Regional, Rural and Remote Capacity Building 2026 Grant Opportunity (GO8494)

Regional, Rural and Remote Capacity Building 2026 Grant Opportunity (GO8494) is sponsored by National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). This grant opportunity provides support for established and emerging researchers embedded in regional, rural, and remote Australia to undertake high-quality place-based research that delivers benefits for their communities.

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Regional, Rural and Remote Capacity Building 2026 Grant Opportunity (GO8494) # Regional, Rural and Remote Capacity Building 2026 Grant Opportunity (GO8494) [](https://www. nhmrc.

gov.au/funding/find-funding/regional-rural-and-remote-capacity-building-2026-grant-opportunity-go8494) The Regional, Rural and Remote Capacity Building 2026 Grant Opportunity provides support for established and emerging researchers embedded in regional, rural and remote Australia to undertake high‑quality place-based research that delivers benefits for their communities.

The objectives of the Regional, Rural and Remote Capacity Building 2026 grant opportunity are to provide financial assistance to support: * established regional, rural or remote (RRR) researchers, as they lead and develop a team of early to mid-career RRR researchers to build RRR research capacity * emerging RRR researchers, including clinician researchers, to be future research leaders in their communities * place-based research conducted in RRR areas that aims to benefit individuals and communities living in those areas.

The intended outcomes of this grant opportunity are to: * build capacity in the RRR research workforce across Australia, including clinician researchers * strengthen health and medical research in RRR communities to improve health equity. This grant opportunity contributes to NHMRC’s strategic priority to embed equity in health research, including for RRR communities.

Funding will be available under 2 application streams: * **Stream 1**: the Chief Investigators are primarily resident in a regional, rural, remote or very remote area according to the Modified Monash Model (MM 2–7). * **Stream 2**: the Chief Investigators are primarily resident in a rural, remote or very remote area according to the Modified Monash Model (MM 3–7).

The applicant team may be based at a single institution, organisation or campus in one RRR region or may be a geographically disparate network linking across more than one RRR region. Applications that include at least one health service provider and clinician researcher are encouraged.

Applications that address health services and programs to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people are also encouraged. Grants are to support a program of research that may consist of multiple smaller-scale research projects. Grantees will have the flexibility to pursue important new research directions as they arise, adjust their resources accordingly, and to form collaborations as needed.

It is expected that the vast majority of the proposed research will be conducted in regional, rural, remote or very remote areas (MM 2–7), and aim to benefit individuals and communities living in those areas. For information on the peer review process, refer to the _Regional, Rural and Remote Capacity Building 2026 Peer Review Guidelines_on GrantConnect.

Before you submit an application, please make sure you have: ### Grant submission advice Read all relevant reference material GrantConnect GO Documents ### Liaise with your Administering Institution to identify any specific requirements that the institution may have ### Ensure your application is complete and correct.

October 2026 to February 2027 You will need to use Sapphire to access or enter your CV and profile, and submit your application. Sapphire has training material to help with system tasks. Applications for grants can be made by registering.

RAOs have been contacted directly with instructions on how to establish an RAO account. If you have any questions please contact theResearch Help Centre. ## Contact research admin office If you need more information, contact your Research Administration Office in the first instance.

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