biomedical Research and Māori Health Research Committees) were set up under the Health Research Act 1990.

Under the new system, Research Funding NZ will appoint the appropriate advisory groups to support decision making, including a Māori Health Research advisory group.

Key information for health researchers and host organisations

• All current research contracts will continue.
• For now, the HRC retains all our existing committee functions.
• The Government has advised that the transition to Research Funding NZ will be phased and is likely to be completed in 2028.
• The HRC will continue to work with MBIE and MoH to understand the details and timeframe.
• We will provide an update when we have further information and will keep you informed as this work progresses.

Further information is available on the MBIE website here.

As part of the science system changes, there is a need to consider where ethics functions will sit in the future ethics system, and to clarify roles and responsibilities.

The Government has advised that the National Ethics Advisory Committee (NEAC) will be responsible for developing a new national standard called the National Standard on Ethical Conduct in Human Research.

The new standard will define the core components of the national ethics system, providing a framework for researchers, ethics review bodies, institutions and research governance, and potential research participants. The Minister of Health and the Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology will have a role in commissioning and approving the standard.

It will become a legal requirement for researchers whose studies involve human participants to comply with the national standard.

Cabinet has also agreed that the Health and Disability Ethics Committees (HDECs) will be able to charge research applicants for fast-track ethics review. This will be optional, and ethics review of research applications in scope of an HDEC will continue to be free for applicants who decide not to pay for the fast-track review process.

The new national standard and the fast-track ethics review process are both subject to the passing of the Science, Innovation and Technology Bill and the relevant provisions coming into effect. For now, the HRC retains all of our existing ethics functions.

Ministry of Health officials will consult with the research sector (both commercial stakeholders and public researchers) on the proposal for cost recovery for fast-track ethics review. This will take place during 2026.

The Health Research Council has seen a decline in government funding over recent years, as budget has been reprioritised within the science, innovation and technology sector, most recently to support the science system reforms. This includes our investment budget (the funds we invest in health research) and our operational budget (the resources that support the HRC's activities, including the process of managing funding rounds and research contracts).

Our Council has assessed the impact on upcoming funding rounds and advises the following:

Impact of reductions to our investment budget:

• We have previously updated the sector of a 10% reduction in annual budget the HRC has to invest in health research that comes into effect in July 2028.
• Additionally, we have less to invest in the 2026 and 2027 funding rounds.
• This is due to the cumulative effect of budget reductions caused by funding transfers and reprioritisations in recent years, earlier budget reductions, and the need to ensure our multi-year funding commitments do not exceed our reduced investment funding envelope when this comes into effect in July 2028.
• Therefore, we expect to allocate fewer research grants in the 2026 and 2027 funding rounds. This includes a decision by our Council to pause the Emerging Researcher First Grant funding round for 2026.
• All existing funding contracts will be honoured, and payments will continue to be paid out of our annual investment budget as per the terms of each contract.

Impact of reductions to our operational budget:

• From next year (July 2026), there will be less operational resource to support the HRC's activities due to a previously communicated reduction of 10% in our annual operating budget.
• The reduced operational budget may result in changes to our assessment processes and accordingly some funding opportunities. Changes will be communicated in advance.
• We continue to assess the impact of this reprioritisation, and related decisions, and will provide more details when they are available.
• The focus of the HRC remains to continue to operate effectively, funding excellent research that improves health outcomes for New Zealanders within the new funding envelope.

2026 funding rounds

• The 2026 career development awards closed earlier in the year and the embargoed results are available on Gateway.
• The 2026 Programmes round closed on 6 November 2025, and results are expected to be available by 30 April 2026.
• The 2026 Projects round is open. The Expression of Interest stage closed at 1pm on 17 September 2025 and selected applicants have been invited to submit full stage applications (due by 1pm on 11 December 2025). We expect results to be available by 30 April 2026.
• The 2026 Explorer Grants round will open at 1pm on 20 November 2025 and close at 1pm on 30 January 2026. Results are expected to be available in June 2026. 
• Council has decided to pause the Emerging Researcher First Grant funding round for 2026 (please see the following item for more information).

Since 2010, the Health Research Council has administered and distributed money from the Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund on behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) through our Ngā Kanohi Kitea grants (known as the Ngā Kanohi Kitea Community Advancement Fund from 2022 onwards). With MBIE having replaced the Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund with the He Ara Whakahihiko Capability Fund in late May this year, we announced in July that we were pausing the Ngā Kanohi Kitea Grant Funding Round while we worked through how these changes might affect this round going forward.

We can now confirm that the Ngā Kanohi Kitea Community Advancement Fund will no longer be offered. The HRC is developing a new funding mechanism for administering our portion of the He Ara Whakahihiko Capability Fund to support health research that strengthens Māori health research capability, creates clear pathways to impact, and delivers both health and economic outcomes. We will provide more information about this new funding mechanism later this year/early next year.

The HRC’s 2026 Explorer Grant round will open from 20 November 2025. The key dates are outlined below.

Open date: 1 pm, 20 November 2025
Application due date: 1 pm, 30 January 2026
Results due: June 2026

Changes made this year

The HRC has made changes to the application and assessment processes for the 2026 Explorer Grant round:

• The 2026 application guidelines clearly outline HRC requirements and what is in scope and out of scope for the 2026 round. Please carefully read the new guidelines before preparing your application so that your proposal aligns with the round’s requirements.
• You will only be able to submit one Explorer Grant application as the first named investigator or co-first named investigator.
• Salary and overheads for named investigators and research personnel can now be claimed within the budget of $150,000 for a term of 24 months.
• Applications will only be assessed through an independent online scoring process. In previous years, applications were first assessed through pre-scoring, which determined which applications required an additional review in an assessing committee meeting. This year, applications will only be scored online (which is similar to the previous pre-scoring process). Further information on the assessment process will be provided in the application guidelines.

The guidelines will be available on HRC Gateway by 20 November 2025.

For examples of some of the Explorer Grants funded in the 2025 funding round, see the HRC’s website Research Repository.