FHRI Fund Open Day in Bunbury showcases research and innovation opportunities

On Wednesday 2 November 2022, researchers, innovators, community members, and the academic and private sectors gathered in Bunbury and online for the first FHRI Fund Open Day.

The Open Day was held at the Dolphin Discovery Centre in Bunbury, coordinated by the Department of Health's Office of Medical Research and Innovation (OMRI) and The University of Western Australia. The Minister for Medical Research, the Hon Stephen Dawson MLC, provided the opening for the event, followed by a Welcome to Country by Troy Bennell and presentations from Mr John Van Der Wielen, Chair of the FHRI Fund Advisory Council, Professor Anna Nowak, Deputy Vice-Chancellor - Research at The University of Western Australia, Professor Cobie Rudd, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Regional Futures) and Vice-President at Edith Cowan University, and Professor S.S. Vasan, Director of OMRI.

Six FHRI Fund Programs were launched at the Open Day:

• The Clinician Researcher Training Program, which provides support to medical and non-medical clinicians to undertake a higher degree
• The Co-Funding Partnerships Program, which supports collaborations and funding partnerships to provide new non-government funding for health and medical research and innovation
• The Innovation Fellowships, which are designed to encourage talented individuals to work with experts to enhance their innovation knowledge, skills and experience
• The Innovation Seed Fund, which offers grants to bridge the commercialisation gap by offering innovators financial support to develop their idea and build sustainable businesses
• The Major Research Application Support Program, which provides in-principle financial support for research applications to nationally and internationally competitive grant funding rounds
• The WA Near-miss Awards (Emerging Leaders), which target emerging WA researchers who narrowly missed out on recent National Health and Medical Research Council grants

The FHRI Fund Distinguished Fellows Program was also announced with further details to be provided when the Program is launched in January 2023.

Questions and answers regarding the above programs are provided here.

A recording of the event is provided below.