Programme grants – SCHEME TO BE DISCONTINUED

Purpose

Important changes are being made to the Trust’s biomedical science grant programmes, which will affect this scheme.

Programme grants provide support for five years for internationally competitive research relevant to human and animal health. This longer-term funding gives researchers the opportunity to concentrate on a programme of research without having continually to seek funds from a variety of sources to maintain the group.

Programme grants can also be used to support international collaborations between academic institutions in the UK or Republic of Ireland and overseas institutions.

We encourage holders of programme grants to pursue new ideas and avenues as they arise.

What's included

The level of support available depends on the scientific needs of the work but applicants should note that awards do not normally exceed £1 200 000.

• Research expenses can include:
• salaries for research assistants and/or technicians
• materials and consumables
• the purchase and maintenance of animals
• the purchase and maintenance of equipment
• collaborative travel.

A travel allowance to attend scientific meetings is automatically provided as part of an award.

Requests for research leave for up to five years may be included on programme grant applications. Awards for research leave will provide the salary of a temporary lecturer (usually at a lesser level of seniority), research expenses and a travel allowance.

Eligibility

The Funding Committees consider programme grant applications from principal investigators based in the UK or in the Republic of Ireland who meet the Wellcome Trust's eligibility criteria and have a strong track record of obtaining grant support from the Trust or other organisations.

Programme grants can be used to support international collaborations between academic institutions in the UK or Republic of Ireland and overseas institutions. The 'centre of gravity' of the programme should be within the UK or Republic of Ireland. The Trust also wishes to encourage collaborations between academics in the UK or Republic of Ireland and scientists from developing or restructuring countries. In these cases, the 'centre of gravity' of the programme may lie outside the UK or Republic of Ireland. For these applications, a principal applicant must be identified in each institution, and both applicants and institutions must meet our standard eligibility criteria.

Developing and restructuring country researchers may be eligible to apply for support without needing a UK/Republic of Ireland collaborator if they can demonstrate that they have established a strong independent track record of research accomplishment. This could include publications in the international scientific literature, or success in obtaining research funding from the Wellcome Trust or a similar funding agency.

Such applicants must establish their eligibility by early contact with Trust staff prior to the completion of any application forms. Please direct your initial queries by email to the appropriate funding stream inbox (see 'Contacts'). The information required at this stage is a CV for each applicant including full publication record, details of source of personal salary support, duration of employment contract and a list of research grants held; an outline of the research proposal; and approximate costings for the research.

Applicants seeking research leave as part of the programme grant should have an established university post, and must be able to demonstrate that they are active in research but have a high teaching/administrative load that is hampering research progress.

These applicants must be sponsored by their head of department and must provide details of hours spent on teaching, administration and clinical duties.

Application process

Prospective applicants should initially discuss their research proposal with a member of our scientific staff from the appropriate funding stream and then submit a preliminary application. An application form will be provided if the preliminary application is approved.

The preliminary application should be submitted by email only to the appropriate stream inbox (see ‘Contacts’) and must include the following:

• The Curriculum Vitae (CV) and full publication record for all proposed applicants. This information should include details of their positions, the source of their personal salaries (e.g. HEFC, NHS, Fellowship awards, etc.), the end date of their funding and with whom the proposed applicants hold their contract of employment;
• A preliminary outline (4-5 pages) explaining the background, aims, experimental protocol, etc. of the proposed project;
• The reasons why longer term (5 years) support for this work is requested and why the work cannot be done as a series of project grants. A time-line for the proposed experiments may be helpful here;
• The abbreviated CVs of any key staff who would be associated with this research (e.g. research assistants);
• An approximation of the cost of the programme, broken down into staff salaries, equipment, running expenses, animal costs and other. The equipment and each staff post should be justified.

Details of the current funding from the Trust and other bodies held by all the proposed applicants.

Programme grants can be used to support collaborations (see 'Eligibility' for more information). A preliminary application should be submitted, comprising short CVs of the potential applicants, an outline proposal and approximate costings.

Applicants requesting a period of research leave must provide details of the distinct contribution they will make to the research project during the period of research leave. Applicants must be sponsored by their head of department and must provide details of hours spent on teaching, administration and clinical duties.

See ‘Deadlines’ for details of final closing dates.

Applicants will be given the opportunity to comment on referees' opinions before the meeting of the Funding Committee at which their application will be considered.

Please note that although we aim to make the outcome of applications available as soon as possible after Committee meetings, results will not be announced until all Committee meetings in a round have been held. Decisions are thus dependent on the Committee schedule and some applicants will face a delay in hearing the outcome of their proposals. A possible delay should be taken into account in planning the timing of research projects.

Deadlines

This scheme is being discontinued. See Investigator Awards for more information.

The following submission deadlines for full applications apply:

Applicants are advised that the Trust may take up to four weeks to assess a preliminary application before a full application can be invited.

Contacts

Enquiries may be directed to the appropriate stream, or by telephone to the Grants Management Helpdesk: +44 (0)20 7611 2020.

Immunology and Infectious Disease
E iid@wellcome.ac.uk

Populations and Public Health
E pph@wellcome.ac.uk

Neuroscience and Mental Health
E nmh@wellcome.ac.uk

Physiological Sciences
E phs@wellcome.ac.uk

Molecules, Genes and Cells
E mgc@wellcome.ac.uk

See Contact us for our postal address.