What we fund: Medical history and humanities at the Wellcome Trust
The new Medical History and Humanities funding scheme encourages bold and intellectually rigorous research applications that address the important questions at the interface of science, medicine and the wider humanities (including the social sciences and the arts). We expect that the funded research will further develop our understanding of the impact of medicine and medical sciences on human and animal health.
Research funded by this scheme must be historically grounded (though it need not be based in history departments). This can be reflected in the methods that are employed, in the sources that are consulted, or via the expertise of a collaborating medical historian.
While we encourage interdisciplinary work, our principal aim is to support the best research by the brightest scholars at all stages in their academic career. Funding decisions are made primarily on consideration of the importance of the research question, the quality and appropriateness of the methods proposed to tackle it, and the track record of the researchers involved.
Note: Our funding underwent a review in 2008 and 2009. Learn about the former History of Medicine funding programme and discontinued funding schemes.
Areas of strategic importance
The history of medicine review highlighted several areas in which we would like to encourage research applications;
- History of medical sciences/history of biology
We have always taken a broad definition of the history of medicine to include the history of the biological sciences. However, there is relatively little research capacity in the UK in this area. - History of medicine in the Indian sub-continent
We have previously funded an impressive body of research on history of medicine in India. One of our future challenges is to build research capacity within India itself and ensure the research agenda informs the public health research agenda there. - Clinical Fellows
The review established that the 'voice' of the professional historians is becoming increasingly detached from clinical medicine and its practitioners. We wish to redress this balance by attracting more Clinical and Scientists Fellowship applications. - Library fellowships
In order to capitalise on the changing direction of the Wellcome Library and the opportunities that affords, a new Library Fellowship scheme will be introduced. The scheme will enable recipients to; interpret and exploit the Wellcome Library collections, instruct and help readers/researchers, lecture to public audiences, provide content for Wellcome Collection exhibitions, carry out descriptive 'cataloguing' of collections or systematically review collections, generally disseminate their research widely.
Extraordinary opportunities
"Our mission is to support the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities."
With the publication of our Strategic Plan 2010-20, we have renewed and indeed emphasised our commitment to exploring medicine in its historical, cultural and philosophical context. Our new mission statement explicitly acknowledges the centrality of these research activities to the aims of our organisation.
If you have a project in mind that is situated in the intersecting space between medicine and the humanities, we encourage you to contact us to see how it might be developed to fit within our funding scheme: mhh@wellcome.ac.uk.
