IDEAS that win funding - NHMRC Ideas Grants
Prof Liz harry | February 2026
The success rate for NHMRC Ideas grants funding for 2026 was just over 8%. So what do applicants have to do to get funded? Of course there is no magic bullet. However, as a frequent critical reviewer of NHMRC Ideas grant applications, and some previous success of my own, I would like to share some worthwhile insights that I believe will help you attain a ‘winning’ score.
Prof Liz Harry
Know the scheme
It seems obvious but it is crucial to read and absorb all the relevant documents regarding the Ideas scheme. This includes the Objectives of the scheme, the peer review guidelines, and be fully versed on the Assessment Criteria. Ensure that you understand exactly what information is being asked and keep checking in as your application drafts advance.
Write for the audience
Writing style is often the weakest part of funding applications. It is critical that your written expression is crystal clear AND can easily be understood by the non-expert reader. Writing in grant applications is very different to writing manuscripts. Grant assessors are not peers in your field assessing your data and claims. Rather, they are looking to fully understand the significance and type of problem you are addressing, how you will be approaching it, the likelihood of success, and the outcomes/benefits that will come from that. This requires simple language as if you are talking to a layperson. It is easy to make it more complicated but start with the simplest of explanations and words. It helps to verbalize parts of the application to either yourself or someone who has no idea about your field. See what the other person asks or ask them to repeat what they heard. This lets you see what they didn’t follow. The spoken words are often much simpler than written words. Play with it and be creative.
Win the first page
The first page of a Research Proposal needs to have the ingredients needed for an assessor to ‘get hooked’. The first paragraph or two are like an outstanding abstract; one that wins a talk at a premier conference. It is often useful to think of this first part as a Why? What? How? And So What? of the project. Express your proposal in the context of other approaches, gaps in knowledge in this space AND any barriers that have held up progress. By the time you get to the Aims, usually on page 1, the reader must understand the problem, the urgency and the expected outcome. Include what brilliance, skills and expertise the team offers specifically to this project.
Have a clear project design
Your research plan is scientific by nature and will have some detail. However, to ensure that a person outside your field can follow it, you will need to add in some plain English sentences here and there. Otherwise, you risk losing them as their eyes glaze over.
DO include a timeline and spell out roles for personnel that you are requesting funds for.
A risks and mitigation section can strengthen an application. Avoiding any obvious risk leaves you open to criticism. It is part of feasibility, which is really ‘how likely is it that the project will be successful?” Even if you disprove a model that you want to test, what would be the outcome then? And it is still worth the value proposed?
Significance and Capability
The application includes statements on Innovation and Creativity, Significance, and Capability, which are well defined in the grant guidelines. Ensure that you understand these definitions and what is being asked. Discuss what is meant by these sections with your researchers in other fields to get a clearer perspective. Innovation and Creativity refers to what is new, novel or different and then why this is important and will allow excellent outcomes.
For the significance statement it is important to indicate where the field is currently, so that what you are doing is clear in terms of the difference it makes. Spell this out; the reader will not likely know this. Say the obvious. And this statement needs a really strong argument for the importance of the problem. This could be in terms of knowledge base and/or in terms of addressing a clinical or medical problem. Use statistics where relevant. And then explain how your proposed research will address this head on.
The Capability statement needs to indicate that you have what you need. That is, the team has all the resources, expertise, skills and experience to carry out the project. Is there any other expertise that you will draw on? Or other partners?
Background and Expertise
Regarding Relevant Background and Expertise, always ensure that what you write here is actually relevant to your proposed project. Your claims must be backed up by demonstration of high quality research, outcomes and/or impact. If you are arguing application of your proposed research, it is important that you include relevant experience industry/external partnerships and any possible involvement of them in the project (the latter can be included in the proposal).
Prof Liz Harry has vast experience and knowledge of the development of successful ARC grants and Fellowships, NHMRC and government grants, having been continuously funded throughout her research career. She has worked with industry and negotiated successful partnerships across academic, industry and government sectors.
