Wellcome Discovery Awards for Bold Biomedical and Health AI Research

Wellcome Discovery Awards for Bold Biomedical and Health AI Research is sponsored by Wellcome. Wellcome Discovery Awards provide long-term flexible funding for established researchers and teams pursuing bold, creative research that can deliver significant shifts in understanding of human life, health, and well-being.

Lead applicant career stage:Administering organisation location:Frequency: Twice a year - Upcoming deadline in September 2026 You should ask for the resources you need for your research programme – see the 'Research costs we'll cover' section on this page. You will need to justify this in your application. The average size of a Discovery Award is £3.

5 million. Applications above £5 million will be subject to additional scrutiny. Awards can be up to 8 years, but may be less for some disciplines, and may be longer if held on a part-time basis.

The average duration of a Discovery Award is 7 years, although we have supported awards from 3 to 8 years. ## Deadline for new applications Application deadline: 22 September 2026, 15:00 BST. We do not accept late applications.

You can apply for a Wellcome Discovery Award if you are a researcher who wants to pursue bold and creative research ideas. You must aim to make a major contribution to your research field by: * generating significant shifts in understanding * developing methodologies, conceptual frameworks, tools or techniques that could benefit health-related research.

An award can be held by an established researcher or a team of researchers led by an established researcher. ### If you are applying as a team of researchers Team size will depend on the proposed research. It will usually range from two to eight applicants, including the lead applicant.

The primary location for the research, including the leadership of the programme, must be within the UK, Republic of Ireland and/or a low- and middle-income country. ### If you are applying as an individual You cannot involve coapplicants in your application and award, but you can still work with collaborators.

Whether applying as an individual established researcher who will employ staff through your grant, or as a team of researchers, we encourage lead applicants to put together diverse teams. You will be expected to actively promote a diverse, inclusive and supportive research environment within your team and across your organisation.

Whether you are applying as the sole applicant or the lead applicant for a team, you must have: * international standing as a research leader in your field * experience of leading innovative and creative research * a track record of managing and training others. If you are the lead applicant for a team, you must also be able to demonstrate you can drive and lead a substantial collaborative research programme.

#### What type of contract you must hold At the point of application, you should have a permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contract, or the guarantee of one. The contract should not be conditional on receiving this award. Your salary must be paid by your administering organisation for the duration of the award.

If you have less than three years remaining on your contract at the point of application, you must have secured your next position at an eligible organisation and provide a letter of support from them.

#### If you are based in a low- or middle-income country If you are based in a low- or middle-income country, you can ask for a contribution to your salary if you hold a permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contract and have to get your salary from external grant funding. #### Time spent away from research You can apply if you've been 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. If you are retired, you are eligible to apply if, for the duration of any award: * the administering organisation guarantees you the space and resources required, and * you will hold an appointment with the administering organisation, such as an emeritus contract. This can’t be conditional upon receiving an award.

You are not eligible to request salary support. Coapplicants can be at any career stage and based anywhere in the world apart from mainland China. Each coapplicant must make a significant and essential contribution to the proposed research, for example leading a strand of the research or managing the programme.

We expect all applicants to be involved in designing the research and preparing the application. The added value of the team approach must be clear. Coapplicants can be based in the same or in different organisations, and come from any discipline.

The organisation can be a not-for-profit: * higher education institution * healthcare organisation * charity or social enterprise. It can also be a commercial organisation.

Coapplicants can request their salary if: * they have a permanent, open ended or long-term rolling contract and have to get their salary from external grant funding, or they are employed by a charity, social enterprise or commercial organisation * they will contribute at least 10% of their research time to the award The amount they request must be proportionate to the time they will spend on the grant.

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% 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% of coapplicant's time on the grant: they can request 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 postgraduate 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 or from their employer.

#### Time spent away from research Coapplicants can apply if they've been 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. If a coapplicant has retired, please contact us before applying.

Collaborators are distinct from coapplicants. 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.

### Other Wellcome applications You may only have one application under consideration as a lead applicant at any one time for the following funding schemes: * Career Development Award * the research proposals are distinct, and * you meet the eligibility criteria and time commitment requirements for each scheme You may also be named as a coapplicant on Discovery Award applications, if you meet the scheme’s eligibility requirements and time commitment requirements.

### Other Wellcome awards You may hold one Discovery Award as a sole investigator at any one time. There is no set limit to the number of team Discovery Awards you can hold, either as a lead applicant or coapplicant. These criteria apply to new applications submitted on or after 1 July 2026.

Resubmissions of applications submitted before this date will continue to follow the previous resubmission rules. A resubmission is an application that has previously been reviewed by our shortlisting Advisory Groups. These do not include applications withdrawn by Wellcome before shortlisting.

The same project may be submitted for consideration a maximum of two times across all Wellcome schemes and themed funding calls. Resubmissions should include significant changes, demonstrating clear development of the original proposal. If you have submitted an application with a project that has already been reviewed twice, any subsequent application must be with a new project.

Please consider carefully before resubmitting an application. It must reflect clear progress and not respond solely to reviewer comments. If you are unsuccessful with an application to this scheme, you may only resubmit an application 12 months or more after the date of your notification of decision, unless invited by Wellcome.

