Early Career Awards is a grant from the Wellcome Trust that funds early-career researchers to develop their independent research capabilities in any area of biomedical, clinical, or public health science. The program supports salary costs plus up to £400,000 for research expenses over a typical five-year funding period.

Eligible applicants must have completed a PhD or equivalent and have no more than three years of postdoctoral experience, committing at least 80% of their time to research. Applicants must be based at eligible institutions in the UK, Republic of Ireland, or qualifying low- or middle-income countries (excluding India and mainland China). Applications are reviewed three times per year, with the next deadline on July 21, 2026.

Early-Career Awards – Funding for Early-Career Researchers | Research Funding | Wellcome This website will not work correctly in Internet Explorer 11 and it is strongly recommended that you upgrade to an up-to-date browser. Internet Explorer 11 will go out of support and be retired on June 15, 2022. For more information on upgrading please see browser-update.

org . Lead applicant career stage : Early-career researcher Administering organisation location : UK , Republic of Ireland , Low- or middle-income countries (apart from India and mainland China) Frequency : Three times a year Funding amount : Your salary and up to £400,000 for research expenses. Certain costs do not count towards the £400,000 research expenses limit.

Check 'Research costs we'll cover' for more information. Funding duration : Usually 5 years, but may be less for some disciplines, and may only be longer if held on a part-time basis.

Coapplicants : Not accepted Deadline for new applications Calculating next key date… You can apply to this scheme if you are an early-career researcher and you are ready to design, plan and deliver your own innovative research project that aims to: advance understanding in your field develop methodologies, conceptual frameworks, tools or techniques that could benefit health-related research.

During the award, we expect you to: expand your technical skills and/or your experience of different research methodologies or frameworks build a collaborative network with other researchers in your field develop your people management skills advance your understanding of how to complete research responsibly and promote a positive and inclusive culture.

By the end of the award, you should have the research maturity to develop, manage and lead your own creative, independent research programme. If you decide not to pursue a career in research, you’ll have transferable skills that you can use in roles related to research or outside of research, for example in industry or teaching.

Lead applicant career stage and experience At the point you submit your application, you must have completed a substantive period of research training relevant to your discipline. completed a PhD (for example, in the life sciences) or an equivalent higher research degree. You must have passed your viva examination by the application deadline.

if you have not started a PhD or equivalent degree, at least four years' equivalent research experience (for example, in the humanities and social sciences). You may also have some postdoctoral experience in your proposed field of study, but no more than three years at the point of the application deadline unless you can demonstrate how other factors have impacted on your research career.

When we review how much postdoctoral experience you have, we will allow for part-time work, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, career breaks (for example, parental leave or long-term sick leave) and other significant amounts of time spent outside research (for example, clinical training). We will also consider whether you have changed research discipline. For example, moving from astrophysics to computational neuroscience.

There may be some crossover, such as in research sites or techniques, but the shift should still be a significant change. In previous years, we ran a funding round in May. We recognise that some applicants were planning to apply for a May deadline and may no longer be eligible in July.

We will, therefore, allow applicants whose three years of postdoctoral research experience fall between 1 May 2026 and the 21 July 2026 deadline to apply for the July round. We consider postdoctoral experience as any periods spent in research after you passed your PhD/higher research degree viva. You should be able to demonstrate: a good understanding of research methodology evidence of project delivery and analysis.

You should not need close supervision to complete your proposed research, although you may need training in new techniques and experimental approaches. How much time you must contribute You must be able to contribute at least 80% of your research time in support of the project proposed in the award.

You should not spend more than 20% of your time on non-research related activities, for example clinical duties, teaching or administration. If you're in a clinical craft speciality, you may spend up to 40% of your time on clinical duties.

If you are a health professional If you are a health professional and you want to continue with clinical activities, you must be registered with, and be licensed by, the relevant professional regulator in the country you intend to work in. Read our Q&As for health professionals .

If you are based in a low- or middle-income country Applicants who are based in a low- or middle-income country may hold a permanent, open-ended or long term rolling contract, although it is not a requirement. All other eligibility criteria apply. If you’ve spent time away from research You can apply if you've spent time away from research (for example a career break, parental leave, or long-term sick leave).

We'll allow for this when we consider your application. Depending on your previous career stage and the level of supervision and retraining you need now, you may also want to consider a Career Development Award . Other people you must involve in the application and award Your sponsor must be an individual at your administering organisation .

They must hold an established post (or an honorary academic appointment) at the organisation for the duration of the award. They will be expected to: Guarantee the space and resources you’ll need from the start date to the end date of your award. Ensure the research environment will support you to complete your project.

