The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) have provided various updates to the Australian research community in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In summary, the changes to NHMRC schemes include extended closing dates, cancellation of Synergy Grant scheme for 2020, the creation of a FAQ page on the NHMRC website, and details on Variation requests.

Updated grant schemes information

• Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Scheme (CTCS) - delayed, the closing date for the CTCS scheme will be extended to 25 November 2020.
• Ideas Grant Scheme - extra time, the deadline will be extended by 5 weeks, with a new closing date of 10 June 2020. 
• Priority driven Cancer Research Scheme (PdCCRS) 2020 funding round are submitted through the CTCS and Ideas grants.
• Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD) - will now close 30 July 2020.
• NHMRC e-ASIA Joint Research Program 9th Health Research and Environment - new closing date of 21 May 2020.
• Investigator Grants 2020 - the outcomes from the 2020 Investigator Grant round to be available soon.
• Synergy Grant Scheme - cancelled for 2020. NHMRC will consider whether it is possible to run an expanded Synergy Grant round in 2021.
  

The updated Flinders’ internal dates and NHMRC closing dates are now available on the NHMRC schemes page or on the specific Inspiring Research article linked above.

FAQ webpage

The NHMRC recognises that the COVID-19 outbreak is affecting many in Australia’s health and medical research community including NHMRC grant applicants and recipients and members of NHMRC Peer Review Panels and they have created a FAQ webpage. These FAQs are intended to address frequently asked questions from NHMRC stakeholders about the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on applications for NHMRC funding, peer review, grant management and other NHMRC processes. 

Variation requests

If a grant holder’s circumstances have changed - for example, there has been a delay in Research Activity because of involvement in the clinical or public health response – the Administering Institution’s Research Administration Officers (RAO) can submit variation requests. The NHMRC are advising that the grant holder is to work with their RAOs as their first point of contact for all grant administration matters. Variation requests are to be certified and submitted by the Administering Institution’s RAO.

Variations that may be relevant due to the impact of COVID-19 include:

• Deferral of commencement date
• Deferral of an in-progress grant and extended leave requests
• Extended end date
• Change to a research plan
• Change to chief investigators.

More details are available on the NHMRC Vary your grant page.

The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD) supports international and interdisciplinary collaborations in research, focusing on chronic non-communicable diseases.

Applications now close 30 July 2020. 

Applications must be submitted through Sapphire. Further information on the scheme can be found on the NHMRC website and GrantConnect.

For application advice please contact the NHMRC Grants Team - Gareth Rees, Amanda Wright and Lucy Sheehan-Hennessy on nhmrc@flinders.edu.au.

The GACD places particular emphasis on research into cardiovascular diseases (mainly heart disease and stroke), type 2 diabetes, chronic respiratory conditions, mental health and certain cancers. The work of the GACD focuses on the needs of Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) and populations facing conditions of vulnerability in High-Income Countries (HICs).

The call will focus on implementation research for the primary and/or secondary prevention of cancer in LMICs and/or in populations facing conditions of vulnerability in HICs. Full details of the aim, scope and assessment criteria of this call can be found on the GACD website.

This GACD funding call is being conducted in a two-stage assessment process consisting of an initial NHMRC peer review process, resulting in a list of Not For Further Consideration (NFFC) applications, followed by non-NFFC applications proceeding to a Joint International Review Panel.

All NHMRC timelines and details of Flinders' internal process information are detailed on Flinders' NHMRC schemes page.

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) recognises that the COVID-19 outbreak is affecting many in Australia’s health and medical research community including NHMRC grant applicants and recipients and members of NHMRC Peer Review Panels and they have created a FAQ webpage. These FAQs are intended to address frequently asked questions from NHMRC stakeholders about the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on applications for NHMRC funding, peer review, grant management and other NHMRC processes. 

Topics covered in the FAQs are:
• Grant applications
• Peer Review Panel and Principal Committee meetings
• General project delays and disruptions
• Planned project-related travel 
• Travel-related costs
• Re-focusing existing research on COVID-19
• Clinical trials and cohort studies
• Personal and career disruptions

Note: As the COVID-19 outbreak and associated impacts continue to evolve, grant applicants and recipients are strongly encouraged to monitor the NHMRC website for updates. The NHMRC will review frequently and advice may change if there is a significant change in circumstances or additional clarifications are required.

