Health Research Council (HRC) Programme Grants support high-performing teams to undertake a programme of health research in an area of importance and priority for New Zealand.

Research programmes must have a clear strategic goal, with specific research objectives that can tangibly contribute to improved health outcomes in New Zealand and/or demonstrate the potential to make a significant breakthrough within a field of health research.

Meaningful collaboration with others to collectively achieve health gains and deliver maximum value for the New Zealand’s public investment in health research is strongly encouraged. Up to $5 million is available over five years.

Programme applications are assessed through a one-stage process. Peer review is provided by discipline-specific assessing committees who allocate an overall score and ranking. Top ranked applications are shortlisted for the Programme Assessing Committee. The outcome of these assessments informs Council’s funding decision for Programmes.

Programme categories

When applying for a Programme Grant, you need to select one of the following project categories:

• General: Supporting excellent ideas and innovations designed to improve health outcomes for New Zealanders.
• Rangahau Hauora Māori: Supporting Māori health research that contributes to Māori health gains, upholds rangatiratanga and utilises and advances Māori knowledge, resources, and people.

Programme applications focusing on Pacific health research or health delivery research can be submitted to the General category.

The same application cannot be submitted to different categories (i.e. you cannot submit the same application for both the General category and the Rangahau Hauora Māori category). The HRC does not provide advice on which project category you should choose.

Eligibility requirements

You can only submit one Programme application as the director (first named investigator) or co-director (co-first named investigator).

If you're applying as the director (or co-director) of an HRC Programme Grant, you'll need to meet specific requirements. Please refer to the 2026 Programme application guidelines for all the details.

We welcome proposals with co-directors and acknowledge the range of leadership skills and experience required to optimise the potential impact of a Programme Grant.

Please note the following criteria for the 2026 round:

• You cannot submit more than one Programme application as director or co-director.
• You can submit one Project application as first named investigator or co-first named investigator and one Programme application as director or co-director. This applies irrespective of whether the Project application is a part of the Programme application.

Health research priorities

New Zealand’s investment in health research must contribute to achieving the goals of the health system and the science, innovation and technology system.

For the health system, the Government is committed to improving health outcomes by providing New Zealanders with timely access to high-quality health services.

A key focus for the science system is to harness the benefits of research and innovation to drive economic transformation. The Government wants to ensure that the research it funds is progressing its priorities, and that there is a clear pathway to translate new ideas into successful commercial enterprise.

Therefore, it is important for researchers and research organisations to identify how research to be funded by the HRC will add value and contribute to these goals and wider system performance.

All HRC-funded research must meet all the following requirements:

• The research is focused on health and improving health outcomes, where health outcomes are defined as:
  • absence or reduction of disease, symptoms or morbidity, and/or
  • timely access to quality healthcare, for all New Zealanders, and/or
  • longer life expectancy, and/or
  • improved quality of life.
• The research proposal provides a clear evidence base when describing areas of high health need and population groups with high health need.
• The research directly addresses known health and health system issues in New Zealand.
• The research proposal clearly articulates why the research should be done now, in New Zealand, and supported by government funding.

Changes in the 2026 Programme Grant guidelines

Our Council has set a clear purpose and scope for HRC funding so that we can run a robust, sustainable process that identifies the highest quality applications that meet the HRC priorities.

To achieve this, the HRC has made changes to the application and assessment processes for the 2026 Programme round to provide increased transparency to applicants on the considerations that inform funding decisions.

Please carefully read the new guidelines, particularly the new sections outlining HRC requirements and what is in scope and out of scope for the 2026 rounds, before preparing your application so that your proposal aligns with the round’s requirements.

If your application aligns with one or more of the specified priorities, you will need to clearly articulate how in the most relevant sections of the application.

How do I apply?

First, you’ll need to ensure that you have an up-to-date profile on HRC Gateway. You will submit a full application online via HRC Gateway using the forms available below. Application guidelines are also available below.

Important points to note

Guidance on the research impact assessment criterion and feedback for applicants can be found here: Research Impact assessment slideshow.

Guidance on the Māori health advancement assessment criterion and examples of how to incorporate this in your research can be found here: Māori Health Advancement.

Guidance on the Rangahau Hauora Māori category and the goals that are required to be addressed in your research application can be found here: Rangahau Hauora Māori Investment Stream.

Got a question?

If you've read through the documents below and under the 'Helpful links' section on the right and still have a question about Programme Grant funding, please send an email to info@hrc.govt.nz and one of our team will be in touch.

Documents

Guidelines

2026 Programme Application Guidelines
27 Aug, 2025 10:49am - 947KB

2026 Peer Review Manual
14 Aug, 2025 9:13am - 677KB

Forms

2026 Programme Application Form
27 Aug, 2025 10:50am - 113KB

2026 Programme Budget Form
27 Aug, 2025 10:50am - 47KB