Wellcome Early-Career Awards
The Wellcome Early-Career Awards fund innovative, independent research projects by early-career researchers aiming to advance understanding or methods in health-related fields.
Funder: Wellcome Trust
Due Dates: September 30, 2025 | February 17, 2026 | July 21, 2026 | November 10, 2026 | April 6, 2027
Funding Amounts: Salary plus up to £400,000 for research expenses; award duration usually up to 5 years.
Summary: Supports early-career researchers to lead innovative, independent projects advancing understanding or methods in health-related research.
Key Information: Applicants must be ready to lead their own research; host organisations must be in the UK, Republic of Ireland, or eligible low-/middle-income countries (excluding India and mainland China).
Description
The Wellcome Early-Career Awards provide substantial support for early-career researchers who are ready to design, plan, and deliver their own innovative research projects. The scheme aims to foster the next generation of research leaders by enabling recipients to expand technical skills, build collaborative networks, develop management skills, and promote responsible and inclusive research cultures. Research can be in any discipline (including STEM, humanities, social sciences, clinical/allied health sciences, and public health) as long as it has a clear potential to improve human life, health, or wellbeing, or to develop methodologies, frameworks, or tools of broad benefit to health-related research.
