Senior Investigator Awards in Society and Ethics

These awards support exceptional, world-class researchers who hold an established academic position and have a compelling long-term vision for their research.

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Purpose

We will support researchers who have an international track record of significant achievement, who have demonstrated the originality and impact of their research, and who are leading their field.

Senior Investigator Awards provide flexible support at a level and length that is sufficient to enable exceptional researchers to address the most important questions about health and disease and their social, political and historical contexts.

With the publication of our Strategic Plan 2010-20, we set out a new vision statement. In addition, we identified exploring medicine in its historical, cultural and social context as a key focus area and set out five major challenge areas to help meet our vision. The research should demonstrate how it relates to our focus areas and how - directly or indirectly - it enables the Wellcome Trust to achieve its broad strategic vision.

The Society and Ethics Programme will support research that explores the social and ethical aspects of biomedical research and health interventions, with the ultimate aim of achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. Further information on the Society and Ethics Programme

Further information on the Investigator Awards scheme [Word 92KB]

What's included

Research costs

Typical Senior Investigator Awards are for up to five years and provide a generous and flexible package of funding.
A Senior Investigator Award might be in the range of £100k to £200k per year, depending on the needs of your research and your ability to justify the proposed costs.

You are advised to discuss the scope and scale of your proposal with the Trust before submitting your application.

The award covers the direct costs of carrying out the research, such as:

research expenses, including research assistance
travel and subsistence and funding for collaborative activity
capacity-building initiatives, public engagement initiatives and research leave
research, symposia and dissemination activities.

The award does not include your salary costs. These must be provided by your host institution.

You are expected to justify the costs requested. The costs awarded will be finalised after the decision to fund an application is made and will depend on the recommendations of the Selection Panel. Please note that any award will not exceed the total amount requested.

Please note that the Trust does not fund on a proportion of full economic costs (fEC) basis.

Further information on the Investigator Awards scheme [Word 92KB]

Eligibility

If you are based in the UK, the Republic of Ireland or a low- or middle-income country:

You should have an established academic post at an eligible higher education or research institution (see our Q&A document [Word 92KB]). By this, we mean you are employed on a permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contract, salaried by your host institution.
You are also eligible to apply if you have a written guarantee of an established academic post at your host institution, which you will take up by the start of the award.

If you are uncertain whether your employment status meets the above eligibility criteria, please contact the Trust for advice (see 'Contacts').

Other eligibility information

We encourage applications from outstanding individuals who have taken career breaks. Time spent outside a research environment (full- or part-time) will be considered when assessing your eligibility.
Unsuccessful applicants will normally be expected to wait 18 months before resubmitting an application.
You may hold only one Senior Investigator Award at any one time.

Joint applications

We will consider parallel, linked applications from two individuals of equivalent standing who are working closely together towards a shared vision. Please contact the Trust for advice.

Further information on the Investigator Awards scheme [Word 92KB]

Suitability

Senior Investigator Awards are highly sought after, prestigious awards. We aim to select world-leading researchers who have an established track record of significant achievement that demonstrates the originality and impact of their research, who have international reputations for excellence, and who propose a compelling long-term vision for their research to explore the most challenging and important questions in their field of study.

We expect that you will:

be an internationally recognised research leader
have published significant intellectual contributions to research and, for medical historians, have published a monograph
have a strong track record of attracting sustained and substantial research grant support from major funding bodies
have a strong training record supporting the development and mentoring of less experienced researchers.

Host institution: what the Trust expects

The environment in which you will undertake your research and the nature of the support promised by the host institution are important factors when we are evaluating your application.

Your main application must be accompanied by a statement of commitment on behalf of your host institution from the most senior authority in the relevant Faculty, School or Division. This should express:

why your institution considers that you, in particular, merit Senior Investigator Award status
how your institution will support you to ensure that the ambitions of your research proposal can be achieved
how your research proposal complements and addresses your institution's strategic aims and priorities.

The statement should also confirm:

the nature of your employment contract and its compliance with our eligibility criteria for Senior Investigator Awards
the source of your salary for the duration of the award
that the necessary additional space, facilities and infrastructure will be made available to you for the research for the duration of the award
details of any support (financial, administrative, technical or other assistance) that your institution will commit to supporting the application.

Application process

Awards will be made following a rigorous review process and interview.

Stage 1: CV details check
We are offering an optional CV details checking stage to help advise potential applicants on their eligibility and suitability for the scheme. We strongly recommend that you take advantage of this stage.

If you wish to request a CV details check, you will need to complete and submit the relevant form, which is available on the Trust's eGrants online application system. You are strongly advised to refer to the Additional information for completing the Investigator Award form [PDF 48KB], which provides an overview to help guide you through the Investigator Award application process.

If you are already registered with eGrants, you will need to make sure that your homepage is up to date before submitting a CV details check.

The deadline for submitting CV details checks for round 1 is 19 July 2013.

Stage 2: Main application
The main application form for Senior Investigator Awards is available on eGrants (note: select the Investigator Award form in the form type drop-down menu under 'Full Application'). This should be completed and submitted to the Trust no later than the published closing date (see 'Deadlines').

You are strongly advised to refer to the Additional information for completing the Investigator Award form [PDF 48KB], which provides an overview to help guide you through the Investigator Award application process.

An outline of the information you will be required to provide in the application form is available in our additional guidance notes [Word 64KB].

You may also find it useful to read the costs guidance for Investigator Awards [Word 124KB].

Stage 3: Review and shortlisting
Main applications are reviewed and shortlisted for interview by the Society and Ethics Expert Review Group (details to follow).

Stage 4: External peer review
Before interview and final selection, we will seek comments from external reviewers.

Stage 5: Interview
Shortlisted applicants are interviewed by the Medical Humanities Investigator Award Selection Panel (details to follow).

Assessment criteria

All experts involved in reviewing and selecting candidates for awards are asked to consider applications against the following criteria:

the track record of the candidate and his or her standing in the field
the quality and importance of the research question(s)
the approach to addressing these questions
the suitability of the research environment
how the proposed research explores the ethical aspects and social context of biomedical research, health and medicine and/or addresses one or more of our major challenges.

Award process

If successful, and before an award is made, candidates will be asked to provide:

full details of the costs requested
information on human participation and personal data
information on consultancies, equities, directorships and commercial exploitation
details of key collaborator(s)
other details, as required.

See costs guidance for Investigator Awards [Word 124KB] for more information.

Unsuccessful applicants will normally be expected to wait 18 months before resubmitting an application.

Further information on the Investigator Awards scheme [Word 92KB]

Deadlines

Applications are processed once a year for consideration by Expert Review Group and Selection Panel meetings.

19 July 2013: closing date for CV details check
6 September 2013: closing date for full applications

The schedule for full applications submitted by the 6 September 2013 closing date is as follows:

November 2013: shortlisting exercise
Late-January 2014: interviews

Contacts

Grants Section (Society and Ethics)
Wellcome Trust
Gibbs Building
215 Euston Road
London NW1 2BE, UK

T +44 (0)20 7611 8893
E se@wellcome.ac.uk