Establishing infrastructure hubs to power evidence synthesis in LMICs is sponsored by Wellcome Trust. Wellcome will fund five new global infrastructure hubs to enable more timely, relevant, and affordable AI-enabled evidence synthesis to address policy-scale challenges in global health, specifically in Climate and Health, Infectious Disease, Mental Health, or Discovery Research.

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org . Lead applicant career stage : Established researcher Administering organisation location : Low- or middle-income countries (apart from mainland China) Funding amount : £1. 5 to £1.

9 million We expect to make 5 awards in this competitive funding call.

Funding duration : 3-5 years Calculating next key date… Application process timeline You can apply to this call if you are a team of researchers, existing or new: with demonstrated expertise in evidence synthesis production, use and dissemination from eligible organisations based anywhere in the world ( apart from mainland China ) with the lead applicant based in a low- and middle-income country We encourage applications from teams that: bring a diversity of expertise and perspectives, with interdisciplinary collaborations that cover multiple areas include researchers at various career stages, from experienced to early-career Include the necessary expertise, technical skills and organisational support to deliver the proposed research and any other expertise relevant, including but not limited to: decision makers (for example, policymakers and citizens) Include either a lead applicant or coapplicants based in each country where the research will take place.

Include at least one applicant with significant demonstrated health expertise. Include at least one applicant with significant demonstrated expertise in the proposed sector.

We expect teams to focus on and have expertise in one of these policy sectors: peace and effective institutions These policy sectors are aligned to one or more of the pillars of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which provide the organising framework used by ESIC’s partner, the Global SDG Synthesis Coalition . Be of an appropriate size for the proposed research.

Teams must consist of at least four applicants (including the lead applicant) and must not exceed eight applicants (collaborators are not included in this count of applicants). Actively foster a diverse, inclusive and supportive research environment.

Actively align with principles set out in the ESIC ‘Equity Companion’ document , including but not limited to: adequate representation that is reflective of diverse needs and contexts equitable allocation of resources (such as research budget) recognition of diverse forms of evidence production and use of evidence that is accessible to a wider range of actors Be based at an organisation in an LMIC.

Have demonstrated expertise in evidence synthesis production, use and dissemination in their chosen sector. Have the experience needed to drive and lead a collaborative, large-scale research project and the necessary support structures in place to enable this, including demonstrated experience working and engaging with multiple evidence synthesis stakeholders.

Have a permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contract, or the guarantee of one, for the duration of the award. The contract should not be conditional on receiving this award. Lead applicants with less than three years remaining on their contract at the point of application must have secured their next position at an eligible organisation and provide a letter of support from them.

Coapplicants can be based at the same or different organisations as other applicants, including in different countries and anywhere in the world (apart from mainland China). They can be at any career stage and come from any relevant discipline. Up to seven coapplicants may apply per team.

Be essential for the delivery of the project and make a significant contribution, for example in designing the proposed research and leading a specific component of the project. Have a guarantee of space from their administering organisation for the duration of their commitment to the project. They do not need to have a permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contract.

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 resources providing expertise on working in different countries sharing subject-specific knowledge and guidance Collaborators do not have to meet eligibility requirements, and they are not included in the minimum or maximum number of applicants in your team.

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.

Read about the different applicant roles at Wellcome . If you’ve spent time away from research You can apply for this award if you have spent time away from research (for example, for a career break, parental leave or long-term sick leave). We will take this into consideration during the review of your application.

If you have retired, you must contact us before applying. You must have a guarantee of space from your administering organisation for the duration of the award. Lead and coapplicants can be part-time.

Their part-time work should be compatible with delivering the project successfully.

You should not apply for this call if: you intend to carry out activities which involve the transfer of funds into mainland China you cannot demonstrate that you can dedicate enough time and resources to the project, if funded you are already an applicant on two applications for this funding call: you can only be a lead applicant on one application and a coapplicant on another one you can be a coapplicant on two applications You must demonstrate that you have sufficient capacity for both projects if funded.

The applications should be for different projects with no overlap of activities. you already have applied for, or hold, the maximum number of Wellcome awards you are a member of the ESIC Steering Group Find out how many Wellcome awards you can apply for, or hold, at one time. Check what kinds of research project aren’t right for this award.

Is your organisation right for this call? The administering organisation is where the lead applicant is based. It is responsible for submitting your final application to Wellcome and managing the finances of the grant if it is awarded.

