Research Fellows 2026

The Research Fellows 2026 program is Part A of the FHRI Fund Fellowships program. It aims to attract and develop outstanding health and medical researchers across all career stages, making the WA research workforce more competitive at national and international levels.

Fellowships up to $1.8 million will be awarded to top-ranked applications to support salary and research costs for up to 4 years.

In 2026, these prestigious fellowships will be offered across 4 streams:

• Aboriginal Health Researcher Fellows – for early, mid, and senior-career Aboriginal researchers, to co-design and lead research with Aboriginal communities
• Clinician Researcher Fellows – for medical practitioners, nurses, midwives, dentists and allied health professionals and other registered clinicians to conduct impactful research that improves health outcomes.
• Emerging Researcher Fellows – for early and mid-career researchers to lead impactful and collaborative research.
• FHRI Fund-Heart Foundation Fellows – for early and mid-career cardiovascular researchers. Proudly delivered in partnership with the National Heart Foundation of Australia.

Funding will be awarded through a competitive and merit-based process including assessment by an independent review panel.

Program Status: Open for Applications

Applications Close: 1:00pm (AWST) Thursday 13 August 2026

The Guidelines and Conditions (updated 18/06/2026) can be accessed below

The Application Form can be accessed and submitted via the Department of Health Grant Management System.

To view the application questions, after starting an application in the Grant Management System select ‘preview’ in the top right corner, which will download the application form questions (and your responses) as a Word or PDF document. For further instructions, please refer to page 10 of the User Guide ‘Downloading the application form’.

Queries related to the Guidelines and Conditions can be directed via email to DOH.OMRI@health.wa.gov.au with the subject line beginning with ‘Query – ResearchFellows2026’.

Queries regarding the application process can be directed via email to DOH.GMS@health.wa.gov.au with the subject line beginning with ‘GMS Application Assistance – ResearchFellows2026’.

Information on other FHRI Fund programs can be accessed by subscribing to updates or checking the FHRI Fund current opportunities.

Organisations wishing to partner on future rounds are encouraged to contact the Office of medical Research and Innovation via email to DOH.OMRI@health.wa.gov.au.