Tropical Accelerator Seed Grant Funding

The funding aims to enable preliminary data collection, pilot studies, feasibility assessments, or collaborative initiatives that will strengthen future grant applications.

 The general aims of the scheme are:

1. To support, on a competitive basis, high quality research projects on tropical health and emerging diseases of moderate financial cost.
2. To provide seed funding as a means of generating external research support.

A maximum of 3 projects with a budget of up to AUD $50,000 will be funded in 2026.

The Centre spans the full spectrum of research on tropical health, from fundamental science through to translation and implementation (bench to community), with the goal of supporting the development of solutions for the control and elimination of tropical diseases against a background of poverty and a changing climate.

The Centre aims to support multi-sectorial partnerships and collaborations across all research themes in tropical health.

The following Broad Funding topics associated with tropical health and emerging diseases are possible:

• Diagnostic development
• Diseases surveillance and mapping
• Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) studies
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
• Community field studies and trials
• Identifying and characterizing new targets for interventions
• Development and evaluation of vaccines and therapeutics
• Vector and arbovirus control
• Childhood nutrition
• Infectious diseases

The funding period is for a maximum of 12 months. All funds must be expended by the end of the 12-month period.

On application to the Centre, an extension for a maximum of 6 additional months can be granted if there are circumstances beyond the team's control, and all funds must be committed by 18 months post-award.

Eligible expenses:

• Personnel costs (e.g., research assistants, research officers)
• Research expenses specific to the project (consumables, tools, laboratory-related costs, field work costs, etc.)
• Research-related travel for field trips
• Minor equipment and facilities that cannot be provided by the Centre partners

Ineligible expenses:

• Projects already receiving funding from another source
• Equipment and facilities that can reasonably be provided by the Centre partners
• Conference/workshop/seminar support of any kind – including registration, meals, and travel expenses
• Indirect costs, permanent staff salaries, major infrastructure purchases, or travel (unless a research-related field trip)

Centre funded research must be conducted in accordance with the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research. The Chief Investigators of the successful applications must take intellectual, administrative, and ethical responsibility for the project from conception to finalization and the communication of outcomes and exercise the highest level of research conduct and integrity. All institutions and CIs must comply with all relevant legislation and policies relating to the conduct of the grant activity.

The CIA is responsible for administering the funds and reporting on the outcomes of the funds.

Successful applicants must acknowledge the Centre as one of their affiliations and sources of funding on any research output associated with the project.

A final report must be submitted to the Centre within 3 months of the end of the funding period detailing progress, outcomes, and projected/active subsequent funding applications that spun out of the funded project.

The Centre is committed to transparency and fairness in the decision-making process, and a two-level assessment process has been implemented to support equitable allocation of resources. All reviewers will be required to declare any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest relating to applications under review. Declared conflicts will be assessed and managed in accordance with standard conflict of interest protocols by the Centre’s co-Deputy Directors, who will determine the appropriate level of reviewer participation in the assessment process.

The Centre's Management Team will not participate in the assessment or scoring of grant applications to ensure an independent reviewing process.