Project grants – SCHEME TO BE DISCONTINUED

Purpose

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

Project grants provide funding for high-quality, hypothesis-driven projects, in the basic and clinical sciences, which are relevant to human and animal health.

Project grants can be used to support collaborations between academic institutions in the UK or Republic of Ireland and overseas. Collaborations with developing or restructuring countries are particularly encouraged.

What's included

Support can be requested for up to three years, although longer periods of time may be considered if scientifically justified.

Three-year project grant awards are usually in the region of £150 000 to £350 000. For applications exceeding £400 000 or longer than three years, applicants are advised to contact the Trust prior to submitting their application.

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 three years may be included on project 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.

Principal applicants or coapplicants seeking their own salary support on a project application are advised to contact the appropriate funding stream prior to submission (see General eligibility).

Eligibility

The Funding Committees consider applications for project grant support from principal applicants in the UK or Republic of Ireland who meet our eligibility criteria.

Project grants can also be used to support international collaborations between universities in the UK or Republic of Ireland and overseas institutions in developed countries. The 'centre of gravity' for the project should be within the UK or Republic of Ireland.

In addition, project grants can be used to support collaborations between academics in the UK or Republic of Ireland and scientists from developing or restructuring countries. Such collaborations are particularly encouraged, and the 'centre of gravity' of the project may, therefore, lie outside the UK or Republic of Ireland. 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 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; a one page outline of the research proposal; and approximate costings for the research.

Applicants seeking a period of research leave 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.

Modest applications to carry out pilot studies will also be considered.

Application process

For project grants involving research based in the UK or Republic of Ireland a preliminary application is not required. Applicants wishing to carry out research in a developing country, or to include support for an overseas collaboration, should contact the Trust at an early stage.

Project grants can be used to support collaborations (see 'Eligibility' for more information). In these cases, a preliminary application should be submitted by email only to the appropriate stream inbox (see ‘Contacts’); comprising short CVs of the potential applicants, letters of support from the heads of the institutions involved, a half-page outline proposal and approximate costings.

Applicants seeking a period of research leave must provide details of hours spent on teaching, administration and clinical duties. They must also provide details of the distinct contribution they will make to the research project during the period of research leave.

Applications, (including joint applications involving two or more administering institutions), should be submitted using our web-based application system, eGrants.

Applicants should check whether they need to submit any additional information with their application (see General eligibility). The Wellcome Trust reserves the right not to process an application if its eligibility criteria are not met.

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.