The National Imaging Facility (NIF) is pleased to share that it has been allocated $5.97 million in funding as part of the NCRIS 2025 Step Change Funding Round and NCRIS 2026 Capability Gap Funding Round.
Assistant Minister for International Education, the Hon Julian Hill MP, announced the funding outcomes on 29 May that aim to build new national research capability in strategic priority areas identified in the 2021 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap.
“NCRIS gives incredible bang for buck, with every dollar invested multiplying its impact through shared national facilities, supporting thousands of researchers and hundreds of businesses to unlock major economic and societal benefits,” said Mr Hill.
NIF was awarded funding in two critical areas for expanding and uplifting Australia’s national research infrastructure capability:
- Sustaining national expertise across NIF’s network – NIF Scientists are experts who support new technology developments and methods to enable health and medical research for Australian and international researchers, clinicians and industry. They are the pillar that translates advanced imaging data into tangible discoveries.
- Supporting better re-use of clinical imaging data for research – Every day, thousands of Australians undergo imaging for care. These data provide critical insights into understanding disease, diagnosing, selecting treatments, checking therapy responses and progression. Clinical imaging is very complex and could be used more extensively – so NIF will help develop digital infrastructure that helps researchers better access, manage and process clinical imaging data.
The areas funded for NIF align strongly with Australian Government priorities. Sustaining NIF’s national expertise is a response to the priority relating to the National Research Infrastructure Workforce, of addressing opportunities in skills and capabilities within Australia’s country’s research facilities.
“Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, one of the really special things about NCRIS is that it funds both equipment and people. Put simply, scientists need cutting edge kit, but top global talent is the key to really unlocking the benefits of even the coolest new toys,” said Mr Hill.
The National Digital Research Infrastructure area funding for better re-use of clinical data aligns powerfully with government strategies such as the National Digital Health Strategy, the draft National Health and Medical Research Strategy and the Australian Cancer Plan. All of these emphasise improving researchers’ access to health data for their studies and translation.