Wellcome Discovery Awards
Wellcome Discovery Awards support established researchers and teams pursuing bold, creative discovery research to advance understanding of human life, health and wellbeing and benefit health-related research.
Funder: Wellcome Trust
Due Dates: Rolling (Applications) | October 28, 2026 (Last submission under current location rules) | October 29, 2026 (New location rules take effect)
Funding Amounts: Average award £3.5 million; up to 8 years, with longer durations possible part-time; requests above £5 million receive additional scrutiny
Summary: Supports established researchers and teams pursuing bold, creative discovery research that advances understanding of human life, health and wellbeing.
Key Information: Lead applicants must be established researchers based at eligible not-for-profit administering organisations.
Description
Wellcome Discovery Awards support established researchers, individually or leading teams, whose ideas could make a major contribution to their field. Research should generate significant shifts in understanding or advance methodologies, conceptual frameworks, tools or techniques that benefit health-related research. Awards span STEM, experimental medicine, humanities, social sciences, clinical and allied health sciences, and public health, within or across disciplines.
The programme prioritises bold, creative, high-quality research with clear questions, evidence-based approaches and feasible outputs. Work must directly relate to human life, health and wellbeing or deepen understanding of human biology, health and disease. Support can include research staff, specialist expertise, fieldwork, training, public engagement and patient involvement.