This year Cancer Australia and its Funding Partners have research priorities which cover research into all types of cancer including paediatric cancers for the Priority driven Cancer Research Scheme (PdCCRS) 2020 funding round. 

As with previous years, PdCCRS are applied for through the NHMRC funding rounds. For 2020 PdCCRS can be applied for through Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Grants or through Ideas Grants.

Changes have been made to the formatting of the Priority driven Cancer Research Scheme (PdCCRS) Questions forms; applicants are advised to thoroughly read the instructions before completing the form.

Funding will be available for research that addresses the priorities of Cancer Australia and the following Funding Partners:

• Australian Lions Childhood Cancer Research Foundation
• Cure Cancer
• Leukaemia Foundation
• My Room
• National Breast Cancer Foundation
• The Kids’ Cancer Project

Cancer Australia and its Funding Partners invite applications for PdCCRS grants to commence in 2020. Project grants will be offered in the following categories:

• Funding Category A: Project grants of up to three years duration, with funding available up to $600,000 (GST-exclusive), with a maximum in any one year of $200,000 (GST-exclusive) will be offered by Cancer Australia, Leukaemia Foundation, National Breast Cancer Foundation, and The Kids’ Cancer Project. All project grant applications ranging from 1 to 3 years within a budget ranging from $10,000 to $200,000 per annum will be considered by Cancer Australia and these funding partners.
• Funding Category B: Project grants of one year duration for up to $100,000 (GST-exclusive) will be offered by Cancer Australia, Australian Lions Childhood Cancer Research Foundation, Cure Cancer, and My Room to support project grants by post-doctoral researchers with up to 3 years post-doctoral experience or up to 3 years post MBBS qualification, undertaking a one year research project into malignant disease.
• Funding Category C: Project grants of up to 2 years duration for up to $200,000 (GST-exclusive), with a maximum in any one year of $100,000, will be offered by Cancer Australia, Australian Lions Childhood Cancer Research Foundation, Cure Cancer, Leukaemia Foundation, My Room, and The Kids’ Cancer Project to support project grants by post-doctoral researchers with between 3-7 years post-doctoral experience or between 3-7 years post MBBS qualification, undertaking a 1-2 year research project into malignant disease.
• Funding Category D: Project grants of one year duration for up to $100,000 (GST-exclusive) will be offered by Cure Cancer to support project grants by post-doctoral researchers with up to 7 years post-doctoral experience or up to 7 years post MBBS qualification, undertaking a one year research project in the field of bioinformatics for cancer research.

Funding Categories B, C and D cannot be used to provide a salary or other support for an Early Career Researcher as part of a larger NHMRC or PdCCRS project grant application.

Grant applications must address at least one of the research priority areas identified by Cancer Australia and/ or their Funding Partners.

Important dates and information

Call for applications to the 2020 PdCCRS grant opportunity opened 4 March 2020. Applications can be submitted through the NHMRC’s new grant management system, Sapphire for Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Grants, and for Ideas Grants. Due to Covid-19, the dates for Ideas grants and Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies grants closing dates have changed. Please see the new information here and in the Timelines section of the Flinders NHMRC Schemes page.

Applications to the 2020 round of the PdCCRS close on 17 June 2020 at 17:00 AEST for applications submitted through the Ideas Scheme, and 2 December 2020 at 17:00 AEST for applications submitted through the Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Scheme. The deadline for certification in Sapphire for Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Grants and for Ideas Grants by an applicant is available in the Timelines section of the Flinders NHMRC Schemes page.

For application advice and assistance for both grants schemes, contact Gareth Rees, Senior Research Grants Officer (NHMRC and Health), RDS.

For more information, including access to the grant information documents, visit the Cancer Australia website.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) (DVCR) has provided, below, information and advice on changes to the grant submission dates for a number of ARC and NHMRC grant schemes.

The major research funding bodies, the ARC and NHMRC, have changed their grant submission dates for a range of grant schemes as follows:

ARC:

• Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) 2021- 29 April 2020
• Linkage Projects 2020 Assessment Round 1 - 22 April 2020
• Special Research Initiative (SRI) for Australian Society, History and Culture - 6 May 2020

The updated Flinders’ internal dates and ARC closing dates are now available on the ARC schemes page.

The full ARC communique can be found here.

