[Wellcome Trust](https://wellcome.org/research-funding)

November 25, 2025 | March 31, 2026 | September 22, 2026 | February 23, 2027

Average award ~£3.5 million; typical range £3–5 million; max duration up to 8 years (average 7 years); larger awards (>£5M) require extra justification.

Funds established researchers or teams to pursue bold, creative, and transformative research in any discipline to advance understanding or methodologies that benefit health and wellbeing.

--- ## Description The Wellcome Discovery Awards support established researchers or teams led by established researchers in pursuing ambitious, creative research that has the potential to make major contributions to their fields and to health-related research. The scheme is intentionally broad, welcoming proposals from any discipline—including STEM, humanities, social sciences, clinical/allied health sciences, and public health—with an emphasis on originality, high quality, and transformative impact. Projects may focus on generating new knowledge, developing methodologies, conceptual frameworks, tools, or techniques that benefit human life, health, and wellbeing. --- ## Due Dates - November 25, 2025: Full application deadline (November 2025 round) – 15:00 GMT - March 31, 2026: Full application deadline (March 2026 round) – 15:00 BST - September 22, 2026: Full application deadline (September 2026 round) – 15:00 BST - February 23, 2027: Full application deadline (February 2027 round) – 15:00 GMT Applications open approximately four months before each deadline. Your proposed project start date must be at least seven months after the application deadline. --- ## Funding Amount - **Typical award size:** £3–5 million (average ~£3.5 million) - **Maximum duration:** Up to 8 years (average 7 years; awards from 3–8 years possible) - **Larger requests:** Proposals over £5 million undergo additional scrutiny and require strong justification. - **Funding covers:** All necessary research costs, including staff, equipment, materials, travel, professional development, and more (see detailed list below). - **No set minimum or maximum, but costs must be fully justified.** --- ## Eligibility - **Lead Applicant:** Must be an established researcher with international standing, a strong track record of innovative research, and experience managing and training others. - Must hold a permanent, open-ended, or long-term rolling contract (not conditional on receiving this award) at the time of application. - Must be based at an eligible administering organisation in the UK, Republic of Ireland, or a low- or middle-income country (excluding India and mainland China). - **Teams:** Can include 2–8 applicants (including the lead), with coapplicants from any discipline and any country (except mainland China). Coapplicants must make a significant and essential contribution. - **Sole Applicants:** May apply without coapplicants but can collaborate with external partners (collaborators cannot receive salary). - **Career Breaks:** Applicants who have taken career breaks are eligible. - **Retired Researchers:** Eligible if the administering organisation guarantees resources and an appointment for the duration of the award (salary not covered). - **Organisation:** Must be a not-for-profit higher education institution, research institute, healthcare organisation, charity, social enterprise, or (for coapplicants) a commercial organisation able to accept Wellcome grant conditions. --- ## Application Process 1. **Prepare Proposal:** Review the scheme details and funding remit to ensure your project aligns ([What we fund](https://wellcome.org/research-funding/guidance/prepare-to-apply/discovery-research-schemes-remit)). 2. **Submit Online:** Complete your application on the [Wellcome Funding platform](https://funding.wellcome.org/). All required documentation (e.g., letters of support, equipment quotes) must be included. 3. **Institutional Approval:** Submit your application to your organisation’s research office for approval and submission to Wellcome. 4. **Assessment:** Applications are shortlisted based on research quality, applicant track record, and research environment. Shortlisted applicants are invited for interview. 5. **Decision:** Final decisions are made by the Discovery Research Decision Board. **Key documents:** - [Sample full application form (PDF)](https://wellcome.org/sites/default/files/2021-08/sample-full-app-form-wellcome-discovery-award.pdf) - [How to write a Wellcome grant application](https://wellcome.org/grant-funding/guidance/how-to-write-wellcome-grant-application) --- ## Funding Details The award can cover: - Salaries for staff (lead applicant salary only if based in a low-/middle-income country and must be externally funded) - Coapplicant salaries (with specific conditions) - Research assistants, technicians, and specialist staff - Equipment (including items >£100,000 with additional documentation) - Materials and consumables - Travel and subsistence (including conference attendance, fieldwork, and collaboration visits) - Professional development and training - Disability-related adjustment support - Overheads (for eligible organisations, up to 20% of direct costs) - Fieldwork, public engagement, and patient involvement costs - Other justified direct research costs **Not covered:** Lead applicant salary (if based in UK/Republic of Ireland), PhD stipends, certain infrastructure costs, and activities outside the Discovery Research remit (e.g., large clinical trials primarily for drug development). --- ## Additional Information - Applications must be bold, creative, and aim for significant advances or new methodologies. - Projects must fit the Discovery Research remit and have potential to improve human life, health, or wellbeing. - Applications outside the remit (e.g., large clinical trials, studies focused solely on animal diseases not relevant to humans) will not be funded. - Only one Discovery Award as sole applicant can be held at a time; no set limit for team awards or coapplicant roles (as long as total salary claimed does not exceed 1.0 FTE). --- ## External Links - [Wellcome Discovery Awards scheme page](https://wellcome.org/research-funding/schemes/wellcome-discovery-awards) - [Funding platform (start application)](https://funding.wellcome.org/) - [Discovery Research remit: What we fund](https://wellcome.org/research-funding/guidance/prepare-to-apply/discovery-research-schemes-remit) - [Eligibility for low- and middle-income countries](https://wellcome.org/research-funding/guidance/prepare-to-apply/low-and-middle-income-countries) - [Guidance for established researchers](https://wellcome.org/research-funding/guidance/prepare-to-apply/established-researcher) - [How to write a Wellcome grant application](https://wellcome.org/grant-funding/guidance/how-to-write-wellcome-grant-application) - [Contact Wellcome Funding Information Team](https://wellcome.org/about-us/contact-us/funding-enquiry) --- ## Contact Information | Type | Details | |------|---------| | General Enquiries | [Wellcome Funding Information Team](https://wellcome.org/about-us/contact-us/funding-enquiry) | | Phone | +44 (0)20 7611 5757 | | Scheme Page | [Wellcome Discovery Awards](https://wellcome.org/research-funding/schemes/wellcome-discovery-awards) | | Sample Application | [Download PDF](https://wellcome.org/sites/default/files/2021-08/sample-full-app-form-wellcome-discovery-award.pdf) | ---

Wellcome Discovery Awards

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