Where your administering organisation is based The administering organisation must be based in a low- and middle income country and not in mainland China. The administering organisation can be a: higher education institution not-for-profit or non-governmental research organisation Commercial organisations are not eligible to apply as administering organisations for this call.

However, coapplicants and collaborators can be based at commercial organisations. Multilateral organisations may be eligible to apply to this funding call. Please contact us if you are looking to apply from a multilateral organisation.

If your organisation is confirmed as eligible, proposals must meet all funding call requirements, including submission of an application form. Organisations must guarantee that the space and resources applicants need have been agreed and will be made available to them from the start date through to the end date of the award.

If the application involves a collaboration or partnership between multiple organisations, the partners must enter into a suitable collaboration agreement, including provisions that cover: access to background intellectual property ownership of foreground intellectual property arrangements for the protection, management and exploitation of foreground intellectual property The lead applicant’s administering organisation is required under our grant conditions to own all the foreground intellectual property arising from the project and to take the lead in any commercialisation activity.

For guidance, read Wellcome's intellectual property policy . Your research environment Wellcome believes that a diversity of people and expertise leads to richer understanding and more impactful discoveries. Excellent research happens in environments where people from all backgrounds are treated with respect, are supported and enabled to thrive.

Our definition of a research environment is not limited to the quality of the infrastructure but also considers the culture and behaviours that create excellent research practice. This includes research that is inclusive in design and practice, ethical and engaged with relevant community stakeholders, as well as open and transparent. Read guidance on how to talk about research environment in your application .

Is your research right for this call? What your research proposal must include This call will fund the development of global evidence infrastructure hubs. These hubs will establish foundational living evidence synthesis capabilities in key sectors that can support health research and health policy.

We are looking to specifically address health research and policy that is related to challenges in either Climate and Health , Infectious Disease , Mental Health or Discovery Research . Teams are expected to focus on at least one but may also respond to multiple of these areas. No preference is given to applicants based on which area(s) they address or whether they address more than one.

Your research proposal must include: 1. Creating a new global evidence infrastructure hub OR building on an existing global evidence infrastructure hub. 2.

A focus on one of the following five sectors that can be leveraged to advance health research, as well as to advance sector-specific research: peace and effective institutions These policy sectors are aligned to one or more of the pillars of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which provide the organising framework used by ESIC’s partner, the Global SDG Synthesis Coalition . 3.

A clear connection to at least one of Wellcome’s strategic priorities of Climate and Health, Mental Health, Infectious Disease or Discovery Research. 4.

A clear demonstration of how the evidence synthesis infrastructure will be applied to at least one health challenge, for example: the health co-benefits of climate-linked transitions to sustainable food systems reduction of emerging infectious disease outbreaks during humanitarian crises strengthening interventions for depression, as well as on trust and social inclusion 5.

How the research will connect to the development and maintenance of sector-specific living evidence synthesis infrastructure, which includes: policy-scale AI-enabled Living Evidence Syntheses (LES), for example, living systematic reviews dynamic user-focused question banks tracking of ‘windows of opportunity’ data repository that can contribute to and leverage ESIC’s open data system for evidence synthesis protocol registry, and movement towards full coverage of policy-scale high-priority questions and advice for next-generation research 6.

The contributions your research will make to developing cross-sectoral standards for policy-scale AI-enabled LES, developing any required sector-specific variants, and addressing local, regional or global crises. 7.

A diverse set of interest holders contributing to co-production, testing and piloting of evidence synthesis infrastructure, including but not limited to: evidence producers and methodologists evidence intermediaries and support units evidence users, including the UN and other multilateral bodies, government policymakers and science advisors citizen-serving and citizen-led NGOs 8.

A plan with steps to actively employ the ESIC collective impact approach, including: leveraging existing and upcoming parts of the ESIC infrastructure including the regional hubs, open data system, living inventory of AI-enabled digital evidence synthesis tools contributing to the ESIC monitoring, evaluation and learning process participating in methods and process innovation and sharing supporting capacity sharing among synthesis producers and evidence intermediaries 9.

How you plan to adhere to and promote open science principles, including open source technology and open data standards (for example, FAIR) access standards for equitable data sharing and reusing, including metadata standards to facilitate data identification and discoverability. 10. How you plan to develop and apply AI to evidence infrastructure in line with the RAISE guidance on responsible AI use in evidence synthesis.

