We offer funding of $400,000 per year up to a total of $1,200,000 for research projects that have the potential to vastly improve the health of New Zealanders.

Projects can cover a diverse range of areas, including biomedical, public health, clinical, Māori focused, and Pacific health research.

We expect to fund and encourage a range of grant values and durations. Most projects have a term of three years with a budget of $1,200,000, but shorter contracts are offered pro rata (e.g. a two-year project may have a budget of up to $800,000) and we can negotiate terms of up to five years within the $1,200,000 budget cap.

Additional funding is available for randomised controlled trial project applications if required and justified in the full application; the budget cap for these applications is $1,440,000.

Project categories

When applying for a Project 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.
• Pacific: Making significant improvements in, or developing knowledge contributing to, Pacific health outcomes.

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. You cannot change the project category between the Expression of Interest (EOI) and full stage application.

This page covers information on the General Project category. Please follow the links to be directed to information on the Rangahau Hauora Māori Project category or the Pacific Project category.

Eligibility requirements

If you are the first named investigator (i.e. lead researcher) or the co-first named investigator on a project application, you must be employed by a New Zealand host organisation, have New Zealand citizenship or permanent residency status and be domiciled in New Zealand.

There is a limit of one project application per first named investigator/co-first named investigator.

The HRC welcomes proposals for ‘co-first named investigators’ to create a research team of exceptional strength, e.g. for interdisciplinary work. In addition, early and mid-career researchers who have not previously held a Project contract are encouraged to apply as co-first named investigator with a mentor/experienced researcher.

Collaborating researchers from outside New Zealand can, at the HRC’s discretion, be included as named investigators on an HRC Project contract. However, the HRC will not contribute to the overheads of the overseas investigator, and the total proportion of the contract budget allocated to overseas investigators must not exceed 20 percent.

For more information about our contract requirements, please read the HRC Rules document under 'Helpful links'.

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 Project 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 Project 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.

How do I apply?

First, you will need to ensure that you have an up-to-date profile on HRC Gateway. Project funding has a two-stage application process. The first stage is the Expression of Interest (EOI) stage. Applicants submit an EOI, which is then assessed. Top-ranked applicants will be invited to submit a full application for the second stage of the process. The proposed research in the EOI must be substantially the same as that in the full application.

Choosing the right application form

If you are applying in the General Project category, you need to use the 2026 Project Expression of Interest form below.

If you are applying in the Rangahau Hauora Māori Project category or the Pacific Project category, you need to use the application form specific to that category. Please follow the links for application forms and other information.

Important points to note

Guidance on what is in scope and out of scope for the 2026 Project rounds can be found in the 2026 Project Expression of Interest Application Guidelines below. Please carefully read the new guidelines before preparing your application.

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

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

Got a question?

If you have read through the documents below and the 'How to apply for HRC funding' section under 'Helpful links' and still have a question about Project funding, please send an email to info@hrc.govt.nz and one of our team will be in touch. Alternatively, you can phone us on (09) 303 5200.

Documents

Guidelines

2026 Project Expression of Interest Application Guidelines
14 Aug, 2025 9:15am - 1.1MB

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

Forms

2026 Project Expression of Interest Application Form
14 Aug, 2025 9:15am - 94KB