International Recruitment Supplement

The International Recruitment Supplement (IRS) is designed to help UK institutions recruit exceptional scientists from overseas to the UK. IRS funding is available as supplementary support to a Wellcome Trust fellowship or Investigator Award, providing a competitive start-up package and covering some of the costs associated with an individual's relocation.

Costs provided

The host institution may request up to a maximum of £1 million from the Trust to cover only the costs in the first year following relocation. However, the host institution will be expected to contribute matching funds (see ‘Institution Contribution’ below).

Eligible costs provided by the IRS would be costs not normally provided by the underlying fellowship or Investigator Award and may cover costs for:

start-up laboratory equipment costs, including costs for relocation of major equipment
large-scale laboratory refurbishment
office refurbishment (under exceptional circumstances)
relocation expenses for the applicant and/or for members of the applicant's laboratory. This may also include funds to cover short periods of housing rental (for the applicant only) to assist with relocation, where appropriate.

Eligibility

To qualify the candidate must hold an independent position (faculty or equivalent) and be resident outside the UK at the time of the application. They may be a national or citizen of any country, including the UK. The candidate and the UK host institution must also meet the eligibility criteria for the fellowship or Investigator Award being applied for.

The supplement will be written into the candidate’s application for one of the following Wellcome Trust grant schemes:

Institution contribution

The host institution must commit an amount equal to the IRS requested from the Trust. The matching funds must not be from other Wellcome Trust funds awarded to the institution.

Institutions are expected to provide support for components not funded by the Wellcome Trust and which are normally the responsibility of the employer, such as supplementary pension or other retirement benefits, housing costs, tuition or fee remission for children’s education, health insurance and/or spousal employment. These costs may be counted towards the matching fund.

Application process

The relevant Head of Department at the host institution is encouraged to approach the Trust at an early stage in the recruiting process and must contact Science Funding staff to discuss a potential application for a fellowship or Investigator Award where an IRS will be requested.

Enquiries about the IRS should be directed by email to the Office of the Director of Science Funding ( k.moses@wellcome.ac.uk), accompanied by:

the candidate's CV
a brief statement of the candidate's research interests and plans
a 3-part summary table outlining the budget for the IRS, the institution’s matching contribution and the underlying fellowship or Investigator Award.

Enquiries can be made at any time, but should be received at least two weeks before the application deadline for the relevant scheme for which the candidate wishes to be considered (i.e. preliminary deadline for fellowships, full application deadline for Investigator Awards).

If invited, the IRS will be written into and considered with the candidate’s underlying fellowship or Investigator Award.

Contact details

Dr Kevin Moses, Director of Science Funding

E k.moses@wellcome.ac.uk