OVERVIEW: The U.K.-based Wellcome Trust supports scholarship and research in the fields of infectious diseases, the health effects of global warming, and mental health. Its researcher awards support scientists and researchers working in higher education and at other organizations throughout every stage of their career, from undergraduate student scientists to established researchers looking to grow and lead their own teams.
IP TAKE: Funding for researchers working in any of its funding areas is drawn from a common pool of support, and awards are not separated by field of study. This means that mental health researchers will be competing against researchers working in infectious diseases who will be competing against climate and health researchers. Thus, grantmaking is competitive. Luckily, Wellcome awards hundreds of fellowships, scholarships and research grants each year and runs an accessible application system through its website.
PROFILE: Wellcome Trust, one of the largest charitable foundations in the world, was founded by Sir Henry Wellcome, a pharmaceutical entrepreneur, upon his death in 1936. Based in London, the trust aims to support “science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone.” It has given billions of dollars to projects in over 70 countries. Its funding areas have recently been refocused and now target three broad areas of health: Mental Health, Infectious Disease, and the intersection of Climate and Health. Wellcome also funds Discovery Research, which supports advances in health from “unexpected sources.” It supports these funding areas through several different programs, or what it calls “Schemes,” that focus on different stages of researchers’ career, running the gamut from undergraduate education research to career development awards aimed at aiding established researchers.
Grants for Science and Brain Research, Mental Health, Climate, Global Health, and STEM Education
In late 2020, Wellcome revamped its funding strategy to focus on three key research areas: infectious diseases, the health effects of global warming, and mental health, including a renewed emphasis on global health overall. It is important to note that these priority areas do not have corresponding individual grant programs, and all awards are made from the same group of schemes. The Trust has a fourth funding area, Discovery Research, which is more flexible than the other three and gives “researchers from any background […] the freedom and flexibility to ask bold and creative questions that will improve [global] health.”
In addition to reimagining its funding areas, the Trust also redesigned its schemes, or grantmaking programs, to better support researchers at different stages in their career. Its newest programs target researchers who have moved beyond the education phase of their career and are ready to “develop their own research identity.” The Wellcome Early-Career Awards provide Salary and up to £400,000 for research expenses for researchers to pursue innovative projects that “deliver shifts in understanding that could improve human life, health and wellbeing.” The Trust’s Wellcome Career Development Awards provides up to eight years of support for “mid-career researchers from any discipline who have the potential to be international research leaders.” Finally, the Wellcome Discovery Awards make grants to “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.”
Of course, Wellcome still maintains its STEM education-based programs. Its Undergraduate Education programs offer scholarships based in research environments and internships at Wellcome's London headquarters. The Postgraduate Training programs provide fellowships for master’s or Ph.D. students in biomedical science, population health or humanities and social science. The Postdoctoral Research program focuses on support for recently graduated or almost finished Ph.D. students in biomedical science, population health or humanities and social science. It also supports researchers Leading a research programme, who have significant postdoctoral research experience and are ready to lead their own team.
Important Grant Details:
Wellcome’s substantial grants may range anywhere from $100,000 to $1.5 million. To learn more about the trust’s grantees, explore its list of grants awarded. Grantseekers are advised to research the foundation’s granting schemes carefully to find the most appropriate program.
All of Wellcome’s grant applications may be conducted through its online portal. Note that Wellcome conducts the majority of its grantmaking in the UK and Ireland, although it is not opposed to funding organizations abroad.
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