The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) has established a funding initiative to invest in health research centred on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) as a potentially transformative technology to support delivery of timely access to quality healthcare for New Zealanders.

Through this Request for Proposals (RFP), we are seeking to fund investigator-led research that will directly address priorities identified in the Government Policy Statement on Health 2024 – 2027. Proposals must clearly identify the health or healthcare area where AI can be leveraged safely and ethically to improve health outcomes in the New Zealand health system.

A total funding pool of $5 million (excluding GST) is available. We expect to fund a range of projects across three grant tiers: small projects up to $100,000 over a term of 6 to 12 months; medium projects up to $400,000 over a term of 12 to 18 months; and large projects up to $700,000 over a term of 18 to 24 months (note: all these amounts exclude GST).

Funding will be available for an immediate start for successful applicants from August 2025.

Eligibility criteria

You are eligible to apply if you have:

• New Zealand as your principal domicile and principal place of employment
• submitted only 1 project application as the first named investigator/co-first named investigator (we will withdraw any applications once this limit has been reached)
• completed all progress or end of contract reports that are due from previous contracts in HRC Gateway.

We welcome proposals for ‘co-first named investigators’ to create a research team of exceptional strength, such as 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. Eligibility criteria apply to both the first named investigator and co-first named investigator.

Application process

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

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 this funding opportunity, 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

Request for proposals

2025 Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare RFP
26 Feb, 2025 7:10am - 418KB

Guidelines

2025 Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Application Guidelines
26 Feb, 2025 11:51am - 1.5MB

Forms

2025 Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Application Form
26 Feb, 2025 11:50am - 799KB

2025 Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Budget Form
26 Feb, 2025 7:11am - 50KB