Wellcome Trust Innovator Awards

On this page we present an overview of the Wellcome Trust Discovery Research Scheme.

On this page:

• Wellcome Trust Discovery Research Scheme
  • Early Career Awards
  • Career Development Awards
  • Discovery Awards

Wellcome Trust – Discovery Research Scheme

Awards under the Discover Research Scheme will fund fundamental research projects that are bold, with a significant impact to improve human life, health, and wellbeing. The approach has been simplified and provides researchers with more flexibility and freedom to perform their research, with longer project duration, and extensive resources (no maximum budget). Applications should be targeted at broad research lines with larger impact and not just based on one research project.

Their aim is to have a broader reach, touch upon more research fields and different disciplines including:

• Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)
• Humanities and social science
• Clinical/allied health sciences
• Experimental medicine
• Public health.

Wellcome Trust has included three global health challenges as part of their strategy, that will be tackled other the years: infectious disease, mental health and climate and health.

All calls will be open to applicants based in the UK, Republic of Ireland and low- and middle-income countries. For all calls, it will be possible to apply as a single applicant, or as a team including interdisciplinary research. This will depend on the resources and expertise needed for the projects.

Wellcome Trust will aim to open 3 rounds per year. Applications will be short-listed and then invited for final interviews.

There will only be 3 awards (detailed in the next tables):

• Early-Career Awards
• Career Development Awards
• Discovery Awards

In the future, Wellcome trust aims to fund areas that require extra resources. In addition, they want to develop a strategic approach to supporting funded centres and enabling research infrastructures.

Summary:

Wellcome Trust launched the Discovery Research Scheme in August 2021, which includes 3 different awards (Early-Career, Career Development and Discovery Awards). The awards will fund bold fundamental research projects with a significant impact to improve human life, health, and wellbeing. The new approach has been simplified and provides researchers with more flexibility and freedom to perform their research, with longer project duration, and extensive resources (no maximum budget). Applications should be targeted at broad research lines with larger impact and not just based on one research project. For the next years, they expect to have 3 rounds per year.

Wellcome Trust: Mental Health Award: Improving cognitive and functional outcomes in people experiencing, or at risk of, psychosis

Subsidy: Up to £1M for studies testing markers of cognitive functioning, up to £3M for applications developing interventions.

Deadline: Pre-proposal: 5 May 2022, Full proposal: 4 August 2022

Funding rate: 100%

Project duration: Up to 3 years for studies testing markers of cognitive functioning, up to 5 years for intervention development and evaluation.

Consortium: Open to individuals or team of researchers based anywhere in the world (except for China) working in eligible host organisation (higher education institution, research institute, non-academic healthcare organisation, not-for-profit organisation AND companies). The lead applicant should have experience to drive and lead a complex collaborative research programme.

Scope: Wellcome aims to enable early intervention for the most common and the most severe mental health conditions, in ways that reflect the priorities and needs of people experiencing them. This work includes developing and improving ways to predict, identify and intervene as early as possible for anxiety, depression and psychosis. This call aims to improve cognitive and functional outcomes for people experiencing, or at risk of, psychosis. Wellcome will consider 2 types of applications for:

• The development and evaluation of interventions to improve cognitive and functional outcomes in people experiencing, or at risk of, psychosis;
• Markers of cognitive functioning to enable risk or treatment stratification for people experiencing, or at risk of, psychosis.

Visit the Wellcome Trust Mental Health Award page

Wellcome Trust: Early-Career Awards

Subsidy: Budget includes salary and up to £400,000 for research expenses

Deadline: 15 February 2022; interview: July 2022

Funding rate: 100%

Project duration: Up to 5 years

Consortium: Researcher should hold a PhD and have worked as a postdoc for a maximum of 3 years. The applicant should have a sponsorship from a host organisation (research institute, higher education institution, not-for-profit organisation) based in the UK, Republic of Ireland or low- and middle-income country (LMIC).

Scope: The Early-Career Awards is aimed at early-career researchers from any disciplines who are ready to start-up their own research project, with the potential to improve human life, health, and wellbeing. The project should aim to:

• Advance understanding in the field
• Develop methodologies, conceptual frameworks, tools or techniques that could benefit health-related research
• By the end of the award, applicant should have the experience to develop, manage and lead a creative, independent research programme

Visit the Wellcome Trust Early Career Award page

Wellcome Trust: Career Development Awards

Subsidy: No maximum budget. (Projects should be bold but realistic. Salary will not be covered for researchers with a permanent contract.)

Deadline: 29 March 2022; interview: September 2022

Funding rate: 100%

Project duration: Up to 8 years

Consortium: Researchers should already be driving their own research and have contributed to the area of research. Researchers can hold a permanent position within the host organisation for less than 3 years to be eligible.

The applicant should have a sponsorship from a host organisation (research institute, higher education institution, not-for-profit organisation) based in the UK, Ireland or low- and middle-income country (LMIC).

Scope: The Career Development Awards is aimed at mid-career researchers from any disciplines who are ready to lead a substantial and innovative research programme. The project should aim to:

• Generate significant shifts in understanding in the field
• Develop methodologies, conceptual frameworks, tools or techniques that could benefit health-related research

By the end of the award, the researcher should have achieved international standing in the field of research.

Visit the Wellcome Trust Career Development Award page

Wellcome Trust: Discovery Awards

Subsidy: No maximum budget. (Projects should be bold but realistic. Salary will not be covered for the lead applicant.)

Deadline: 24 March 2022; interview: September 2022

Funding rate: 100%

Project duration: Up to 8 years

Consortium: The lead applicant should be an experienced researcher, with international exposure, and a track record of managing and training others.

The lead applicant can apply as the sole applicant or as the lead applicant for a team (consisting usually of 2 to 8 applicants).

The lead applicant should have a sponsorship from a host organisation (research institute, higher education institution, not-for-profit organisation) based in the UK, Ireland or low- and middle-income country (LMIC) and hold a permanent contract.

The co-applicants can be at any career stage and based anywhere in the world in an eligible organisation (research institute, higher education institution, not-for-profit organisation, commercial organisation). Co-applicants should contribute at least 20% of their research time to the project.

Scope: The Discovery Award is aimed at established researchers and teams from any discipline who want to pursue bold and creative research ideas to deliver significant shifts in understanding that could improve human life, health and wellbeing.

The research can be in a single discipline or multidisciplinary, and an award can be held by an established researcher or a team of researchers led by an established researcher.

Visit the Wellcome Trust Discovery Awards page

About Wellcome Trust

The Wellcome Trust is an independent foundation, founded by, Sir Henry Wellcome, a medical entrepreneur. Up to now, Wellcome Trust has invested £26.8 billion and plans to invest £5 billion in the next 5 years helping people across the world explore great ideas.

The Wellcome Trust funds research through many different grants, including funding for individuals, teams, resources, seed ideas, places and major initiatives in multiple research areas:

• • Biomedical science
  • Population health
  • Product development and applied research
  • Humanities and social science
  • Public engagement and creative industries.

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