Research funding

Funding is offered for early-stage innovations, translating research into policy and practice, and identifying and mitigating risks.

The Board encourages collaborative partnerships between research groups, with industry partners and across specialties, that aim to deliver increased research efficiency by sharing knowledge, capacity and resources through collaborative research effort.

We also offer funding for PhD Scholarships, Post-Doctoral Fellowships and Clinical Fellowships. For more details please visit the Researcher development page.

Announcement: Ongoing Project Limits for FY26 Funding Round

As part of the Research Stream Grants Program eligibility requirements, limits are in place to ensure Chief Investigators (CIs) can effectively manage their funded projects. Applicants should review their current DDB project commitments to confirm they meet the concurrent funding limits ahead of the FY26 funding round.

CIs can hold concurrent funding for a maximum of two ongoing projects or one DDB fellowship and one project under the Research Stream Grants Program.

To be eligible, any ongoing projects that would exceed this limit must have a closing date on or before 31 December 2026, with the Ongoing Project and Application Review Date set for 1 January 2027.

Key Dates FY25

Key Dates FY26

If you have any questions, please direct inquiries to your Research Office, which will reach out to us at ddcgrants@icare.nsw.gov.au, or if your organisation does not have a Research Office, you may contact us directly.

Application process

We will only accept submissions that are compliant with the new guidelines and submission protocols.

To increase your chances of a successful application outcome we’ve introduced a two-step application process:

1. Expression of Interest (EOI) will be accepted from all interested researchers.
2. Full applications will be invited from successful EOI submissions only.

To reduce your effort in preparing your EOI and if successful a full application, we’ve introduced new guidelines and submission protocols for both EOI and full application stages. We are looking forward to receiving your submissions.

Application documents

DDB Grant Strategy Guiding principles

The DDB has established a set of guiding principles that form the cornerstone of their grant strategy. These principles are essential criteria against which all grant applications are evaluated.

Applicants must ensure their proposals align with one or more of these principles:

• Benefits NSW workers with dust diseases and their families and contributes to a better quality of life for workers with dust diseases.
• Contributes to the effective administration of the dust diseases scheme in NSW.
• Supports early stage innovations and ideas that can be turned into impact.
• Fosters collaboration to develop and broaden expertise and leverage investment to increase impact.
• Develop a better understanding of dust diseases in NSW, including epidemiology to prevent the development of dust diseases among people at risk.
• Provides funding for novel and innovative benchtop research, new treatments and pilot programs to improve health outcomes and quality of life.
• Advances and accelerates the translation of research into policy and practice, delivering meaningful outcomes to workers.
• Builds capacity and capability; developing dust diseases researchers of tomorrow.