Funding review

20 July 2003

The Wellcome Trust has completed a review of its funding activities and internally managed projects. The outcome is a more streamlined portfolio of funding that will enable the Trust to honour all its existing commitments, continue working in all its key areas of activity, and maintain schemes and projects at viable levels where scaling back has been necessary. The Trust's anticipated expenditure remains in excess of £400 million for the next financial year.

The reassessment was driven by the decline in the Trust's asset base, following the prolonged slump in world equity markets over the past few years which has affected the future spending power of charitable foundations. Although the Trust's financial framework smoothes out the impact of stock market fluctuations, the long-term depression in world markets has inevitably exerted a downward pressure on Trust funding plans.

The review of funding and activities was undertaken to provide a considered and strategic response to the harsher financial climate. All activities were reviewed against a set of criteria, including the extent of 'fit' to the Trust's aims and objectives, impact to date, likely effects of scale back or discontinuation, and overlap with activities of other agencies.

The review adopted a number of key principles. For example, all previously established commitments would be honoured: no awards already made were reconsidered, and funding for major projects - such as UK Biobank, the national network of science learning centres, the Structural Genomics Consortium - will all proceed as previously announced. The Trust remains committed to the initiatives announced with the 2002 Government Spending Review, such as Value in People awards.

In addition, where scaling back has been made, funding budgets have been set at levels that ensure the long-term viability of schemes, programmes or projects. The Trust has maintained an unallocated pot of funds for one-off initiatives of great scientific or strategic importance.

The upshot has been scaling back in some funding activities and a rationalisation of the Trust's funding portfolio, with a small number of schemes being merged or discontinued. Although there will be increased competition for funds in some areas, the review has ensured that all key activities still have, in real terms, very substantial funds at their disposal for 2003/04.

A relatively small number of schemes have been stopped, such as Prize Studentships, where the Trust's contribution will now be concentrated on four-year PhD training programmes. International funding schemes were already under review and a more focused set of schemes has been established. This will reinforce the Wellcome Trust's long-standing commitment to tropical medicine research but with some scaling back in international collaboration and fellowship support.

Technology transfer activities, which were recently relaunched, are not affected by the review, and funding will continue at the levels announced at launch.

History of medicine research funding has been maintained, at a slightly reduced level but the Trust remains by far the biggest supporter of the subject in the UK. Biomedical ethics research will continue to be supported at current levels.

Funding for public engagement activities - the Engaging Science programme - has been maintained. Some cost savings have been identified within internal projects, such as exhibitions and the Wellcome Library, though it is not anticipated that the revised budgets will compromise the overall objectives of these important activities.

At the same time as this review, the Trust has been examining its support costs, in order to ensure that it is operating in a cost-effective and business-like fashion. This exercise has identified significant savings that will maintain support costs at 8.5 per cent of total expenditure.

Although the funding review has led to some trimming of budgets, it will not impair the Trust's ability to fund the best biomedical science and make significant contributions to projects of national and international importance. Even at a reduced level, its expenditure is almost twice what it was as little as five years ago. Most importantly, the exercise will help ensure the long-term future of the Trust and its ability to provide a reliable source of funding well into the future.

Funding review

See also