The 12 month interval applies to applications where you are the lead applicant. You do not need to contact us before resubmitting. You may apply as a co-applicant on a team Discovery Award or as a lead applicant or co-applicant to a themed funding call during that period, but the project must still comply with the two submission limit.

You are not eligible to apply as a lead applicant on a Discovery Award if you are the lead applicant on two other Discovery Award applications and you are waiting for a decision. 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 * be in a single discipline or multidisciplinary. * fall outside of what we support in Discovery Research. Check what we don't fund.

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.

The administering organisation owns any Wellcome-funded intellectual property generated as result of any award, even when the research was undertaken by a team of researchers.

### Where your administering organisation is based Theadministering organisationmust be in one of the following: * alow- or middle-income country(apart from India and mainland China) The organisation must be a not-for-profit and can be a: * higher education institution * healthcare organisation * charity or social enterprise ## 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 (applicants and any coapplicants) (25%) * your research outputs and contributions to the research community * your previous contributions to, and plans for, developing team members and other researchers * your leadership and management skills, and how you plan to develop these during the award * how the programme will be managed and led * if applying as a team of researchers, your rationale for a team approach, team composition (including your approach to diversity, inclusion and career stage) and the contribution of each team member.

### Your research environment (25%) * how you will contribute to the strategic aims of your organisation * how your research environment(s) will help you develop your research capabilities, and leadership and management skills * your experience of, and plans for, contributing to a positive and inclusive research culture. ## Research costs we'll cover A Wellcome Discovery Award provides funding for research expenses.

The award usually lasts for 8 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 appropriate for your proposed research.

You will need to justify these costs in your grant application. If you are based in the UK or Republic of Ireland, you cannot ask for your salary. If you are based in a low- or middle-income country, you can ask for a contribution to your salary if you hold a permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contract and have to get your salary from external grant funding.

If you want to claim your salary on this award, you must contribute at least 10% of your research time. 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.

If you are requesting contribution to your salary, your administering organisation must: * confirm that you have to get your salary from external grant funding to participate in the research * guarantee to provide salary support, including any salary costs not covered by Wellcome,if they cannot get it from other sources for the period of time they are working on the grant.

If any coapplicant employed on your grant holds a permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contract and has to get their salary from external grant funding, you can ask us for a contribution to their salary in your application. Any coapplicant requesting salary on this award must contribute at least 10% of their research time.

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 organisation must: * confirm that the coapplicant has to get their salary from external grant funding to participate in the research * 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 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.

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% of coapplicant's time on the grant: they can request 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 postgraduate 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. Coapplicants can also ask for salary where they are employed by a charity, social enterprise or commercial organisation.

The amount they request must be proportionate to the time they will spend on the grant. Their employment contract does not need to state that they must get their salary from external grant funding. Alternatively, coapplicants may get their salary through employment on another grant.

#### 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 * specialist service staff and technical experts, for example environmental sustainability, data analysis, fieldwork and clinical studies * project manager, if your project is complex and requires this additional support * support if you or a member of staff employed on your grant is disabled or has a long-term health condition – see 'Disability-related adjustment support'.

If you’re a humanities and social sciences researcher, you can ask for funds for teaching replacement to cover the cost of a temporary replacement lecturer. You 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.

If you already get buyout costs from another grant (funded by Wellcome or elsewhere), you can ask us for this cost, but only for the period of time on your Discovery Award when you won't receive buyout costs from another grant. You must provide a letter from your employing organisation, confirming that your contract includes a teaching commitment. You should include this in your 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. If fees are not requested at the application stage, grant funds cannot be repurposed for them during the award. 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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

You can ask for these costs if you are applying from a: * higher education institution * healthcare organisation * charity, social enterprise or non-governmental research organisation #### 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 * diversity and inclusion * promotion of a healthy research culture * understanding and reducing the environmental impact of research We expect the employing 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 lead applicants, coapplicants and each member of staff employed on your grant who will be: * in a post of 12 months duration or more only and * working on Wellcome funded awards for at least 50% full time equivalent You will need to justify these costs in your application.

#### Research skills training 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 lead applicants, coapplicants and each member of staff employed on your grant, who will be: * in a post of 12 months duration or more only and * working on Wellcome funded awards for at least 50% full time equivalent You will need to justify these costs in your application.

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.

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: * synthesising compounds or reagents * building medical devices * preclinical studies, such as toxicology or pharmacology studies * 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.

#### 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 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 #### Equipment maintenance 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 administering organisation is a: * higher education institution, healthcare organisation or research institute outside the UK * UK research organisation that does not receive core funding for overheads * charity, social enterprise or non-governmental research organisation UK universities and commercial organisations cannot ask for overheads.

* estates, for example building and premises * non-project dedicated administrative and support staff * administration, for example finance, library, and room hire The total cost for overheads should not be more than 20% of the costs requested in your application. These costs must directly support the activity funded by the grant.

Applicants can also ask for overheads on any part of the 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.

If you plan to pass Wellcome funds on as grants to other people or organisations, those funds cannot be used to claim overheads. Instead, the maximum overheads allowance will be calculated against the direct costs requested to facilitate the administration of the grants, for example project specific administrative staff, communications staff, travel costs, convening costs, and evaluation costs.

This does not mean that overheads cannot be provided on grants using redistributed funds. This should be done based on your own internal policies and using the funds assigned for redistribution. #### How to apply for these costs In your grant application, you must include 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