Discretionary Awards: funding outside of Wellcome’s schemes and funding calls

From time to time, Wellcome may directly support research that can help us to meet our strategic objectives, by requesting an application for funding, outside of our regular funding calls and schemes.

If you have been invited to submit an application for a Discretionary Award, use the guidance on this page to help you complete your application.

Applications for these awards are by invitation only.

Eligibility 

For information on roles and eligibility please refer to our guidance on Wellcome funding applicants.

All applicants and administering organisations must be able to sign up to our grant conditions and comply with our grant funding policies.

The lead applicant:

  • Can be based anywhere in the world, apart from mainland China. 
  • Must be able to contribute at least 20% of their research (or equivalent) time to this project. 
  • Must have a permanent, open-ended, or long-term rolling contract for the duration of the award. Contracts are not required if you are a freelancer or self-employed. 

The coapplicants: 

  • Can be based anywhere in the world, apart from mainland China.  
  • Must be able to contribute at least 20% of their research (or equivalent) time to this project. 
  • Must have a guarantee of space from their administering organisation for the duration of their commitment to the award, but do not need to have a permanent, open-ended, or long-term rolling contract at their administering organisation.

How to apply 

If you have been invited to apply for a Discretionary Award, we expect you to have discussed your proposed project with Wellcome in advance.  

We will send you an email with instructions on accessing your Discretionary Award application form.

The description of your proposal should normally be no more than 3000 words, unless otherwise advised. 

Once you complete your application form, it will be submitted to your administering organisation for approval.

Costs that you can request 

Wellcome will have advised you on the anticipated funding budget. All funds requested must be fully justified in the costs section of your application.

Assessment 

Once your application is submitted to Wellcome, it will be checked and reviewed. We may contact you with questions during this process.

If your organisation has not received funding from us previously (or has not been funded by us for a number of years) we may request further information to enable us to assess eligibility.

We may seek external written review on full applications. Reviewers will be chosen based on their expertise within the relevant research field or subject area.

You will receive an email notification of the funding decision once a decision has been made.

How to claim funds 

If your application is successful, we will send you a formal Award Letter which will explain how to activate and manage your grant. It will contain terms and conditions which will apply to your award.

Wellcome's policy is to reimburse institutions on a quarterly basis for costs incurred.

In exceptional circumstances, Wellcome may agree to funding in advance if there is a justified need for this. Please refer to our guidance on grant payments for more information.

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