NHMRC:

• Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Scheme (CTCS) - delayed, the closing date for the CTCS scheme will be extended to 25 November 2020.
• Ideas Grant Scheme - extra time, the deadline will be extended by 5 weeks, with a new closing date of 10 June 2020. 
• Investigator Grants 2020 - the outcomes from the 2020 Investigator Grant round to be available soon.
• Synergy Grant Scheme - cancelled for 2020. NHMRC will consider whether it is possible to run an expanded Synergy Grant round in 2021.
  The NHMRC would like all applicants to export application previews from Sapphire before their Synergy Grant application is no longer accessible. This will assist in future application rounds and, if applicable, assist with applying in other NHMRC schemes currently available. Applicants will have until COB 6 April 2020 to complete these exports. If applicants require any assistance with this process please email the Research Help Centre via email at help@nhmrc.gov.au. 
  

The updated Flinders’ internal dates and NHMRC closing dates are now available on the NHMRC schemes page.

The full NHMRC communique can be found here.

This information and further updates have been posted to: https://staff.flinders.edu.au/coronavirus-information.

Flinders continues to be committed to maintaining, as far as possible, normal research activities. In order to ensure that we continue to meet our compliance obligations, all researchers must ensure that you are informed of these matters by reading the research information provided on that site and inform the students you supervise of changes relevant to their research.

The University continues to provide and update general information at the following websites: https://staff.flinders.edu.au/coronavirus-information; https://students.flinders.edu.au/coronavirus-information.

The NHMRC is considering changes to some scheme dates for 2020 in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The minimum data due date for Synergy Grants will be extended beyond Wednesday 25 March 2020. The revised due date for minimum data will be communicated in the coming days. The opening of Partnership Projects PRC1 and the Targeted Call for Research into End of Life Care will also be delayed.

Inspiring Research will publish updated information for Flinders’ research community when new dates are finalised.

The NHMRC ask for your patience whilst decisions on scheme dates are being finalised. 

Professor Anne Kelso AO, has released a statement to the health and medical research sector regarding the COVID-19 impact.

It includes information on: grant submission deadlines; peer review processes; extension of existing grants.

"This is an uncertain time and we know many researchers are worried about the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on their research, grant applications and other professional activities over the coming months – on top of the concern we all share for family, friends and the wider community.

NHMRC is considering how to address these issues from its side, at the same time as preparing for the impact of an Australian epidemic on the office’s ability to deliver NHMRC and MRFF grant schemes and other core responsibilities throughout 2020. I have outlined some of our thoughts below.

Meetings

Like many other organisations, NHMRC has already moved to holding all committee meetings by video or teleconference, at least until the end of May. NHMRC has been using Zoom for many meetings over the last 3 years. This has been favourably received and many of us have become quite used to it. We are getting in touch to discuss arrangements with all committee and grant review panel members who were expecting to come to Canberra in the next few weeks. 

Grant schemes

Effects on particular groups

We are aware of concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on a number of groups of people within the health and medical research sector:

• researchers involved in the clinical and public health response to COVID-19 who are therefore unable to proceed with their usual research activities and/or work on grant applications or assist with peer review
• people with caring responsibilities (often women) whose work will be affected by school closures and illness in vulnerable family members
• researchers whose current research has been or will be disrupted by the outbreak, for example because of interruptions to clinical trials or public health interventions, travel bans, lack of access to facilities and laboratories, reduced availability of staff members and collaborators, and interruption to supply chains
• teaching and research academics who are now needing to undertake extra work to transform their teaching activities into on-line formats.

We can imagine that, if the outbreak continues for an extended period, just about everyone’s research will be affected to some degree.

Grant submission deadlines

Many individuals and institutions are asking NHMRC to extend grant submission deadlines for the reasons outlined above. This possibility is under serious consideration, most urgently for those schemes that are currently open for applications (such as Synergy, Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies, and Ideas Grants).

There are several factors affecting this decision:

• Extending deadlines for more than a few days will affect the timing of funding announcements. If the extension for major schemes is significant, grants might not be announced until after 1 January 2021. We are well aware of the impact of late announcements on researchers employed on current grants ending 31 December. We are also aware that many institutions may lack the cash reserves to provide bridging support for these staff members.
• Extending deadlines will affect the timing of peer review, which may in turn affect the availability of peer reviewers.

Peer review processes

Timelines between application deadlines and grant announcements are very tight for all major schemes. If we extend deadlines and want to reduce the risk of announcements being delayed until next year, we would need to reduce the time taken for peer review.

