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Extra $6.8M for emerging researchers impacted by COVID-19

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Health Research Council of New Zealand logo

An update for HRC-funded researchers

COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the research sector, while also demonstrating how critical it is for Aotearoa New Zealand to have health research capability available to respond to health crises.

Here and around the world, it is early career researchers who have been the most vulnerable. To show our support for research organisations trying to retain their research workforce, and the research leaders of the future, the HRC will contribute approximately $6.8M in additional funding for emerging researchers who currently hold one of the award types listed below.

  • Erihapeti Rehu-Murchie Fellowship
  • Hohua Tutengaehe Fellowship
  • Māori Emerging Researcher First Grant
  • Māori Health Clinical Training Fellowship
  • Māori Health Emerging Leader Fellowship
  • Māori Health Masters Scholarship
  • Māori Health PhD Scholarship
  • Māori Health Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • Pacific Emerging Researcher First Grant
  • Pacific Health Clinical Training Fellowship
  • Pacific Health Masters Scholarship
  • Pacific Health PhD Scholarship
  • Pacific Health Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • Sir Thomas Davis Fellowship
  • Health Delivery Career Development Award
  • Clinical Research Training Fellowship
  • Foxley Fellowship
  • Emerging Researcher First Grant

We acknowledge that there is no way to distribute limited funds in a way that adequately reflects the extent, complexity and variability of COVID-19 impacts. Furthermore, no single funder or organisation can compensate for the disruption.  

In light of this, in our role as a funder, we have prioritised emerging researcher award types that were created to address pre-existing and longstanding weaknesses in the composition of the research workforce. Our intent is to make a contribution towards this critical need within the health research sector. Our hope is that this contribution will help create a little more flexibility for other parts of the research ecosystem to do what they can towards mitigating COVID-19 effects on health researchers.  

We will provide contract holders with more information about how to access this financial support before the end of January 2022.