Post on 29-Dec-2015
The Wellcome Trust
Funding opportunitiesFunding opportunities5 December 2007 5 December 2007
Tracy Halpin and Savita Ayyar
Overview
•The Wellcome Trust
•The application process
•Funding schemes offered by the Wellcome Trust
• an independent research-funding charity
• established 1936
• funded from private endowment
• managed for long-term stability and growth
• interests range from science to history of medicine
The Wellcome Trust
Wellcome Trust mission
“To foster and promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health”
What do we fund?
• Biomedical and veterinary research
• Technology transfer activities
• History of Medicine research
• Biomedical ethics research
• Public engagement
Good idea!
Application submission
Interview Committee
FundReject
Funding Committee
Expert peer review
Choose appropriate Stream
Immunology andInfectious Disease
Populations and Public Health
Neuroscience and Mental Health
Physiological Sciences
Molecules, Genes and Cells
Meeting Dates and deadlines
Funding Committee
•Meetings take place 4 times a year•Dates available from website
Grant Application - Components
•Research Question : Summary & Details
•CV’s of applicants
•Resources
The research plan
•Clear hypothesis
•Not over/under ambitious
•Convincing preliminary data
•Appropriate co-applicants and collaborators
•Easily read and understood
Resources
•Personal support
•Staff - Research Assistants/Technicians
•Equipment & Access Charges
•Animals
•Materials & Consumables
Justifying resources is as important as the proposal.
Seek advice !!
•From colleagues and/or mentors and Trust staff
•Ask for as many independent views or comments
on the proposal as possible
•Seek opinions from colleagues outside your field
as to readability, focus etc.
Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 6Month 5
Admin
Referee selection
Sent to Funding
Committee
Applications compiled & copied
Your applicationpost-submission
At the Funding Committee meeting..
•The importance of the question
•The approach to the question and feasibility
•Track record/potential of applicant?
•Appropriate equipment and running costs
For fellowships
•Person-Project-Place
•Scientific independence
Peer review – plays an important role but is not the only defining factor
Types of Support
Grants
•Project Grants
•Programme Grants
•Equipment Grants
•University Awards
-Research Staff
-Research Technologists
Fellowships
•PhD programmes
•Training Fellowships
•Intermediate Fellowships
•Senior Fellowships
•Other
Research Training Fellowships
Senior Research Fellowships
PhD Programmes for Clinicians
Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowships
Intermediate Clinical
Fellowships
Research Career Development Fellowships
Senior Research Fellowships
Senior Research Fellowships
BIOMEDICAL SCIENTISTS CLINICAL SCIENTISTS
University Awards
Flexible Travel
Awards
Research Career
Re-EntryFellowships
Principal Research Fellowships
INTERMEDIATE
SENIOR
BIOMEDICAL & CLINICAL SCIENTISTS
IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Intermediate Fellowships
MSc/PhD Programmes
Research Training Fellowships
4 Year PhD Programmes
Personal Support Schemes
International Senior Research Fellowships(in India, South Africa, Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary & Poland )
EARLY CAREER
FlexibleTravel
Awards
Based in the UK or Republic of Ireland
Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowships
Research Career Development Fellowships
Senior Research Fellowships
BIOMEDICAL SCIENTISTSBased in the UK or Republic of Ireland
Research projects can be based in the lab, the clinic or the field and may involve experimental or theoretical approaches
University Awards
Flexible Travel
Awards
Research Career Re-
EntryFellowships
Principal Research Fellowships
Early career
Intermediate
Senior
4 Year PhD Programmes
Personal Support Schemes
Research Career Development Fellowships• 3-6 years’ post-doctoral research
experience
• Candidates must have made significant intellectual contributions to research and be able to demonstrate their potential to carry out high quality independent research
• Awards now for up to 5 years
• Includes salary, research expenses and research assistance if justified
• Considered twice a year
Senior Research Fellowships in Basic Biomedical Science
• 5-~10 years post-doctoral research experience
• For individuals of outstanding ability to continue their independent programmes of research
• Initial 5 year award funded in full by the Trust
• Renewable for further five year periods, with 50% of the fellow’s salary funded by the host institution
• Annual competition
Principal Research Fellowships
• Candidates with an established track record of research at the highest level
• Basic and clinical
• Seven years’ salary and research support
• Renewable for five year periods with 50% salary support from the host institution
• Must have a guaranteed position at the end of the Fellowship
• Often used to bring top researchers (back) to the UK
Project Grants
•High-quality, hypothesis-driven research
•Usually up to 3 years’ duration
•Salaries for 1-2 posts, plus equipment, travel and materials
•Awards typically between £180k-£350K
Can be used to support pilot studies and international collaborations
Programme Grants
•Preliminary application required
•Principal Applicant needs proventrack record of research and funding
•Broader aims
•Normally 5 years duration
•Salaries for 3-4 posts, plus equipment, travel and materials
•Awards typically in the region of £750k-£1.5m
Support on project and programme grants
In appropriate circumstances, researchers
can request personal salary support on a
Project or Programme grant application as:
A named Research AssistantA Co-applicantThe Principal Applicant
Equipment Grants
•Applications up to £1 million considered
•Multi-user applications encouraged
•Contribution from University or other source usually expected (10-20%)
Biomedical Resources
•Funds for the establishment or maintenance of community resources
•Evidence of requirement for the resource within the community
•Issues such as management and dissemination need to be considered
University AwardsTo allow universities to attract/retain strategically important staff
• Two categories:
Academic researchers• Salary support for five years and project support for three
years. • Applicant takes up a permanent post at the end of the
award
Career technologists/analysts Trust provides 75% of applicant’s salary for 5 years Applicant then takes up a post which is guaranteed for at
least a further 5 years