Broadly, there are two ways to reduce the time taken for peer review: reduce the time allowed for peer reviewers to complete each step in the peer review process, or reduce the number of steps.

For example, in the Ideas Grant and Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Grant schemes, peer reviewers undertake independent assessments of a number of grants and submit their scores. These scores are used to generate an initial ranked list, the top band of which forms the shortlist taken forward to discussion at a Grant Review Panel (GRP) meeting. For these schemes, the main options to reduce the time taken for peer review are:

• Reduce the time available for the initial independent assessments
• Reduce the time available for peer reviewers to prepare for GRP meetings
• Remove the GRP assessment stage altogether and award grants based on the initial ranked list.

We understand there are strong views across the sector about the demands of peer review, the design of peer review processes and the value of GRPs. We are also aware that the COVID-19 outbreak may affect the availability and flexibility of some peer reviewers for a range of reasons. 

We will do our best to take these considerations into account in deciding whether and, if so, how to reduce the time taken for peer review under the special circumstances we face this year.

Extension of existing grants

NHMRC is also being asked to consider extending current grants and providing extra funding to cover the extension. Again, there are several factors to be considered in making a decision:

Grant extensions in some schemes (Fellowships, Project Grants, Program Grants) into 2021 would affect Chief Investigators’ eligibility to apply for some schemes in this year’s round (Investigator, Ideas and Synergy Grants, noting that the Investigator Grants 2020 round is well advanced).

Waiving eligibility limits and/or making bespoke arrangements for thousands of applications may require manual handling outside Sapphire/RGMS on a scale that would be beyond NHMRC’s capacity. 

Extending grants with extra funding would affect the availability of research funds for future funding rounds. The cost would depend both on the duration of extensions and on the number of schemes for which they are offered.

All options are under consideration. In making these complex decisions, we will try to abide by the principles of:

• Fairness: that support for one group or scheme is not provided at the expense of another
• Simplicity: that the arrangements are easy for everyone involved to understand and implement
• Timeliness: you need to know soon.

We ask for your patience for a little longer while we work through the issues and seek advice. 

We will update you as soon as decisions are made.

We wish everyone well.

Professor Anne Kelso AO
Chief Executive Officer, NHMRC
19 March 2020"

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) recognises that the Coronavirus Alert may be affecting many members of the Australian research community, including their current grant holders. If a grant holder’s circumstances have changed - for example, there has been a delay in Research Activity because of involvement in the clinical or public health response – the Administering Institution’s Research Administration Officers (RAO) can submit variation requests.

The NHMRC are advising that the grant holder is to work with their RAOs as their first point of contact for all grant administration matters. Variation requests are to be certified and submitted by the Administering Institution’s RAO.

Variations that may be relevant due to the impact of COVID-19 include:

• Deferral of commencement date
• Deferral of an in-progress grant and extended leave requests
• Extended end date
• Change to a research plan
• Change to chief investigators.

More details are available on the NHMRC Vary your grant page.

Please contact the Flinder's NHMRC team (RAOs) if you need to discuss any variation.

The NHMRC e-ASIA Joint Research Program (e-ASIA JRP) supports Australian participation and collaboration in leading international research. The e-ASIA JRP supports international joint research projects in the East Asia region.

The e-ASIA JRP selects research projects through an open call for proposals. Fields of cooperation are decided among the e-ASIA participating member organisations and funding is for up to three years. Funding of up to $3,000,000 is available.

NHMRC is supporting Australian researchers for the following research topics in the e-ASIA JRP 9th Health Research and Environment calls:

Health Research

• Infectious Diseases
• Mental Health
• Cancer

Environment

• Climate Change Impact on Human Health

Further information on the e-ASIA JRP 9th Health Research and Environment calls is available from the e-ASIA website.

Minimum data must now be entered into Sapphire by 5pm AEST, 29 April 2020. Completed applications must be submitted via Sapphire by 5pm AEST, 21 May 2020. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 7 May 2020. For application advice and assistance, contact Lucy Sheehan-Hennessy, Research Grants Officer (NHMRC and Health).

The common application form must be first submitted to the e-ASIA JRP secretariat by the collaborative project Lead Principal Investigator (PI). The Common Application form is available from the e-ASIA website.

The updated call information and supporting documents can be found via the e-ASIA, GrantConnect and NHMRC websites.