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Published: 14 Nov 2023 675 views
This scheme provides funding for 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.
Scheme at a glance
Where the administering organisation of the lead applicant is based:
Level of funding:
Duration of funding:
Wellcome exists to improve health by helping great ideas to thrive. They support researchers, we take on big health challenges, we campaign for better science, and we help everyone get involved with science and health research. Wellcome is a politically and financially independent foundation. Their founder, Sir Henry Wellcome, was a medical entrepreneur, collector and philanthropist. How they work today reflects the breadth of his interests, and his conviction that health can be improved when research generates, tests and investigates new ideas. Their governance is based on an updated version ... continue reading
| Application Deadline | 30 Jul 2024 |
| Type | Contest |
| Sponsor | Wellcome |
| Gender | Men and Women |
A Wellcome Discovery Award provides funding for research expenses.
The award usually lasts for 8 years, but may be less for some disciplines, such as humanities and social science.
The award may be held on a part-time basis. We will extend the duration of the award to reflect this.
You should ask for a level and duration of funding that’s appropriate for your proposed research. You will need to justify these costs in your grant application.
The award includes:
The award does not include salary costs for the lead applicant.
We only provide a salary for coapplicants in certain circumstances - see 'staff costs' for further details.
See 'Other costs' for the costs we will and will not provide.
You can apply for a Wellcome Discovery Award if you are a researcher who wants to pursue bold and creative research ideas. You must aim to make a major contribution to your research field by:
and/or
You will be expected to actively promote a diverse, inclusive and supportive research environment within your team and across your organisation.
Your research can be in any discipline – including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), experimental medicine, humanities and social science, clinical/allied health sciences, and public health – as long as it has the potential to improve human life, health and wellbeing, and aligns with our funding remit.
The research can be in a single discipline or multidisciplinary.
An award can be held by an established researcher or a team of researchers led by an established researcher.
Whether you are applying as the sole applicant or the lead applicant for a team, you must have:
If you are the lead applicant for a team, you must also be able to demonstrate you can drive and lead a substantial collaborative research programme.
You must be able to contribute at least 20% of your research time to the programme.
You must be based at an eligible host organisation that can sign up to our grant conditions. It must be in one of the following:
It must be a not-for-profit organisation. It can be a:
At the point of application, you should have a permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contract, or the guarantee of one. The contract should not be conditional on receiving this award.
Your salary must be paid by your host organisation for the duration of the award. If you are based in a low- or middle-income country, you can ask for a contribution to your salary if you hold a permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contract and have to get your salary from external grant funding.
If you have less than three years remaining on your contract at the point of application, you must have secured your next position at an eligible organisation and provide a letter of support from them.
Coapplicants can be at any career stage and based anywhere in the world apart from mainland China.
Each coapplicant must make a significant and essential contribution to the research proposal, for example designing the research, writing the application and/or managing the programme. They must be able to contribute at least 20% of their research time to the programme.
Coapplicants must be based at an eligible organisation that can sign up to our grant conditions.
The organisation can be a not-for-profit:
It can also be a commercial organisation.
Coapplicants can request their salary if they have a permanent, open ended or long-term rolling contract and have to get their salary from external grant funding, or they are employed by a charity, social enterprise or commercial organisation. The amount they request must be proportionate to the time they will spend on the grant.
Coapplicants without a permanent, open ended or long-term rolling contract can only request salary if they:
Alternatively, coapplicants may get their salary through employment on another grant or from their employer.
Coapplicants can be based in the same or in different organisations, and come from any discipline, but the added value of the team approach must be clear.
Team size will depend on the proposed research. It will usually range from two to eight applicants, including the lead applicant.
We encourage lead applicants to put together diverse teams.
You can apply if you've been away from research (for example a career break, maternity leave, or long-term sick leave). We'll allow for this when we consider your application.
If you have retired, please contact us before applying.
If you are unsuccessful with an application to this scheme, you can submit one more full application for the same project. Significant changes are needed for the second application. You do not need to contact us first.
Researchers cannot be a coapplicant on more than two Discovery Awards.
We will review your research proposal, skills and experience, and research environment.
Your research proposal
To be competitive, your research proposal will be:
Your skills and experience (applicants and coapplicants)
We will review:
Your research environment
We will review:
You are not eligible to apply as a lead applicant on a Discovery Award if you are the lead applicant on two other Discovery Award applications and you are waiting for a decision.
You cannot apply if you intend to carry out activities that involve the transfer of grant funds into mainland China.
You must be based at an eligible organisation that can sign up to our grant conditions.
We expect organisations based in the UK to meet the responsibilities required by the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers for institutions, managers and researchers.
Any organisation with Wellcome funding that is based outside the UK is expected, at a minimum, to follow the principles of the Concordat.
We also expect your host organisation to:
If your host organisation is a core-funded research organisation, a Discovery Award should not replace or lead to a reduction in existing or planned core support.
November 2023 round
OPEN TO NEW APPLICATIONS
Applications open 16 August 2023
Application deadline 21 November 2023, 17:00 GMT
Shortlisting February 2024
Interviews 7-9 May 2024
April 2024 round
OPENING SOON
Applications open 22 November 2023
Application deadline 16 April 2024, 17:00 BST
Shortlisting June 2024
Interviews 17-19 September 2024
July 2024 round
OPENING SOON
Applications open 17 April 2024
Application deadline 30 July 2024, 17:00 BST
Shortlisting October 2024
Interviews 21-23 January 2025
Before you apply
Make sure you read everything on this page.
You may also want to watch a recording of a webinar that took place on Monday 12 April 2021.
Get some tips to help you write your grant application.
You do not need to contact us before you write and submit your application.
Submit your application to your host organisation for approval
Complete your application form on Wellcome Funding.
View the Sample full application form for Wellcome Discovery Awards [PDF 1.43MB].
Submit it to the 'authorised organisational approver' at your host organisation for approval. Make sure you leave enough time for the approver to review and submit your application before the deadline. The approver may ask you to make changes to your application.
Host organisation reviews your application and submits it to us
Your application must be submitted by 17:00 (GMT/BST) on the deadline day. Watch a recording of a webinar demonstrating the new Wellcome Funding Platform from Thursday, 4 May 2023.
Shortlisting
We will check your eligibility for the scheme and that your application demonstrates how you will meet the aims of the scheme. If your application is ineligible or does not demonstrate how you will meet the aims of the scheme, we will withdraw your application and contact you to explain why.
One of the following Discovery Advisory Groups will then review your application, depending on your area of research:
If shortlisted, we will invite you for interview.
Written expert review
We'll seek external written expert review on shortlisted applications. Only the proposed research will be reviewed.
Reviewers will be chosen based on their expertise within the relevant research field and not on their level of seniority.
Unattributed comments will be sent to you before your interview.
Interviews
A committee will interview shortlisted candidates at the Wellcome offices in London. Accessibility requirements will be accommodated. Those who cannot attend in person can participate remotely.
We will provide information on the structure of the interview, layout of the room, and interview committee membership.
Shortly before the day of the interview, you will need to provide us with your presentation slides. You will be asked to give a presentation at the start of your interview.
The focus of the interview will be on questions and answers. The committee will assess across a set of criteria rather than one specific aspect of the proposal.
Funding decision
Final funding decisions will be made by the Discovery Research Decision Board.
You will receive an email notification of the funding decision soon after the decision has been made.
Feedback
Written feedback will be provided to all unsuccessful applicants at each decision point, including the reasons for a decision.
If you are disabled or have a long-term health condition, we can support you with the application process.
For more details visit: Welcome website.
