Are you conducting high risk / high reward research? The MRFF Frontiers initiative could be the grant for you!

Dr Sharon Brennan-Olsen
Mar 31
4 min read

The Frontiers initiative varies substantially from other MRFF initiatives. This 2-stage funding opportunity is provided for ‘moonshot’ projects, and differs from other initiatives in its funding level, expectations of the research, assessment process and the 2 criteria included in the first stage.

And here’s an exciting piece of news: MRFF has just announced it’s extending this funding opportunity by another 12 months. This means you have another two chances to secure funding for your moonshot!

What does MRFF mean by 'moonshot' projects?

'Moonshot’ projects extend far beyond being just an innovative project. Instead, MRFF defines them as being an ‘...ambitious, exploratory and groundbreaking program of research that utilises health technologies to address a challenging clinical problem’.

In a Frontiers-funded project you must explore bold ideas, push boundaries and develop new health and medical breakthroughs that prevent or treat a current or future intractable health condition. Your research should use new health technologies and/or repurpose existing health technologies in a novel way, with high potential for global impact.

In this blog we summarise 5 key points specific to the Frontiers initiative and provide an overview of what’s been funded to date under this unique opportunity.

1. Two-stage application process

Unlike all other MRFF funding opportunities, the Frontiers initiative has a two-stage application process.

The first stage involves an expression of interest (EOI) where you must outline a proposed program of research with a 10-year time horizon and respond to 2 criteria:

Vision and novelty (50%)
Team capability (50%)

Your challenge for the EOI is to clearly articulate your overall vision for the proposed program of research and how it will produce a technology that generates meaningful outcomes within 10 years for patients living with a serious health condition, their families and carers.

Only EOIs that score 8 or more on both criteria will be invited to submit a full application. If you are invited, your full application will include 4 criteria:

Project impact (40%)
Project methodology (30%)
Capacity, capability and resources to deliver the project (30%)
Overall value and risk (non-weighted)

Only full applications that score 7 or more on each of the weighted criterion and ‘excellent’ on the non-weighted criterion will be awarded funding.

2. Linked projects within one program

There is an expectation that Frontiers research programs encompass a series of linked projects that cumulatively address the objective and intended outcome of the funding opportunity.

The funding application must be for one project within the program, and the funding requested cannot exceed a maximum of 5 years.

If awarded funding, you can seek subsequent Frontiers funding for another project in your 10-year program, bypassing the original EOI process.

The total funding requested cannot exceed $25M for a combined 10-year program of research.

3. Full implementation by 10-year timepoint

The funding is intended to support programs of research to the point of being competitive for private investment, e.g. venture capital, acquisition of intellectual property.

Funding is not provided to develop the idea; however, you can propose a project that commences at any stage in the pipeline from proof-of-concept onwards.

Importantly, while there is no definitive time point for commercial investment or regulatory approval, you must intend to achieve full implementation of the proposed technology within the 10 years.

4. Unsuccessful EOIs can be resubmitted, but beware!

You can resubmit a previously unsuccessful EOI. However, there is a standing grant committee for the Frontiers initiative and panels are likely to know if it’s a resubmission, so it's important you address any feedback about your previous EOI.

5. Common characteristics of first stage applications

From the perspective of reviewers, strong EOIs clearly articulate:

a vision of the program of research including how each project is linked
a bold, novel but feasible idea that is evidenced by data and research
the current research or marketplace landscape
a pathway to implementation and adoption of the technology, including reference to approval processes and regulatory authorities
the impact on Australia and/or Australians
the diversity of the research team
national and international collaboration.

What has been funded before?

Applications to the Frontiers initiative could be focused on anything from individual therapeutic development, platform technology or pipeline therapy development, amongst other bold ideas.

Some examples of funded Frontiers grants (research plans) include:

Indication	Project title	Administering organisation
Antimicrobial resistance	Phage Australia	University of Sydney
Cardiology	New frontiers in personalised prevention of coronary artery disease	University of Sydney
Gynaecology/genomics	Earlier diagnosis and personalised treatments for endometriosis	University of Queensland
Infectious disease	EpiWatch – artificial intelligence early-warning systems for epidemics	University of New South Wales
Neurology	Novel, innovative modified tetanus toxin drugs for weak muscle conditions	Snoretox
Vascular	The brain-machine interface frontier: pioneering endovascular bionics	Synchron Australia
Vascular/ cardiology	Disruptive technologies for precision medicine in coronary artery disease	University of Western Australia

The full list of MRFF grant recipients can be found here.

Submission dates for EOIs

While you can submit an EOI at any time, MRFF will batch them every 6 months for assessment.

The 2 remaining batches for this funding opportunity:

Batch 8: 30 September 2026
Batch 9: 31 March 2027

Will the Frontiers initiative continue?