Confirm workload expectations with you – you should not spend more than 20% of your time on non-research related activities, for example clinical duties, teaching or administration. If you’re based in a clinical craft specialty, you may spend up to 40% of your time on clinical duties. If you plan to work for more than three months outside your administering organisation, you must also have an additional sponsor at that location.

They must guarantee the space and resources you'll need during your visit. Sponsors are not paid for their input. You should also identify a mentor for the period of your award.

They should have a track record in training and mentorship, and support and guide you on how to: develop your research career progress with your personal development manage the processes and regulations at your administering organisation (although they do not need to be based at your administering organisation). Your sponsor can also be your mentor. Mentors are not paid for their input.

Other people you can involve in the application and award Collaborators support the delivery of the project but don't lead on a specific component of the research.

For example, collaborators could support by: providing access to tools or resources such as datasets or clinical records providing access to organisations led by or working in collaboration with lived experience experts providing expertise on working in different countries sharing subject-specific knowledge and guidance, for example, expertise on statistical analysis or measurement of specific variables Collaborators do not have to meet eligibility requirements, and they are not required to give a minimum research time commitment.

Collaborators cannot receive a salary or compensation for the time spent on the proposed project. You can request costs to cover their expenses, for example, for their grant-related travel and the costs associated with providing the agreed input into the research, including the materials and consumables involved. These should be costs directly related to the research.

During an Early-Career Award, you cannot be the sole applicant on any other Wellcome awards. However, you can be a coapplicant on one other Wellcome award, provided you can justify how you will manage your commitments across the awards. Read about the different applicant roles at Wellcome and how many awards you can apply for or hold at one time .

If you are unsuccessful with an application to this scheme, you can submit one more application for the same project. Significant changes are needed for the second application. You do not need to contact us first.

You are not eligible to apply if: You have an existing tenured (salaried) post for the duration of the award (unless based in a low- or middle-income country). You can only relinquish an existing tenured (salaried) post to take up an Early-Career Award if your current post is not research-based. You have made an application to this scheme and you are waiting for a decision.

You hold, have held, or have accepted an offer for an equivalent award at this career stage. An equivalent award does not include short-term funding. What short-term funding we allow Show We allow short-term funding from your administering organisation or a learned society that supported your transition from doctoral to postdoctoral research.

This can include, but is not limited to, funding for: developing new research ideas (rather than a substantive research project) travel or residencies after your PhD. You can have more than one period of short-term funding, but the combined duration cannot be more than three years. You cannot apply if you intend to carry out activities that involve the transfer of grant funds into mainland China.

Is your research right for this scheme? You must check whether Wellcome Discovery Research can fund your type of research project before you apply. fit within what we support in Discovery Research have the potential to improve human life, health, and wellbeing.

be in any discipline - including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), experimental medicine, humanities and social science, clinical/allied health sciences, and public health. fall outside of what we support in Discovery Research. Check what we don't fund.

start earlier than seven months after the application deadline. Review previous projects that have been successful for this scheme Is your organisation right for this scheme? The administering organisation is the organisation responsible for submitting your final application to Wellcome and managing the finances of the grant if it is awarded.

If your administering organisation is a core-funded research organisation, an Early-Career Award should not replace or lead to a reduction in existing or planned core support. Where your administering organisation is based The administering organisation must be in one of the following: a low- or middle-income country (apart from India and mainland China).

The organisation must be not-for-profit and can be a: higher education institution Your research environment You should choose a research environment that provides you with the appropriate training, resources and experience to deliver your project and develop your research skills and identity. We encourage you to move away from your current research environment.

This may mean moving from your group or department, but it is not essential to move organisations. How applications are assessed We will review your research proposal, skills and experience, and research environment. The assessment weightings are used at interview stage.

Your research proposal (50%) To be competitive, your research proposal will be: Bold. It aims to deliver a significant shift in understanding and/or it provides a significant advance over existing methodologies, conceptual frameworks, tools or techniques. It has the potential to stimulate new and innovative research.

Creative. Your proposed approach is novel – it develops and tests new concepts, methods or technologies, or combines existing ideas and approaches in a new way. High quality.

It is well-designed, clear, supported by evidence and the proposed outcomes/outputs are feasible. Your skills and experience (25%) Your previous research outputs and contributions to the research community. Your research skills and experience of different methodologies, and how you plan to develop these during the award.

How you will develop your management skills and capabilities for leading a research programme. Your research environment (25%) How your research environment(s) will support you to deliver your research programme and develop as a researcher. How your administering organisation will help you develop your project and management skills.

