Public consultation on proposed updates to the Investigator and Synergy Grant assessment framework

Overview

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is seeking feedback on 3 initiatives:

• revised research impact assessment criteria (Investigator and Synergy Grants)
• a revised peer review score descriptor appendix (Investigator and Synergy Grants)
• removing the eligibility requirement for Emerging Leadership (EL) applicants to be less than or equal to 10-years post-PhD pass date at the time of application (Investigator Grants).

This consultation invites feedback from the sector and other interested parties on the proposed updates for the Investigator and Synergy Grant schemes. NHMRC will use this feedback, along with expert guidance provided by the NHMRC score descriptor working group, to finalise changes ahead of the 2026 Investigator Grant round due to open mid-2025.

Why your views matter

Your feedback will help ensure that these updates reflect the views and perspectives from the sector. It will help NHMRC to reduce overlap, complexity and confusion for applicants and reviewers, and help ensure that the needs of researchers from all fields, disciplines and career stages are considered. 

NHMRC welcomes your submissions, which will help inform these updates, due for implementation from the 2026 Investigator Grant round. Respondents can choose to provide feedback to one or more of the 3 updated initiatives. Please review the relevant consultation documents before completing your submission and feel free to bring this consultation to the attention of interested colleagues. 

The closing date for this consultation is Wednesday, 4 December 2024. If you need assistance, please email investigator.grants@nhmrc.gov.au.

We look forward to receiving your comments.