What your research proposal must not include Your research proposal must not include the development of: evidence synthesis infrastructure that is not relevant or applicable to health and/or Wellcome’s strategic priorities (Climate and Health, Infectious Disease, Mental Health) multiple infrastructure hubs an evidence synthesis infrastructure hub in a sector already addressed by previous ESIC investments (for example, climate solutions ( DESTINY and SOLACE-AI ), education , crime and justice, environment and sustainable development ) How applications are assessed All applications will be evaluated using the same weighted assessment criteria.

Essential criteria and weightings Research team (25% weighting) the team composition includes an appropriate combination of individual and organisations with the capacity, skills and experience to deliver the project and its intended outcomes roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and each coapplicant has a distinct responsibility necessary to the proposed research the team demonstrates evidence of successful partnerships across the entire evidence lifecycle, including evidence production, technology development and implementation, and evidence use in decision-making, for instance policy the leadership and management approach is clear, inclusive and well-balanced, including well articulated governance structures that avoid overly top-down models and foster equitable collaboration, shared decision-making and capacity sharing there is evidence of strong institutional support and alignment with long-term ESIC priorities and vision Commitment to Equity (25% weighting) the proposed research meaningfully engages and works with Global South evidence leaders and demonstrates clear strategies to address capacity gaps there is evidence of stakeholders and impacted communities contributing to the research design and decision-making, and their involvement is clearly shown throughout the lifespan of the proposed activities the project responds to the needs, interests and capacities of the stakeholders and impacted communities partnerships are mutually beneficial and have equitable resource allocation there is strong evidence of commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and specifically to principles outlined in the ESIC Equity framework, including representation of diverse voices and perspectives through inclusive participation Research proposal (25% weighting) the research approach and methods are innovative and feasible for achieving the proposed objectives the proposed research employs best-practice methods in evidence synthesis, centering rigor, transparency and reproducibility the proposal demonstrates the importance of the work in the context of synthesising evidence to address the most urgent health impacts in the most affected geographies the anticipated outcomes contribute meaningfully to improving evidence-based health decision-making at multiple levels (for example, community, regional, national) the proposed research aligns with ESIC’s current and future investments, centres ESIC’s collective impact mission and leverages opportunities outlined in the ESIC Roadmap the proposal clearly demonstrates how the research will contribute to ESIC’s shared goals and collaborative infrastructure t he development and deployment of AI-enabled infrastructure drives innovation while ensuring equity, transparency and trustworthiness the proposal includes AI risk mitigation strategies and ethical safeguards to ensure responsible use of AI Research and policy impact (25% weighting) the proposed work fills a clearly defined evidence gap in the relevant sector research outputs are designed to meet an identified demand for evidence from stakeholders and decision makers the research will lead to actionable evidence to support policy and practice, with a clear and credible theory of change outlining the pathway from research to impact plans for engaging policy makers, practitioners, existing and future ESIC investments and other end-users and decision-makers are well-developed t he proposal demonstrates potential for significant impact on policy and practice in Wellcome’s strategic priorities (Climate and Health, Infectious Disease, Mental Health or Discovery Research) Research costs we'll cover You must contribute at least 10% of your research time to the award in order to claim a contribution to your salary.

You can ask for a contribution to your salary if you work for a: higher education institute non-governmental organisation If you work for a higher education institute, research institute, or healthcare organisation, we will only pay your salary if you hold a permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contract that states that you must get your salary from external grant funding.

Your administering organisation must confirm: that you must get salary recovery from external grant funding they will guarantee to provide salary support, including any salary not covered by Wellcome, if you cannot get it from other sources for the period of time that you will be working on the grant In all cases, the amount we pay will be proportionate to the time you contribute to the award.

For example, if you contribute 30% of your time to the award we will fund 30% of your salary. Coapplicants must contribute at least 10% of their research time to the award in order to claim a contribution to their salary.

Coapplicants employed by higher education institutes, research institutes or healthcare organisations Coapplicants with permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contracts Coapplicants with these contract types can ask for a contribution to their salary if their employment contract states that they must get their salary from external grant funding.

The amount we pay will be proportionate to the time they contribute to the award, for example if they contribute 30% of their time to the award we will fund 30% of their salary.

The coapplicant’s employing organisation must confirm: that they must get salary recovery from external grant funding they will guarantee to provide salary support, including any salary costs not covered by Wellcome, for the period of time that the person will be working on the grant Coapplicants who don’t have permanent, open ended or long-term rolling contracts Coapplicants without a permanent, open ended or long-term rolling contract can request salary depending on the amount of their time they will spend on the grant: Less than 80% of coapplicant’s time on the grant: they can request salary proportionate to the time they will spend on the grant (minimum 10% research time).