How you will contribute to a positive and inclusive research culture. Apply to observe a Wellcome funding advisory committee Are you a researcher planning to apply for Wellcome funding in the next two years? We’re offering researchers the opportunity to observe a Wellcome funding advisory committee and learn how grant applications are assessed.

Research costs we'll cover A Wellcome Early-Career Award provides a salary for the grantholder and up to £400,000 for research expenses. On top of the £400,000 research expenses limit, you may also be able to ask for: the cost of macaques purchased from the Centre for Macaques adjustment support, including assistive technology (for example, screen readers or mobility aids) and support staff.

Review the ‘staff’ section for more information. If you are eligible for these costs, we will not count them against the £400,000 limit for research expenses. Contact us if you have any questions.

If after two or more years from your Early-Career Award activation date your organisation awards you a permanent, open ended or long-term rolling contract that includes your salary, you will be able to keep the salary element of the award to use towards your remaining research costs. The award usually lasts for 5 years, but may be less for some disciplines, such as humanities and social science.

The award may be held on a part-time basis. When applying, you should cost the application at 1. 0 (100%) full-time equivalent.

We will then extend the duration of the award to reflect this. You should ask for a level and duration of funding that’s justifiable for your proposed research. You can only hold one of these awards.

We do not offer renewals. a basic salary (determined by your administering organisation) Show We will fund the total cost of your salary for the entire period of the grant. You can only receive one salary.

If you hold a permanent, open-ended or long term rolling contract and are based in a low- or middle-income country, we will fund the cost of your salary for the duration of the award. Your salary should be based on the pay scales of the host organisation that will be employing you.

It should include: employer’s contributions, including any statutory obligations (for example, National Insurance contributions if you’re based in the UK) and pension scheme costs any incremental progression up the salary scale locally recognised allowances such as London allowance. any potential promotion costs any Wellcome fellowship supplement that was part of a previous grant.

If your host organisation is in a low- or middle-income country and you will be working in a high-income country for four weeks or more, you should be paid at an appropriate rate for that country, according to your age and experience. You should only allow for salary pay awards during Year 1. These should be based on pay awards already agreed.

If the pay award is not yet known, applicants should use the International Monetary Fund inflation rate, selecting the ‘inflation, average consumer price’ option as indicator. From Year 2 onwards, we will automatically increase your salary, based on our current inflation allowance rates.

If you are a clinical academic, your salary should be appropriate to your clinical status and within the salary scale for academic and senior clinical lecturers. If you're paid on a non-clinical salary scale, your basic salary should be in line with academics of a similar seniority. Read about the responsibilities of grantholders and host organisations for people working on a Wellcome grant .

Visa and work permit costs If Wellcome is going to pay your salary on the grant, you can ask for visa and work permit costs to help you take up the post at your host organisation. Award holders who need a visa to work in the UK may be eligible for a Global Talent Visa .

visa costs for your partner and dependent children Immigration Health Surcharge costs for you, your partner and dependent children if you will be in the UK for six months or more essential associated costs, such as travel to attend appointments at a visa application centre or embassy, and English language tests, if you can justify these.

We will provide the salary costs for staff, full or part-time, who work on your project, up to the equivalent of a 36-month full-time post. For example, you can ask for 24 months' salary for a research assistant, and 12 months' salary for a technician.

You can ask for more staff costs (in addition to the equivalent of a 36-month full-time post) if you need: specialist service staff and technical experts, for example environmental sustainability, data analysis, fieldwork and clinical studies support because you or a member of staff employed on your grant is disabled or has a long-term health condition – see 'Disability-related adjustment support'.

We do not provide studentships on this award. How to cost salaries for research staff Show Staff salaries should be appropriate to skills, responsibilities and expertise.

You should ask your host organisation to use their salary scales to calculate these costs, which should include: employer’s contributions, including any statutory obligations (for example, National Insurance contributions if you’re based in the UK) and pension scheme costs Apprentice Levy charges for UK-based salaries any incremental progression up the salary scale locally recognised allowances such as London allowance.

You should allow for salary pay awards during Year 1. If the pay award is not yet known, applicants should use the International Monetary Fund inflation rate, selecting the ‘inflation, average consumer price’ option as an indicator. From Year 2 onwards, you should use your organisation’s current pay rates.

We’ll provide a separate inflation allowance for salary inflation costs. Read about the responsibilities of grantholders and host organisations for people working on a Wellcome grant . Visa and work permit costs Show If you have named people on your grant whose salaries will be funded by Wellcome, you can ask for visa or work permit costs to help them take up their posts at the host organisation.

