The James Martin Institute for Public Policy (JMI) has opened the 2025 Policy Challenge Grant round to identify solutions to key public policy challenges in NSW and beyond. Applications are open from 12 March to 2 May 2025.
2025 Policy Challenge Grants now open
Since the program’s inception in 2022, the Policy Challenge Grants have become a prestigious platform for applied public benefit research. The grants, totalling $1.5M to date, have supported over one hundred researchers across 22 diverse projects addressing a wide variety of policy priorities, including housing, the Net Zero transition, and digital technologies in the construction sector.
Professor Libby Hackett, CEO of JMI said this year’s Policy Challenge Grants are particularly significant as they directly address areas where research can help advance both NSW’s industry policies and critical early-intervention strategies.
“By focusing on the energy transition and boosting manufacturing and productivity, we aim to support solutions that will drive economic growth and sustainability. Simultaneously, advancing models for early intervention ties directly to government strategies in health, education, and social services,” she said.
“It continues to be a priority for all major, advanced economies to develop and apply evidence-based interventions for prevention, supporting long-term economic and societal benefits.”
By focusing on the energy transition and boosting manufacturing and productivity, we aim to support solutions that will drive economic growth and sustainability.
The 2025 grant themes directly align with key aspects of NSW’s first Industry Policy as well as leading government strategies for early intervention. The themes of accelerating the energy transition and driving manufacturing and productivity are closely tied to efforts to bolster Australia’s industry base.
Another key government-identified strategy, advancing early intervention models, aims to identify specific, scalable approaches in social policy, supporting broader government strategies to improve health and education outcomes.
Previous grant winners
Previous grant winner and Research Director at the Institute for Sustainable Futures Caitlin McGee said the JMI grant provided time and money to develop an innovative idea about a new model for affordable housing.
“JMI’s support has been particularly useful in helping us to build our profile and connecting us with the policy makers and decision makers who can help us make our idea a reality.”
JMI’s support has been particularly useful in helping us to build our profile and connecting us with the policy makers and decision makers who can help us make our idea a reality.
Another 2024 grant winner, Associate Professor Fiona Allison said the JMI Policy Challenge is a good fit for the impact researchers hope to achieve.
Fiona’s project focused on shifting control and decision-making around government funding into the hands of Aboriginal people in NSW to support Aboriginal-led solutions to over-representation in the criminal justice system – in particular, solutions implemented via justice reinvestment (JR).
JR focuses on early intervention/prevention and place-based strategies and interventions aimed at addressing drivers of First Nations contact with the justice system.
“The grant favours multi-disciplinary approaches in research. In this case, we had project team members from other hubs within Jumbunna, and from other disciplines both at UTS and in other universities, as well as Aboriginal community representatives,” Fiona said.
This cross-disciplinary focus is essential to resolving complex and entrenched issues such as over-representation.
“This cross-disciplinary focus is essential to resolving complex and entrenched issues such as over-representation.”
“The JMI program also has a very strong focus on government and other stakeholder engagement, which is again very important to resolving outcomes for our project. Government buy-in and reform is key to achieving reinvestment in NSW.”
“The program focuses on real-life policy application of research, which again, is the only way forward for implementation of a reinvestment mechanism to support Aboriginal-led JR,” Fiona said.
2025 JMI Policy Challenge at a glance
- Research Focus: Applied public policy research
- Thematic Areas:
- Accelerating the energy transition
- Advancing models for early intervention
- Driving manufacturing and productivity
- Eligible Disciplines: All
- Eligibility: Lead researchers must be from the following JMI partner universities: University of Sydney, Western Sydney University, UTS, UNSW or the University of Wollongong
- Funding Pool: Up to $600,000
- Grant Amount: $25,000 - $100,000
- Type of Funding: Direct research costs only
- Application Deadline: 2 May 2025, 11:59 PM
Key benefits include:
- Receive research funding: You can apply for a grant of between $25,000-$100,000. The total funding pool in 2025 is up to $600,000
- Foster policy innovation: JMI supports applied research that has strong potential to catalyse policy innovation in NSW and beyond
- Maximise impact: JMI helps you maximise the impact of your research through targeted communications and engagement, and targeted dissemination through policy channels
Apply for a Policy Challenge Grant
The grants are available to researchers from the following JMI university partners: University of Sydney, Western Sydney University, University of Technology Sydney, University of New South Wales and University of Wollongong.
Successful projects will generate valuable new insights, foster collaboration between researchers, policymakers, and industry, and contribute to more effective policy outcomes that align with the government’s strategic priorities.