Funding our research

Our research is supported by income from a range of sources including philanthropic donors, government funding and research grants, support from industry and VU's internal research grants scheme.

Research 'start-up' fund for new staff to help newly appointed academics establish a research career at VU
Out of Cycle Research Collaborative Grants to enable researchers to respond to new funding opportunities as they arise
'Near Miss Grants' to partially support research projects that came close to winning a substantial external competitive grant
Researcher Development Grants Scheme for early career researchers demonstrating high research capacity, and newly appointed staff without research funding, to undertake a 12 month project
Grant Preparation Support Scheme to assist researchers prepare applications for external research funding involving two or more institutions or significant university collaboration with industry
Research Infrastructure Grant scheme to support the University’s research activity and research infrastructure
Postdoctoral Fellowship Program which recruits exceptional researchers to work on projects within VU’s research focus areas.

Please contact Zana Stefanovski for further information about any of these schemes.

Other grants and funding programs

There are a range of government and non-government schemes available to fund research in Australia.

Australian Research Council

The Australian Research Council (ARC) supports the highest quality research and research training through national competition in all fields of science, social sciences and the humanities. The ARC brokers partnerships between researchers and industry, government, community organisations and the international community. ARC grants are divided into three categories:

ARC Discovery grants are research projects that can be undertaken by individual researchers or research teams.
ARC Linkage grants support collaborative research and development projects between higher education organisations and other organisations (including industry) to enable the application of advanced knowledge to problems.
Other ARC programs including Centres for Excellence, Special Research Centres and the Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities schemes.

National Health and Medical Research Council

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is Australia's peak body supporting health and medical research, and developing health advice for the Australian community, health professionals and governments. NHMRC funding provides opportunities for researchers to work with health organisations so research results can be better tailored and applied to health care practice and policy. It also provides enabling grants for facilities and equipment to enhance research, funding for research fellowships, training (postdoctoral) fellowships, career development awards, and postgraduate research scholarships.

Other Australian competitive grants

The Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research provides competitive research grants to universities in Australia. The Australian Competitive Grants Register gives a full listing of research funding schemes that drives the allocation of Research Infrastructure Block Grants each year.

Cooperative Research Centres

The Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research's Cooperative Research Centre Program is also a major contributor to research funding in Australia. The Program links researchers with industry and supports research that can be used, as well as education programs that produce industry-ready graduates.

Finding external grants and funding opportunities

Victoria University subscribes to the external funding search database, Research Professional, which has a wide range of research-related funding opportunities from across the globe.

Philanthropy Australia provides a range of funding opportunities for Australian researchers.

You can also search our grants calendar for international, national and state-based grant opportunities.