The Foundation’s mission is to improve the health and wellbeing of Tasmanians. We do this by actively funding research grants, equipping researchers with the tools they need, supporting collaboration between health professionals and supporting innovative opportunities to improve the lives of people in our community.
So how do we support ground-breaking research?
At the Royal Hobart Hospital Research Foundation, we have a rock-solid method in place to ensure amazing local research gets the support it deserves. Here's how we do it:
- Thorough evaluation: We're all about quality. Each year, we divvy up research grant funds into three categories. We allocate these funds based on merit, and we follow a nationally accepted approach that to ensure all our grant applications are rigorously assessed. Our go-to experts, the Scientific Research Advisory Committee (SRAC), get into the nitty-gritty of evaluating proposals.
- Diverse perspectives: Our SRAC is made up of diverse minds from various fields. They’re even endorsed by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). These folks ensure grant applications are thoroughly assessment and take many angles into consideration.
- Guiding principles: We're guided by some core principles that keep us on track. Each grant project we fund needs to meet the following:
- Health impact: Research should make a real difference to the health and well-being of Tasmanians, focusing on diseases that matter to our community.
- Local growth: We're all about boosting local research talent and capabilities.
- Teamwork: We love collaborations. Research that brings different experts together is a win in our book.
- Real results: We're after tangible benefits. This could mean better health services, improved partnerships, published papers or even patents.
- Strategic goals: We've got some key areas we're fired up about. Each project needs to meet focus on a key health area below:
- Aging well: We're keen on improving the lives of the elderly and tackling age-related diseases.
- Fighting chronic illness: From cancer to other chronic diseases, we're in the ring to make a difference.
- Better health services: We're all about improving how healthcare is delivered, especially in urgent situations.
- Healthy beginnings: We're invested in the well-being of mothers and children, right from the start.
- Holistic health: We're not just about physical health – mental health and other factors matter too.
- Selection process: Once the grant applications are in, our SRAC digs deep into every proposal, using specific criteria for each grant category. They evaluate each on its own before coming together to discuss and make recommendations to the Board. The Board then sign off on all grant funding projects.
How do researchers seek funding?
Researchers looking for funding are kept in the loop about our annual grant round details. We encourage them to get familiar with our current principles, priorities, and selection criteria that align with their proposed study. They can even meet with a member of our SRAC to help them with their proposals.
What about supporters who want to help our cause?
If you’re a donor wanting to support one of our ground-breaking projects, we’d love to hear from you! We can work with you to make sure your intended gift can match our local researchers’ capabilities, as well as the Foundation’s guiding principles and priorities. We’ll use your generous gift in our next grant funding round, allowing researchers to submit funding applications. These applications are then put through the merit-based assessment process, outlined above, to allow us to find the best project and ensure your donation is supporting a great project!
To speak to a member of our team about supporting a grant project, please email research@rhhresearchfoundation.org or call 03 6166 1319. Or donate online today here.
