Medical Humanities FAQs

What is medical humanities?

There are many different working definitions for the term 'medical humanities'. At the Trust, we embrace this ambiguity and take a very broad view. Our portfolio offers funding opportunities for both academic research into the social, cultural and historical contexts of health and disease, as well as research that aims to have a more direct clinical impact.

Why is the WT changing its remit?

Medical humanities (or the health humanities, as it is sometimes known) is a burgeoning field both in the UK and internationally. Much of the research that is being conducted by scholars in this field is highly relevant to the Wellcome Trust's mission to improve human and animal health. It was therefore deemed appropriate to drop the requirement for Wellcome Trust-funded research in medical humanities to be 'historically grounded'.

What does the expanded remit mean for academics studying the history of medicine?

The Wellcome Trust has a long-standing interest in the history of medicine, dating back to its founder, Sir Henry Wellcome. We have funded outstanding research in this area for many years, and we will continue to do so under the new remit.

How will the Wellcome Trust assess the diverse applications it will be receiving?

The Wellcome Trust has a lot of experience in considering a diverse range of applications. Every major application we receive is assessed by specialist and non-specialist academics via peer review, as well as by our review groups and selection panels. We take great care to ensure that our panels are composed of individuals who represent a broad range of disciplinary interests.

How important is interdisciplinarity in all of the types of funding?

We believe that medical humanities is a good candidate for interdisciplinary research, and wherever possible, we encourage applicants to explore their research in interdisciplinary ways. First and foremost, however, the Wellcome Trust aims to fund the best research by the brightest scholars, whether this is interdisciplinary or not.

To what extent do projects have to fit with the Wellcome Trust's strategic aims?

In its strategic plan for 2010-2020, the Wellcome Trust outlines three levels of strategic aims: its vision and mission, its three focus areas, and its five strategic challenges. To be eligible for funding, a project must contribute to our vision and to one or more of our focus areas. While we encourage researchers to think about ways in which their projects relate to our strategic challenges, we will consider applications that do not have any scope to do so.

The website mentions a list of disciplines. Is this list exclusive, or does it represent areas the Trust is particularly interested in?

No, the list is purely illustrative. It is not intended to be exclusive and does not highlight areas of particular interest for the Wellcome Trust. The Trust has always been interested in a diverse range of projects, using different methodological approaches from different disciplines, and focusing on a variety of topics and time periods. Please look at some of our past funding to get a sense of the breadth of research we have already funded.

What do you mean by 'medicine' and/or 'science'?

The Wellcome Trust interprets 'medicine' very broadly to include health and wellbeing, as well as the biomedical sciences. We continue to be interested in all areas of science from a medical humanities point of view, so long as they have health-related relevance. To gain a practical perspective of the breadth of the Trust's interests in this area, it might help to explore what's on offer in the Wellcome Library and Wellcome Collection, either online or, ideally, by visiting in person.

Is the Wellcome Trust still interested in animal health?

We continue to be very interested in receiving applications that relate to animal health. However, as with other funding in the medical humanities, we would expect applications in this area to be bold and ambitious, and we therefore encourage an interdisciplinary approach.