International Engagement Awards

What are the Awards?

The International Engagement Awards have been relaunched after the success of the previous scheme. The scheme has been refocused to award projects that are linked to Wellcome Trust-funded research.

International Engagement Awards are for projects that support Wellcome Trust-funded researchers in low- and middle-income countries to:

• engage with the public and policy makers
• strengthen capacity to conduct public engagement with biomedical science and health research
• stimulate dialogue about research and its impact on the public in a range of community and public contexts
• promote collaboration on engagement projects between researchers and community or public organisations.

Projects could engage:

• communities and members of the public (particularly those affected by or involved in biomedical and health research)
• science communicators, health and science journalists
• healthcare professionals, educators, field workers, community workers
• policy and decision makers.

Examples of the kinds of projects we are interested in supporting include ‘Doi Moi’ [PDF], a Vietnamese theatre project exploring bacteria and hygiene, and the Art in Global Health projects that supported artist residencies in six Wellcome Trust-funded research centres to look at personal, philosophical, cultural and political dimensions of health research.

The audience for the project, and the engagement activity, must be in a low- or middle-income country.

If you are interested in conducting research into the effectiveness of science communication or engagement, you may be interested in our Society and Ethics schemes.

How do I apply?

To be eligible, you must be either:

• directly funded by the Wellcome Trust (as a researcher, research group or institution); or
• working with a researcher, research group, institution or consortium directly funded by the Wellcome Trust.

We encourage informal discussions about potential project ideas before you submit an application, although we cannot review draft applications.

To apply for a grant of up to £30 000 for up to three years, complete a preliminary application form [Word] and submit it to the Trust by the date indicated under the ‘Deadlines’ tab.

We will assess preliminary applications for eligibility, their link to Trust-funded research and the quality of the proposed engagement project. If your preliminary application is successful, we will invite you to make a full application.

Please note that applications that do not have an appropriate link to Trust-funded research will not be accepted. Such links must be agreed with the Trust-funded grantholder in advance of submission.

Final decisions will be made approximately five months after the preliminary application deadline.

Larger grants of more than £30 000 can be applied for by invitation only to support exceptional projects.

What projects have been funded?

The International Engagement scheme has previously funded projects such as:

John Imrie
Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies, South Africa
Jiving to a science beat: Using radio-style interviews and popular music to disseminate the Africa Centre’s health research, foster community dialogue and promote evidence-based health practices in an area of high HIV prevalence in rural South Africa
£30 000
This project used popular music to engage community members in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where the Africa Centre is situated and conducts population studies into HIV/AIDs within the region. Three CDs were developed and distributed and their impact evaluated over two years. Each CD contained a radio-style information interview, interspersed with popular local music and targeted health promotion messages. The CDs were distributed so that they could be played in communal spaces such as local minibus taxis, which have 50-60 000 weekly users, and hair salons. The project aimed to increase community awareness of the work of the Africa Centre and the health research it conducts, to develop and deliver evidence-based health promotion messages based on the Africa Centre’s HIV research, and to engage with new and hard-to-reach sectors of the community in a dialogue about the research of the Africa Centre, producing sustainable partnerships.
E mmahlinza@africacentre.ac.za

Mary Chambers
University of Oxford/Wellcome Trust Vietnam Major Overseas Programme
p(L)ace of change
£29 400
p(L)ace of change is a media-led investigation into the rapid development occurring in Vietnam, the impact this change has on health and wellbeing, and what communities have to say about it. The first phase involves a series of community-authored films. These ‘Digital Stories’ focus on health, development and the environment, engaging individuals with the issues around them. The focus areas will be developed as part of an ongoing discourse with science professionals from the Major Overseas Programme in Vietnam. Alongside the community-authored content, professional film makers and health researchers will develop media that enhances the local narratives, adding scientific quality and depth to the content. The resulting DVD will then be used in facilitated community discussions. The project will culminate in a novel media site that will facilitate community discourse as well as global awareness of development issues, captivating and educating audiences through touching personal stories, rigorous science and a uniquely interactive experience.
E mchambers@oucru.org, nick@factandfiction.tv

Simon Brooker
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
Enhancing the understanding and use of health research in media and national policy frameworks in Kenya
£29 645
This project developed a model of public engagement with media and policy frameworks in Kenya. Four interrelated engagement activities took place: a press briefing workshop, where journalists were exposed to health research and received training in reporting and writing health stories; a policy briefing workshop, where the role of health research in decision making and how research can be better used was explored; science cafés, where members of the public discuss health topics in a casual and participatory forum; and media training for Kenyan health researchers. Each activity targeted a different audience, but all were supportive of one another. The project initially focused on the use of maps of malaria and helminth infections to support disease control efforts in Kenya; this also served as an entry point for developing a strategy of public engagement for the wider research portfolio of the Public Health Group in Nairobi (Malaria Public Health and Epidemiology Group and the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Nairobi) with the aim of improving dialogue between researchers, media and policy partners in Kenya.
E sbrooker@nairobi.kemri-wellcome.org, jmutheu@nairobi.kemri-wellcome.org

Wasundhara Joshi
Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action (SNEHA), India
Art and health in urban India
£29 838
This project is conducting a series of activities that foster dialogue between formerly segregated communities: slum dwellers, professional artists and health scientists. The activities involve collaborations between established artists and emerging artists from Mumbai’s majority communities. Artworks will be developed for an exhibition of pictorial and plastic arts, film and live performance on an urban health theme. The project will culminate in an exhibition of creative works on the health of people who live in India’s slums, to be displayed at the International Conference on Urban Health, which will be hosted in India in 2011.

Richard Walker
Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, UK
Facilitating a three-way engagement between study communities, policy makers and researchers in stroke research in Hai and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
£30 000
This project is raising awareness and stimulating dialogue about stroke research and its impact on health in the Hai and Dar es Salaam districts of Tanzania. This project is based on research in these districts, including the Tanzanian Stroke Incidence Project and social research on the perceptions and treatment of stroke. Stroke is a significant problem and major cause of mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, yet many people don’t seek medical care following a stroke. By means of interactive interviews with stroke patients and participatory focus-group discussions with family members of stroke patients, villagers, social leaders, religious leaders and other members of the general public, the project team are examining understandings of the research process in general, and the specific research carried out in relation to stroke. They are also providing feedback on stroke research results, assessing the response and discussing implications of the research. A facilitated dialogue between the communities and policy makers in the Ministry of Health will also be conducted.
E richard.walker@nhct.nhs.uk

Information on all our previous funding

Please note that in previous funding rounds, the scheme did not require engagement specifically with Wellcome Trust-funded research, so many of the projects listed would not be eligible under the current remit.

Deadlines and contacts

Upcoming preliminary deadlines for the International Engagement Awards are:

19 August 2013

You can contact us at:
International Engagement Awards
Wellcome Trust
Gibbs Building
215 Euston Road
London NW1 2BE, UK

T +44 (0)20 7611 8806
E internationalengagement@wellcome.ac.uk