Capital funding for learned societies

Purpose

This scheme provides capital funding (normally above £200 000) for projects that support the scholarly activities of established UK learned societies whose activities fit within our biomedical science remit.

Capital funding to support public engagement and medical history and science-based activities is also available.

What's included

Awards normally above £200 000 will be made.

We will consider proposals for the funding of building, refurbishment and capital projects.

Eligibility

Learned societies whose activities fall within the Wellcome Trust biomedical science remit are eligible to apply.

General principles

• Projects will normally be based in the UK.
• Projects should normally involve the commitment of funding from other sources (charitable, private or government) and/or significant direct input from the body running the collection or site or the host institution.
• Projects must demonstrate that our capital expenditure will be backed up by a commitment to ongoing revenue funding from the body running the project or the host institution.
• Our charitable status requires that commercial activities and commercially based research be kept to a minimum in space funded by us. Any such activity would require our prior approval.

Application process

Prospective applicants should contact us in the first instance to explore whether their proposal meets our criteria.

If the criteria are met, applicants are asked to submit a preliminary application, outlining the mission, background, aims and objectives of the proposal, targeted audience and partnerships.

We assess the preliminary application and, if approved, a full application is then requested.

The full application must include fully worked up details of the project, its rationale, aims and objectives, details of the audience and marketing plans, business plans, implementation plans, expertise of the project team, financial information, evaluation strategy, potential risks and any other relevant information.

The full application is peer reviewed by at least five independent reviewers, and applicants are invited to respond to the reviewers' comments.

Applicants are then asked to present to the Strategic Awards Committee. At this meeting, the full application reviews and applicants' responses are discussed by the Committee, who are supplemented by two independent external advisers. A funding decision is made following the discussion.

Application advice

Projects will only be considered if they:

• demonstrate their essential role in support of the scholarly activities undertaken by the learned society/societies
• present a clear business case and demonstrate how the proposal aims to further the mission of the learned society/societies.

Deadlines

Applications can be submitted at any time.

The application procedure, from initial expression of interest to funding decision, will usually take around six months.

Contacts

For enquiries relating to capital funding for the learned societies, please contact:

Capital Awards
Engaging Science
Wellcome Trust
Gibbs Building
215 Euston Road
London NW1 2BE, UK

T +44 (0)20 7611 8850
E pe@wellcome.ac.uk