About the fund

In 2016 the Victorian Government launched the Victorian Medical Acceleration Fund which continues to support the health and medical research sector and researchers to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for Victorians.

57 projects have received funding through the previous rounds. Summaries of these projects can be found below in Outcomes.

The Victorian Medical Acceleration Fund aims to:

  • Support early stage research including discovery research, clinical research and health practice
  • Provide up to $3 million in research grants available per round to help address current market research gaps.
  • Develop collaborative partnerships between health services, industry, medical research institutes and universities, both nationally and internationally to provide a collective impact for research projects. 

Victorian COVID-19 Research Fund

The Victorian COVID-19 Research Fund has been established to support Victorian-led research that directly contributes to discovery and mitigating the health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Funding applications are open from Friday 22 May 2020 to midnight Monday 1 June 2020.

For more information on the research fund and how to apply for funding, visit the Victorian COVID-19 Research Fund page.

2020 – Round 4 update

The health and medical research priority for Round 4 of the Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund has been changed to reflect the current health environment.  Priority will be given to grant applications that accelerate health and medical research translation projects in response to COVID-19 and related research.

Eligible applications that relate to other research areas will still be assessed on merit. Recommendations by the selection panel will prioritise research that supports COVID-19 response and recovery. 
 
To provide opportunity for applicants to reflect on this change and respond, the closing date for submissions has been extended to midnight Sunday 19 April 2020. 

For any further information please email ohmr@dhhs.vic.gov.au.

Round 4 will provide two tiers of funding:

  • Tier one up to $100,000 to support early stage research proposals.
  • Tier two providing up to $500,000 to ‘fast track’ translation into clinical or health practice. 

Note: Matched funding is a requirement to demonstrate a capacity to collaborate and undertake research that has a clear pathway to translation in Victoria. 

Applications for Round 4 will close midnight Sunday 19 April 2020.

Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund - Round 4 application form and guidelines

More information

  • 1. Is partnership mandatory?

    Yes, it is a requirement that the applicant organisation partners with at least one other organisation.

  • 2. Is matching funding dollar for dollar?

    Yes, matching funding is dollar ($) for dollar ($). In-kind support is not dollar for dollar.

  • 3. What are the minimum risk and insurance requirements of the applicant?

    The Department of Health and Human Services requires the following minimum insurance:

    Professional Indemnity: $2 million

    Public Liability: $5 million

    Depending on the nature of the project and level of funding this could change and increase as follows:

    Professional Indemnity: $5 million

    Public Liability: $10 million

  • 4. Intellectual property, term of agreement and attachments

    4.1 Background Intellectual Property

    All background intellectual property will remain the property of the party providing the background intellectual property.

    4.2 Research Project Intellectual Property

    The organisation will own all research project intellectual property.

    If the organisation applied to the Acceleration Fund as a member of a consortium or joint venture, the organisation warrants to the Department of Health and Human Services that the organisation is authorised by the consortium or joint venture to own research project intellectual property.

    5. Term of Agreement

    The term of the agreement is 18 months. The research must commence in 2020.

    6. Attachments

    Attach any supporting documentation including letters of support, publications, citations to support your research application.

Outcomes 

Round 3 

Round 3 of the $3 Million Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund funded 14 research projects in 2019.

These projects leveraged matched funding of $3,671,987.0 from philanthropic, industry and international sources.

Find out more about each successful project.

Round 2

The $3 million Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund in round 2 funded 30 innovative research projects. Find out more about each project.

These projects leveraged funding of $4,329,044 from philanthropic, industry and international sources. 

Please see the media release at the Premier of Victoria website for details about the successful submissions.

Round 1

Thirteen projects were successful in round one of the Victorian Medical Acceleration Fund. 

These projects leveraged funding from philanthropic, industry and international sources, which meant a further $7 million investment into Victoria's world-leading medical research sector. 

Please see the media release at the Premier of Victoria website for details about the successful submissions.