You can also ask for: visa costs for the person's partner and dependent children essential associated costs, such as travel to attend appointments at a visa application centre or embassy, and essential English language tests Immigration Health Surcharge costs for the person, their partner and dependent children if they will be in the UK for six months or more.

Disability-related adjustment support Show If you or a member of staff working on your grant is disabled or has a long-term health condition, you can ask for adjustment support to help you carry out your project.

Costs can include, but are not limited to: additional costs for staff to help with day-to-day activities related to your project assistive technology to help use computers, research equipment or materials – for example, text to audio software care costs for assistance animals if you need to travel. We will not pay for capital or building costs, such as access ramps.

You can ask for these costs if your government and/or employer: does not cover any of the costs only covers some of the costs (if they do, we will only meet the shortfall). The costs we provide must not replace the support you may get from the government or your organisation, who are responsible for providing these costs. If you don't know what these costs are now, you can ask for them after we've awarded your grant .

relocation allowance Show If you have to move to take up the post at your host organisation, you can ask for up to £1,000. This is to cover personal removal costs only. You will have to explain in your application why you need this.

continuing professional development and training Show You can ask for costs to cover the following types of training. Continuing professional development and professional skills training You can ask for a contribution towards these costs.

Types of training can include: research leadership, professional and people management skills career development support responsible conduct of research promotion of a healthy research culture understanding and reducing the environmental impact of research We expect your administering organisation to provide and fund this training.

However, if these types of training are not available, or the quality is inadequate, you can ask for up to £500 a year for you and each member of staff employed on your grant who will be: in a post of 12 months duration or more only working on Wellcome funded awards for at least 50% full time equivalent You will need to justify these costs in your application.

You can ask for costs to cover training for the technical and research skills you need to deliver your proposed research. You can ask for whatever research skills training you need for you, and each member of staff employed on your grant, who will be: in a post of 12 months duration or more only working on Wellcome funded awards for at least 50% full time equivalent You will need to justify these costs in your application.

materials and consumables Show We will pay for the materials and consumables you need to carry out your project, including: laboratory chemicals and materials (for example reagents, isotopes, peptides, enzymes, antibodies, gases, proteins, cell/tissue/bacterial culture, plasticware and glassware) project-specific personal protective equipment (PPE) that is above the standard expected for the setting printing associated with fieldwork and empirical research associated charges for shipping, delivery and freight If your organisation uses full economic costing methodology: You can ask for funds to buy animals if they are essential to your project.

We will also fund the charge-out rates for animal house facilities. These costs include: running costs (including animal maintenance, any experimental procedures, licences and relevant staff training) appropriate estates costs cage and equipment depreciation costs, but not building depreciation costs If the research will be carried out in the UK and use macaques, they must be sourced from the MRC Centre for Macaques .

We may not pay the full charge-out rate for an animal house facility if we've provided significant funding towards the infrastructure and/or core support of the facility.

If your organisation does not use full economic costing methodology: You can ask for funds to cover: the cost of buying and transporting animals running costs (including animal maintenance, any experimental procedures, licences and relevant staff training) staff costs, for example, contributions towards the salaries of animal house technicians housing equipment specific to the project microbiological monitoring personal and project licences specific and relevant training and environmental enrichment costs In these cases we will not provide: cage or building depreciation costs If you are purchasing macaques from the Centre for Macaques, these costs will not be counted against your £400,000 limit for research expenses.

You can ask for the equipment you need to carry out your project where: it is not available at your administering organisation or through collaborations, and you will be the main user, with priority access to it. At least 50% of the use must be for Wellcome-funded activities. This can include small multi-use pieces of equipment such as desktop microscopes or shakers.

Costs may include purchase, delivery, installation, maintenance and training, where necessary. You can purchase second-hand equipment if it is more environmentally sustainable to do so.

We will cover VAT and import duties if: the usual UK exemptions on equipment used for medical research don’t apply you’re applying from a non-UK organisation, and you can show these costs can’t be recovered We will cover maintenance costs for equipment that is: funded by us or another source essential to the proposed project five years old, or will become five years old during the lifetime of the grant cost effective and environmentally sustainable to keep maintaining it Equipment maintenance can be requested for small pieces of equipment with multiple users if at least 50% of the use is for Wellcome-funded activities, and there is no mechanism in place to recoup these costs through access charges.

