Wellcome Discovery Awards 2023 in UK

A Wellcome Discovery Awards 2023 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.

It would be best if you asked for a level and duration of funding appropriate for your proposed research. You will need to justify these costs in your grant application.

The award includes:

• continuing professional development and training
• staff
• materials and consumables
• animals
• equipment
• access charges
• overheads
• travel and subsistence
• overseas allowance
• fieldwork expenses
• inflation allowance
• open access charges
• clinical research costs
• public engagement and patient involvement costs
• contract research organization
• other costs

The award does not include salary costs for the lead applicant if the lead applicant is based in the UK or the Republic of Ireland. If the lead applicant is based in a low- or middle-income country, then he/she can get a salary from external grant funding. If applicants employ a research assistant on the grant, they can ask for the costs to cover their Ph.D. fees. Each applicant can ask for Ph.D. fees for one research assistant at a time on the grant.

Wellcome only provides a salary for co-applicants in certain circumstances.

Eligibility Criteria for Wellcome Discovery Awards 2023

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:

• generating significant shifts in understanding and/or

• developing methodologies, conceptual frameworks, tools, or techniques that could benefit health-related research.

You will be expected to actively promote a diverse, inclusive, and supportive research environment within your team and across your organization.

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.

Eligible Nationalities for Wellcome Discovery Awards 2023:

People from the UK, the Republic of Ireland, and Low- or middle-income countries (apart from India and mainland China) can apply for this scholarship.

Lead applicant

Whether you are applying as the sole applicant or the lead applicant for a team, you must have:

• international standing as a research leader in your field
• experience in leading innovative and creative research
• a track record of managing and training others.

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 program.

You must be able to contribute at least 20% of your research time to the program.

You must be based at an eligible host organization that can sign up for our grant conditions. It must be in one of the following:

• UK
• Republic of Ireland
• a low- or middle-income country (apart from India and mainland China).

It must be a not-for-profit organization. It can be a:

• higher education institution
• research institute
• non-academic healthcare organization
• charity or social enterprise.

At the point of application, you should have a permanent, open-ended, or long-term rolling contract, or a guarantee of one. The contract should not be conditional on receiving this award.

Your salary must be paid by your host organization 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 that states that you 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 organization and provide a letter of support from them.

Co-applicants

Co-applicants can be at any career stage and based anywhere in the world, apart from mainland China.

Each applicant must make a significant and essential contribution to the research proposal, for example designing the research, writing the application, and/or managing the program. They must be able to contribute at least 20% of their research time to the program.

Co-applicants must be based at an eligible organization that can sign up for our grant conditions.

The organization can be a not-for-profit:

• higher education institution
• research institute
• non-academic healthcare organization
• charity or social enterprise.

It can also be a commercial organization.

Co-applicants can request their salary if they have a permanent, open-ended, or long-term rolling contract that states they have to get salary recovery from external grant funding, or if they are employed by a charity, social enterprise, or commercial organization. The amount they request must be proportionate to the time they will spend on the grant.

Co-applicants without a permanent, open-ended, or long-term rolling contract can only request salary if they:

• Will spend at least 80% of their time on this grant. They can request their full salary. Their post does not need to be underwritten and can be contingent on the application being successful.
• Will spend less than 80% of their time on the grant. They can request a salary proportionate to the time they will spend on the grant. The host organization must guarantee space and salary support if they cannot get it from other sources for the period of time they are working on the grant. Their post cannot be contingent on the application being successful.
• Are employed on the award as postgraduate research assistants. If they are to spend 100% of their time on the award their post does not need to be underwritten by the host organization and can be contingent on the application being successful.

Alternatively, co-applicants may get their salary through employment on another grant or from their employer.

Co-applicants can be based in the same or in different organizations, 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.

Who can’t apply

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.

How to Apply for Wellcome Discovery Awards 2023?

1. 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.

2. Submit your application to your host organization for approval

   Complete your application on Grant Tracker.

   View the Sample full application form for Wellcome Discovery Awards [PDF 1.43MB].

   Submit it to the ‘authorized organizational approver’ at your host organization 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.

   Get some guidance on using Grant Tracker.

3. Host organization reviews your application and submits it to us

   Your application must be submitted by 17:00 (GMT/BST) on the deadline day.

4. 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:

   • Molecular Mechanisms
   • Pathogen Biology and Disease Transmission
   • Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
   • Immune System in Health and Disease
   • Population and Public Health
   • Brain and Behavioural Sciences
   • Genetics and Genomics
   • Medical Humanities
   • Social Sciences
   • Data Sciences, Tools and Technology.

   If shortlisted, we will invite you for an interview.

5. Written expert review

   We’ll seek external written expert reviews 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.

6. 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, the layout of the room, and the 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.

7. Funding decision

   Final funding decisions will be made by the Discovery Research Decision Board.

   You will receive email notification of the funding decision soon after the decision has been made.

8. Feedback

   Written feedback will be provided to all unsuccessful applicants at each decision point, including the reasons for a decision.

Disabled applicants

If you are disabled or have a long-term health condition, we can support you with the application process.