Sustaining Health frequently asked questions

Please contact sustaininghealth@wellcome.ac.uk with your queries. General information can be found below.

What types of proposal is the Wellcome Trust looking for?
We will take a broad approach. Some possible areas of research, as examples only, might be:

Demographic and health surveillance data from low- and middle-income countries could be used to examine relationships of health outcomes (including climate-sensitive diseases) to climate, environmental, demographic and social variability and change while identifying underlying mechanisms and opportunities for behaviour change through, for example, early-warning systems.
New research areas might include the impacts of climate (either locally or from other regions of the world such as the global breadbaskets) on a diverse array of foods, food choices, food quality, dietary diversity, food safety, maternal and child care, and feeding practices available to vulnerable populations. This might also include changes in nutrition that result from adaptation strategies designed to respond to climate change.
Datasets made available through public-private partnerships (involving sectors such as food retail, urban transport, water management, insurance etc.) could be combined with health, climate and environmental data, and projections and predictions, to better understand and predict human behaviour and likely health outcomes of different environments.

What areas of science does the scheme cover?
Sustaining Health includes the research areas of behaviour change, global nutrition, health impacts of climate change, and ecological public health.

What geographic areas does the scheme cover?
Sustaining Health includes challenges that are relevant to all countries. These challenges include overconsumption and obesity in high-income countries, major environmental changes driven by rapidly developing countries, and the impacts of environmental change on the most vulnerable low- and middle-income countries, who themselves are striving to achieve development using the same model that high-income countries have used. We will consider issues across this spectrum and therefore the scheme is open to studies based in any country or region.

Who should apply?
Awards will fund outstanding researchers with the vision to innovate and explore the most challenging questions in their field of study. We aim to select people who are able to articulate a compelling vision for their research, and who demonstrate the talent, track record, originality and leadership to achieve it.

How do I apply?
You should complete a concept note and send it to sustaininghealth@wellcome.ac.uk. We encourage you to discuss your proposal with us before you send your concept note. We may then invite you to make a preliminary application. If this is successful, we will then invite you to submit a full application. This will be sent for peer review and will then be considered by our Funding Committee.

How many awards does the Wellcome Trust expect to support?
This depends on the nature, quality and cost of the applications received in a given financial year.

How do Sustaining Health awards fit within the Wellcome Trust's overall funding portfolio?
Our Strategic Plan [link] includes a specific challenge on the broad theme of 'connecting environment, nutrition and health'. Because of this, several of our funding schemes are open to research proposals in the area covered by Sustaining Health awards. We expect that some of the awards made under this specific call will produce preliminary data or demonstrate the feasibility of an approach that will enable researchers to go on to seek larger-scale funding.

Is animal health included?
Proposals can include research on animal health, as long as it also relates to health of the human population.

Can I make multiple applications?
Yes. Each application will be considered on its own merits. Principal investigators seeking support will, however, be expected to demonstrate that they can commit the time and attention needed to bring each project to a satisfactory conclusion.

Is the number of applications from, or awards to, a single institution limited?
No. Each application will be considered on its own merits.

Are applications from multiple organisations permitted?
Yes. The precise role of each principal investigator and organisation should be made clear in the application, together with details about how the work will be shared and intellectual property owned, managed and exploited.

Do I have to be a UK resident to enter?
No, there are no geographic restrictions on eligibility.

I already hold a grant from the Wellcome Trust. Can I apply?
Yes, but you will need to demonstrate your ability to deliver on each grant.

I work in industry or an NGO. Can I apply?
Yes, subject to your organisation being able to sign up to the Wellcome Trust's Grant Conditions and to eligibility checks on its ability to administer an award.

Must I hold a tenured university post to be an applicant?
For university-based applicants, our normal rules allow for tenured staff and staff on fixed-term contracts with no less than 12 months' service remaining to be coapplicants. Normally, only tenured staff or permanent employees may be principal applicants.

Are applications from companies allowed?
Yes, applications from spin-outs and small and medium enterprises can be considered, as can applications from large enterprises. However, we will need to understand why commercial support for the project is not available.

Can I apply for my personal salary on an award?
If you hold a tenured university or a permanent post, you may not re-charge your salary (in full or part).

What capital expenditure may be requested?
If it is adequately justified, modest equipment purchase and maintenance costs may be included in an application. Building or refurbishment expenditure will not normally be considered.

Can I apply for overheads?
Applications may not include requests for institutional overheads.

I am currently doing a PhD. Can I apply?
According to our standard eligibility criteria, applicants must be established researchers who should normally hold an academic or research post (or equivalent) and have at least five years' postdoctoral (or equivalent) research experience. Please see the 'eligibility' tab for more information.

Does my application have to cover environment AND nutrition AND health?
It is not a requirement for an individual project to cover issues related to both environment and nutrition. A focus on health is necessary.

What is meant by 'unlocking the power of data'?
Our scoping work highlighted the explosion in data that is freely accessible or that can be readily obtained from public and private databases and crowdsourcing, and the importance of harnessing value from this data. We would like to see proposals that aim to make such data more relevant, available, accessible and useful (e.g. by formatting to permit inter-linkage) for the common good. The size of these awards makes them particularly well suited to projects that exploit existing datasets or pilot novel approaches to data collection and exploration.

What are the deadlines?
Deadline for concept notes: 27 August 2013
Deadline for preliminary applications: 7 October 2013
Deadline for full applications: 10 January 2014
Funding Committee: 27-28 March 2014

Will I get a receipt of submission?
You will receive an email confirming that your enquiry or application has been received.