Planting the seeds for a healthier future

Navigating the first decade of a career in research can be extremely difficult, against a backdrop of limited funding opportunities and job insecurity.

SAHMRI is committed to supporting its talented early and mid-career researchers (E/MCRs) to navigate this period, ensuring their skills and knowledge are not lost to the industry, for the betterment of all of us.

The SAHMRI Seed Funding Scheme provides up to 10 grants of $30,000 annually to boost its E/MCRs’ chances of securing competitive grants from large organisations such as the National Health and Medical Research Council.

SAHMRI’s Executive Director, Professor Steve Wesselingh, says seed funding provides benefits on several fronts.

“It supports pilot projects that can generate data, or a proof of concept, which gives the researcher a much greater chance of being successful when it comes to those large national schemes,” he said.

“In addition, our selection panel gives greater weight to proposals that facilitate collaborations across our Themes and Platforms here at SAHMRI, and with our partners here in the Adelaide BioMed Precinct.

“That interdisciplinary collaboration is one of SAHMRI’s founding principles – bringing together researchers who might never normally work together, but whose science can challenge and inspire new directions that ultimately lead to breakthroughs for better health.”

The SAHMRI Seed Funding Scheme is designed to support innovative projects across the spectrum from basic science to translational research.

Eleven E/MCR projects were supported in the most recent round of funding: