These grants support highly-talented research leaders working and living overseas to relocate to NSW and strengthen capacity in priority research areas.
Key information
- Status: Closed
- Grant amount: Up to $750,000
- Application opened: 1 July 2025
- Application closed: 2 March 2026, 5:00 pm
Program objective
Elite Researcher Grants aim to:
- promote NSW as a global leader in research by attracting talented researchers to conduct research in NSW
- incentivise talented researchers to move to NSW to conduct pioneering and innovative research and drive discoveries with the long-term aim of improving health and wellbeing
- build NSW capacity in a strong, vibrant and highly skilled research workforce
- bridge the gap between research, policy and practice to increase research impact and translation.
This program is funded and administered by NSW Health.
Eligibility
Who can apply
- The researcher must not currently live or work in NSW but may be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident of Australia who has been living and working overseas or interstate.
- If funding is awarded, the researcher must move to NSW. The researcher must reside in NSW and be employed by an eligible host organisation for the full grant period.
- The host organisation must be in NSW, conduct health and medical research, and be one of the following:
- a university
- an independent medical research institute
- a not-for-profit organisation that conducts health and medical research
- a local health district or other public health organisation.
- Host organisations must match funds to a minimum of 50% of the grant awarded, in addition to in-kind support.
- For more information, please refer to the Grant Guidelines.
Eligible areas of research
Funding will support researchers working across the research spectrum including in basic science, biomedical, clinical medicine and health services research, data science, and population health research.
No specific priority research areas have been nominated. Host organisations need to demonstrate why the research is important, why it is a priority for them and why it is a priority for NSW Health.
Research focused on cardiovascular health is not eligible for funding. Similar grant opportunities are available through the Cardiovascular Elite Researcher Grants program.
What can’t you apply for
Funds awarded cannot be spent on:
- 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.
- Funds awarded cannot be used to support research conducted outside of NSW.
What your application needs to include
You can download the full guidelines and application form:
Prepare your nomination with this checklist
You must provide:
- Nomination Form
- Grant Proposal
- Referee reports
- Evidence of financial support from host and partner organisations
- Any other supporting documentation requested in the Grant Guidelines
Please review the Grant Guidelines for more detail on how to apply and how to format the documentation for submission.
Address the eligibility criteria
Nominations must be for:
- an Elite Researcher located outside of Australia with the intention to move to NSW and be employed by an eligible host organisation for the duration of the grant (3-5 years).
- an Australian citizen, permanent residency status or hold an appropriate visa for the duration of the grant (3-5 years).
Address the assessment criteria
Applications will be assessed against the following selection criteria based on the weighting below:
- Elite postdoctoral researcher (40%)
- Research project and team (40%)
- Leadership and capacity building (10%)
- Support from host and partner organisations (10%)
Please review the Grant Guidelines for detailed assessment criteria.
Start the application
The elite researcher will have been identified by the Host organisation as a high-priority target for recruitment, aligning with their existing research programs.
Nominations will only be accepted from Host organisations not directly from researchers.
Download the Elite Researcher Grant Guidelines (PDF 410.41KB) and fill out the application form:
File
Elite Researcher Grant Nomination Form (DOCX 112.93KB)Information on how to submit your application is available in the Grant Guidelines.
After the application is submitted
Successful applications will be decided by: NSW Health
- Eligibility check: Following the closing date for applications, NSW Health will determine if each application has satisfied the eligibility criteria.
- Review by independent expert panel: An independent panel of expert reviewers will assess each eligible application against the selection criteria.
- Funding recommendation: The independent panel will agree on the final ranking of all eligible applications and will make a recommendation for funding to NSW Health.
- Decision and notification: NSW Health will determine grant recipients and amounts. All applicants will be informed as to whether they have been awarded funding.
- Grant agreements: NSW Health will contact host/ administering organisations for successful projects to execute a funding agreement. A standard, non-negotiable funding agreement will be used.
Support and contact
Phone: 02 9391 9228