We will not provide maintenance support where there is a mechanism in place to recoup costs through access charges for all other equipment. We will cover the cost of: one personal computer or laptop per person working on the grant. The cost should be reasonable, in line with market rates, and justified in the context of the research.

software, software licences and other recurring computing costs linked to the project Electronic Research Notebooks (ERN) / Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN) software on a per user, per year basis for the duration of a Wellcome project and for Electronic Research Notebook or Electronic Lab Notebook software approved for use by your organisation.

You cannot claim costs for Electronic Research Notebook or Electronic Lab Notebook hardware or organisation-wide Electronic Research Notebook or Electronic Lab Notebook software beyond a per user, per year basis on your project. significantly expensive items, unless you can justify them installation or training costs You can ask for the cost of access to shared equipment, facilities or services if they’re essential to your project.

These may include materials and consumables, plus a proportion of: maintenance and service contracts staff time costs for dedicated technical staff employed to operate the equipment or facility We don’t cover the costs of: depreciation or insurance other staff, for example, contributions towards departmental technical, administrative and management staff time We do cover these costs if related to animal housing facilities.

If the facilities or equipment were paid for by a Wellcome grant, you can only ask for access charges if: any support for running costs and maintenance contracts has ended You can ask for overheads if your grant will be based at a: higher education institution, healthcare organisation or research institute outside the UK UK research organisation that does not receive core funding for overheads estates, for example building and premises non-project dedicated administrative and support staff administration, for example finance, library, and room hire.

Overheads are not counted against your £400,000 limit for research expenses. The total cost for overheads should not be more than 20% of the direct research costs. These costs must directly support the activity funded by the grant.

Applicants can also ask for overheads on any part of your grant that is sub-awarded to any of the organisations listed above. However, applicants based at a UK university cannot ask for overheads for the sub-awarded activity if their university will include the sub-awarded funding in its annual report to the UK Charity Research Support Fund.

How to apply for these costs If you are requesting funds for overheads, in your application you will need to provide a letter from your Finance Director stating how the overhead costs have been calculated.

If your organisation has an externally audited or otherwise verified methodology for calculating overhead rates, then the letter must include: confirmation of the validated rate how the rate was arrived at/who provided the rate when the rate was last reviewed where details of the rate can be found If your organisation does not have an externally audited or otherwise verified methodology for calculating overhead rates, then the letter must include: a breakdown of the costs requested confirmation that the request is a true representation of the costs incurred travel and subsistence Show Environmentally conscious travel Travel on grants should be done in an environmentally conscious way, in line with our environmental sustainability funding policy .

You should consider if you could meet your trip’s objectives using video conferencing, hybrid meetings or virtual attendance.

Where travel is necessary you can ask for: the cost of a low carbon mode of transport, even if it is more expensive (for example travelling by train instead of flying) economy flights when train journeys are over 10 hours, or not possible due to availability, safety, or visa permit reasons or in exceptional circumstances such as a disability, long term health condition or caring requirements necessitating faster travel.

We will not pay for business class flights. project-related resources or activities that provide an alternative to travel, such as video conferencing, communication and file-sharing software costs to mitigate the carbon emissions generated by the essential travel by purchasing accredited carbon credits.

If carbon mitigation for travel is not part of your organisational sustainability strategy, you can ask us for a similar level of support for other sustainability initiatives. Your organisation must get our approval before submitting an application We won't pay for the core infrastructure that your host organisation should provide, unless you're eligible to ask for these costs under our overheads policy .

Examples of these costs include: organisation-wide video conferencing packages You can ask for a contribution towards the costs of attending scientific and academic meetings and conferences, including travel, accommodation and registration fees.

The limits are: Grantholder – £2,000 a year Research and technical staff on your grant – £1,000 each a year You can ask for the cost of accredited carbon credits to mitigate the emissions from conference travel in addition to these limits. We provide costs to cover caring responsibilities if you or any staff employed on your grant attend a conference. This includes childcare and any other caring responsibility you have.

We will pay these if: Wellcome is providing the salary the conference is directly related to the research the caring costs are over and above what they'd normally pay for care the conference organiser and their employing organisation are unable to cover the costs You can ask for up to £1,000 per person for each conference.

You can ask for travel and subsistence costs for collaborative visits for you and any staff employed on your grant to visit collaborators (or for them to visit you), and for other essential visits and stays, for example to facilities, host organisations, for sample collection and for field work. You’ll need to justify each visit and its duration. You can request the following costs.

Partners and dependants travelling with you Show If you will be travelling overseas and you will be away more than 12 months, we will provide travel costs for your partner and any dependants if they are travelling with you. Refer to the overseas allowances section for more information. We may provide these costs for shorter