Their organisation must guarantee space and salary support if they cannot get it from other sources for the period of time they are working on the grant. Their post cannot be dependent on the application being successful. 80% or more of coapplicant’s time on the grant: they can ask for their full salary.

Their organisation does not have to guarantee salary support if salary cannot be obtained from other sources for the period of time they are working on the grant. The post can be dependent on the application being successful.

If the coapplicants are employed on the award as research assistants and they are to spend 100% of their time on the award, their post does not need to be underwritten by the administering organisation and can be dependent on the application being successful. Alternatively, coapplicants may get their salary through employment on another grant.

Coapplicants employed by charities, social enterprises, non-governmental organisations or commercial organisations Coapplicants can ask for salary if they are employed by these organisations. Coapplicants must contribute at least 10% of their research time to the award. The amount we pay will be proportionate to the time they will contribute to the award.

Their employment contract does not need to state that they must get their salary from external grant funding. Staff working on your programme We will cover the salary costs of all staff, full or part-time, who will work on your grant.

Staff members may include: research assistants or technicians employed on your grant experts with lived experience specialist service staff and technical experts, for example in environmental sustainability, data analysis, fieldwork and clinical studies project manager, if you have multiple applicants on your programme support if you or a member of staff employed on your grant is disabled or has a long-term health condition Humanities and social science researchers can ask for funds for research or teaching replacement to cover the cost of a temporary replacement lecturer.

They must retain at least a 10% commitment to teaching.

can cover up to 33% FTE of your contracted time are usually for a person at a more junior level than the postholder can be spread across the full period of the grant Researchers who already get buyout costs from another grant (funded by Wellcome or elsewhere) can ask us for this cost, but only for the period of time on the award when they won't receive buyout costs from another grant.

Researchers must provide a letter from their employing organisation, confirming that their contract includes a teaching commitment. They should include this in the grant application. PhD/Research Masters fees We do not provide studentships on this award.

But if applicants employ research staff, including technicians, on the grant they can ask for the costs to cover their PhD/Research Masters fees. Each applicant can ask for fees for up to two research staff in total on the grant, to a maximum of eight per team. Research staff should be hired to undertake specific research activities on the grant and we will cover the fees for their PhD/Research Masters studies.

Early-career applicants (up to and including holders of early-career fellowships) may not supervise a PhD student alone but can be a co-supervisor with a mid-career or established colleague. If fees are not requested at the application stage, grant funds cannot be repurposed for them during the award. Research staff should be defined as staff members and incur a lower fee than the student rate.

Where organisations do not have a staff rate, they may request fees at the home student rate. If no other rate is available, they may request the international student rate. How to cost salaries for research staff Show Staff salaries should be appropriate to skills, responsibilities and expertise.

Organisations should 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 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 organisations we fund . 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 .

materials and consumables Show We will pay for the materials and consumables you need to carry out your project, including: printing associated with fieldwork and empirical research associated charges for shipping, delivery and freight. We will provide funds if you need to outsource specialised elements of the project to organisations that are not already involved as applicants or collaborators, on a fee-for-service basis.

This work can include: undertaking large scale data analysis Where multiple Contract Research Organisations are involved in a project, use a separate line item to request costs relating to each one. 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 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 travel and subsistence Show You can ask for these costs if you are applying from a: higher education institution charity, social enterprise or non-governmental research organisation 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 low carbon travel where practical, even if it's 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 of 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 contact us for approval before submitting your application. We won't pay for the core infrastructure that your administering 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: Lead applicant – £2,000 a year Coapplicants – £2,000 each a year Research and technical staff employed 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 for any staff employed on your grant to attend a conference.

This includes childcare and any other caring responsibility they 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 would 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, any coapplicants 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, to host organisations, for sample collection and for field work. You’ll need to justify each visit and its duration. If you’re away for up to one month you can ask for subsistence costs.

These include accommodation, meals and incidentals (for example, refreshments or newspapers). If your employing organisation has a subsistence policy, use their rates. If your employing organisation doesn’t have a subsistence policy, use the HMRC rates .

If you’re away for more than one month and up to 12 months, we will pay reasonable rental costs only, including aparthotels. You should discuss appropriate rates with