Grant end dates

• The grant end date is determined by the grant's actual start date and the duration agreed with the Trust at the point of award (the ‘official end date’).
• The start date can be deferred by up to 12 months, allowing the grant end date to be put back by an equivalent number of months.
• The official end date will not be changed unless specifically requested by the grant holder.
• For fellowship grants, the grant end date and the end date for all other posts funded on the grant will be co-terminous with the end date of the fellow's salary support.

The end-of-grant report [Word 300KB] must be submitted within three months of the official grant end date.

Changes to grant end dates

For grants other than fellowships, the Wellcome Trust is willing to postpone the end date in any of the following circumstances:

• where a grant has more than one post and they are not all activated at the same time (see employment of staff).
• where a post is unoccupied at any time during the grant.
• where the post holder revises their hours of employment.

In any of these cases, the Trust should be notified in writing of the revised grant end date. This notification must be received before the official end date.

In addition to postponement of the official end date, as described above, the Trust will be willing to consider a request for a no-cost, time-only extension for a period of up to one year.This would extend the duration of the grant and set back the grant end date. Such requests must be submitted in writing at least one month before the official end date. Requests submitted after this date will not be considered.

Periods of less than six months
Grant holders do not need to provide a detailed scientific justification, but must include a short rationale for why the extension has been sought.

Periods of between six months and one year
Grant holders must provide a scientific (or other discipline-specific) justification (maximum 2 sides of A4). This should include a very brief summary of the original aims, a progress report and details of the work to be undertaken in the period of the no-cost extension.

For all no-cost, time-only extensions, grant holders should state the proposed revised end date and provide a statement confirming that their grant balances are sufficient to allow continuation of the work to the proposed new end date. Grant holders are expected to have discussed the grant balances with their Research/Finance Offices prior to contacting the Trust to request a no-cost, time-only extension.

If permission for a no-cost, time-only extension is given this will be on the understanding that no supplementary funding will be provided by the Trust in the event of a shortfall.

Joint grants

Holders of a joint grant (i.e. where funds for the project are awarded to two or more institutions) must ensure that they notify both their co-grantholders and their Research/Finance Offices if there is any proposed change to the end date of their component of the grant. This is important since the principal investigator whose component of work has the later end date will be expected to submit the end-of-grant report for the whole grant, and the Trust’s 10 per cent retention rule will apply to that component.