The Frontiers initiative is in MRFF’s current 10-year plan, so it’s unknown if the initiative will continue in the future, or if it will be in the same form.

What's our take home message?

The Frontiers initiative is for research teams who will fundamentally change the way things are done on a global scale. In other words, your big ideas must be focused on developing new products and interventions and implementing these into clinical practice, benefiting patients, clinicians, and the health system within a 10-year time frame.

With only 2 more chances to be funded, don’t hesitate to develop your EOI!

Thinking about putting in an MRFF Frontiers application in 2026? Join our MRFF Masterclass Program to improve your chances of success. Email us at hello@thegrantedgroup.com.au for more information.

And here’s an exciting piece of news: MRFF has just announced it’s extending this funding opportunity by another 12 months. This means you have another two chances to secure funding for your moonshot!

'Moonshot’ projects extend far beyond being just an innovative project. Instead, MRFF defines them as being an ‘...ambitious, exploratory and groundbreaking program of research that utilises health technologies to address a challenging clinical problem’.

In this blog we summarise 5 key points specific to the Frontiers initiative and provide an overview of what’s been funded to date under this unique opportunity.

Unlike all other MRFF funding opportunities, the Frontiers initiative has a two-stage application process.

The first stage involves an expression of interest (EOI) where you must outline a proposed program of research with a 10-year time horizon and respond to 2 criteria:

Vision and novelty (50%)

Team capability (50%)

Your challenge for the EOI is to clearly articulate your overall vision for the proposed program of research and how it will produce a technology that generates meaningful outcomes within 10 years for patients living with a serious health condition, their families and carers.

Only EOIs that score 8 or more on both criteria will be invited to submit a full application. If you are invited, your full application will include 4 criteria:

Project impact (40%)

Project methodology (30%)

Capacity, capability and resources to deliver the project (30%)

Overall value and risk (non-weighted)

Only full applications that score 7 or more on each of the weighted criterion and ‘excellent’ on the non-weighted criterion will be awarded funding.

There is an expectation that Frontiers research programs encompass a series of linked projects that cumulatively address the objective and intended outcome of the funding opportunity.

The funding application must be for one project within the program, and the funding requested cannot exceed a maximum of 5 years.

If awarded funding, you can seek subsequent Frontiers funding for another project in your 10-year program, bypassing the original EOI process.

The total funding requested cannot exceed $25M for a combined 10-year program of research.

The funding is intended to support programs of research to the point of being competitive for private investment, e.g. venture capital, acquisition of intellectual property.

Funding is not provided to develop the idea; however, you can propose a project that commences at any stage in the pipeline from proof-of-concept onwards.

Importantly, while there is no definitive time point for commercial investment or regulatory approval, you must intend to achieve full implementation of the proposed technology within the 10 years.

You can resubmit a previously unsuccessful EOI. However, there is a standing grant committee for the Frontiers initiative and panels are likely to know if it’s a resubmission, so it's important you address any feedback about your previous EOI.

From the perspective of reviewers, strong EOIs clearly articulate:

a vision of the program of research including how each project is linked

a bold, novel but feasible idea that is evidenced by data and research

the current research or marketplace landscape

a pathway to implementation and adoption of the technology, including reference to approval processes and regulatory authorities

the impact on Australia and/or Australians

the diversity of the research team

national and international collaboration.

Applications to the Frontiers initiative could be focused on anything from individual therapeutic development, platform technology or pipeline therapy development, amongst other bold ideas.

Some examples of funded Frontiers grants (research plans) include:

Antimicrobial resistance

Phage Australia

University of Sydney

Cardiology

New frontiers in personalised prevention of coronary artery disease

University of Sydney

Gynaecology/genomics

Earlier diagnosis and personalised treatments for endometriosis

University of Queensland

Infectious disease

EpiWatch – artificial intelligence early-warning systems for epidemics

University of New South Wales

Neurology

Novel, innovative modified tetanus toxin drugs for weak muscle conditions

Snoretox

Vascular

The brain-machine interface frontier: pioneering endovascular bionics

Synchron Australia

Vascular/ cardiology

Disruptive technologies for precision medicine in coronary artery disease

University of Western Australia

The full list of MRFF grant recipients can be found here.

While you can submit an EOI at any time, MRFF will batch them every 6 months for assessment.

The 2 remaining batches for this funding opportunity:

Batch 8: 30 September 2026

Batch 9: 31 March 2027

The Frontiers initiative is in MRFF’s current 10-year plan, so it’s unknown if the initiative will continue in the future, or if it will be in the same form.

With only 2 more chances to be funded, don’t hesitate to develop your EOI!

Thinking about putting in an MRFF Frontiers application in 2026? Join our MRFF Masterclass Program to improve your chances of success. Email us at hello@thegrantedgroup.com.au for more information.

Comments