STANDARD TERMS OF REFERENCE AND PROCEDURES

FOR INTERVIEW COMMITTEES, INCLUDING SELECTION PANELS

1. Delegation of authority to Interview Committees

1.1 The Committee shall have full power and authority to consider and approve or reject applications specified in the resolution governing the particular Committee and such other areas or subjects as the Board of Governors (the “Board”) or the Strategic Awards Committee shall designate from time to time.

1.2 Applications to be considered by the Interview Committee shall have been shortlisted for interview by the relevant Expert Review Group or other relevant committee.

2. Appointment

2.1 The Board by written resolution appoints the Chair(s) and the external membership of the Committee and may from time to time by written resolution change the Chair(s) and the external membership of the Committee.

2.2 The Director of the Trust and the relevant Head of Department responsible for the Committee, under authority delegated by the Board, shall have the power to appoint the staff members of the Committee and may from time to time change the staff members of the Committee.

3. Members of the Committee

3.1 The Chair(s) of the Committee will be an external member1.

3.2 The majority of the members will be external members.

3.3 Normally the same institution will have only one external member of the Committee.Two individuals from the same institution may be members of a Committee, but only where the Secretary believes this is necessary for obtaining the best advice on funding decisions and where the individuals are in different academic areas within that institution.

3.4 Senior Funding Division staff with relevant responsibilities will be non-voting members.

3.5 The Director of the Trust will be invited to attend each meeting but will not be a member of the Committee.

3.6 Each Governor appointed by the Board as an “Observer” 2 will be invited to attend each meeting, but will not be a member of the Committee.

Co-opted Members

3.7 During the period between meetings of the Board, the Chair(s) and the Secretary of the Committee shall have full power and authority to nominate external members for appointment by the Committee.This shall be called “co-opting” members of the Committee.Such appointments shall be ratified by the Board as part of the formal reporting of the meeting.

4. Secretary of the Committee

4.1 A designated manager with responsibility for the area of activity covering the specific applications to be considered by the Committee will be the Secretary.

4.2 The Science Funding Head of Department associated with the applications to be considered by the Committee may act as Secretary.

5. External Advisers

5.1 At meetings of the Committee, the members may invite external advisers to serve on the Committee on a ‘one off’ basis or for a specified period.Such individuals shall not be members of the Committee and shall not be entitled in such capacity to vote at meetings of the Committee.The Chair(s) and Secretary of the Committee may, at any time, invite such external advisers to attend meetings of the Committee.

5.2 Persons other than the members of the Committee may be invited to attend for specific items or for the whole meeting at the discretion of the Chair(s).

6. Term

Members should normally serve for three years, subject to mutual review after one year.

7. Reporting

A report of the decisions of the Interview Committee shall be made to the Board of Governors normally within two months of the Interview Committee meeting but, exceptionally, within three months.

8. Sub-Delegation

8.1 Subject to the approval of the Chair(s) and the Secretary, the Committee may sub-delegate any of its powers and discretions to any sub-committee, any member or members of the Committee or such sub-committee or any other person or persons as it may determine who are qualified by his or her expertise to provide advice to the Committee.A resolution, prepared by the Secretary to implement any sub-committee, shall be approved by the Committee.The Chair(s) and membership of any sub-committee shall be proposed by the Chair(s) and the Secretary and approved by the Committee.The Board may revoke in whole or in part any such delegation or vary the terms of the delegation.

8.2 A report of the decisions taken by the sub-committee or sub-delegate shall be made to the Interview Committee normally within two months of the sub-Committee meeting or action by the sub-delegate but, exceptionally, within three months.

9. Meetings

9.1 The Secretary shall consult with the Chair(s) to agree the dates of meetings of the Committee and shall invite the Committee members.

9.2 The quorum for the proceedings of the Committee shall be any three members (including at least two external members) or such other quorum as may be fixed by the Board from time to time.

9.3 If any Chair is not able to attend, the Secretary shall select a non-staff member to chair the meeting of the Committee.

9.4 A meeting of the Committee or any sub-committee may be held by way of a video or audio conference, telephone or similar equipment designed to allow each member to take part in the meeting (or by a combination of such media) provided that at all times the number of members participating in such a meeting is sufficient to constitute a quorum.A member shall be deemed to participate in a meeting if he or she can hear and be heard by each other member participating in the meeting.All members so participating shall be treated as being present at the meeting for the purpose of determining whether the quorum requirements are fulfilled.

9.5 A resolution in writing signed or approved by letter, facsimile transmission or electronic mail (or in such other manner as the Committee may approve) by or on behalf of all the members entitled to vote on such resolution and to be counted in the quorum at a meeting of the Committee for the purposes of such resolution shall be as valid and effective as if it had been passed at a meeting of the Committee duly convened and held, provided it is approved by a sufficient number of members to constitute a quorum.Such a resolution may consist of several documents each signed or approved by or on behalf of one or more members of the Committee.

10. Conflicts of Interest

10.1 Where a member of the Committee believes he or she has a potential conflict of interest, the Wellcome Trust Policy on Conflicts of Interest as amended from time to time, shall apply.

10.2 If a member of the Committee is in any doubt as to the relevance of an interest that he or she has, such interest should be disclosed to the Secretary before the meeting or, if not practicable, as soon as the potential conflict becomes apparent at the meeting.The Secretary will consult as necessary and the Chair(s) and Secretary shall determine whether the member should absent himself or herself from the relevant part of the meeting in accordance with the provisions of the Conflicts of Interest Policy.

11. Remuneration

The Board shall approve the remuneration of chairs and committee members from time to time.

12. Validity of Acts

All acts done by the Committee or any sub-committee or any other sub-delegate of any delegate, or by a person acting as member shall be valid, notwithstanding that it shall afterwards be discovered that there was a defect in the appointment of any member of such a Committee or sub-committee or any such delegate or sub-delegate, or that any of them was disqualified from holding office, or had vacated office, or was not entitled to vote.

July 2012

2Under the “Guidelines for Committee Responsibilities of Governors” approved by the Board at its April 2012 meeting, the role of a Governor as observer is to observe the work of the committee, as part of the governance and oversight role of the Board.In these cases the Governor does not have a vote.Governor observers may input on discussions of the committee where it is appropriate to provide guidance or clarification; this may be on any matter, ranging from Trust policy to the individual applications.