Project Funding

Final dates for submission

Applications closing end of 2025

The AFGN will be closing new clinical and research submissions at the end of 2025. All new and ongoing projects will need to ensure results are finalised by December 2026.

Remaining 2025 deadlines for new project applications:

• April 17th
• May 16th
• June 13th
• July 18th
• August 15th
• September 19th
• October 10th

With more than $1M in catalyst funding available, we encourage you to take advantage of our final year of funding. If you have been considering applying, now is the time to get involved! We encourage you to update your research profile and extend this invitation to colleagues who are not yet signed up.

STREAM 1 – Invitation only

Assessing the impact of variants in known or novel disease genes

Each month, genes approved by the Clinical Review Committee are released to researchers by invitation, based on their expertise and stated research interests.

Project proposals to assess variants from Stream 1 should focus on determining pathogenicity of the variant(s) and causality of the disease phenotype.

Stream 1 projects are eligible for catalyst funding in quanta of $15,000 up to $60,000.

Stream 1 – Genes available to study

Open opportunities for Stream 1 funding for registered researchers

Genes that have been approved by our clinical review committee that remain unmatched are available to all registered researchers to study.

Researchers can register their interest via our REDCap survey to apply for project funding quanta of $15,000 up to $60,000.

This list is updated quarterly.

Stream 1 – Funding renewal

Additional Funding for High-Value Stream 1 Projects

The AFGN will consider awarding an additional one-year funding for a subset of Stream 1 projects that have achieved promising results during or at the conclusion of the functional genomics investigation, which if supported with extended funding will generate high-value deliverables that advance the objectives of the AFGN.

Examples would include, but not be restricted to, projects that propose to:

• Incorporate functional validation, beyond model creation and phenotyping, to better understand the underlying pathophysiology of the disease.
• Chart a route to the development of future therapies.
• Analyse additional patients with newly identified mutations in the same gene, using the model that was established, to build an informative series of cases that enable robust genotype-phenotype correlations.
• Analyse additional controls to validate the assay used in the initial grant to build capacity for analysis of future variants.
• Describe a critical pathway to a larger grant application.
• Develop a strategy to leverage sustainable competitive grant support.

Investigators that have completed or are nearing completion (≤ 3 months remaining) of their initial Stream 1 project are invited to apply.

STREAM 2 (now closed)

Investigation of multiple VUS in known disease genes with high clinical priority

Projects in this Stream establish systems to functionally assess multiple variants in a single gene in parallel.

Stream 2 projects will be eligible for funding relative to the number of variants that require modelling.

Funding opportunities are released through expressions of interest calls for targeted gene lists.