International Funding Opportunities /

Wellcome Career Development Awards (April 2025 round)

The Wellcome Career Development Awards provide funding for mid-career researchers from any discipline who have the potential to become international research leaders. These awards support the development of research capabilities, innovative research programs, and significant advances in our understanding of human life, health and well-being.

Deadline:

03 April 2025, 17:00 BST

Benefit:

A salary for the grantholder (if required) and research expenses

  • Note: The annual expenditure for a Career Development Award is usually below £250,000 excluding the applicant’s salary.  Applications above this value will be subject to additional scrutiny.

Duration:

Usually 8 years, but may be less for some disciplines and may only be longer if held on a part-time basis.

Research Areas:

Any discipline

Eligibility:

You can apply to this scheme if you meet the following criteria.

  • You are a mid-career researcher and you are ready to lead a substantial and innovative research programme.
  • You will already be driving your own research.
  • You must have:
    • completed one or two substantial periods of research after your initial research training
    • made important contributions to your area of research
  • The administering organisation, the organisation responsible for submitting your final application to Wellcome and managing the finances of the grant if it is awarded, must be in one of the following:
  • It can be a:
    • higher education institution
    • research institute
    • non-academic healthcare organisation
    • not-for-profit organisation.
  • At the point of application, you may also have been appointed to:
    • your first permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contract, or to a tenure track contract. If this applies to you, you cannot ask for your own salary with this award unless you are based in a low- or middle-income country and have to get your salary from external grant funding.
    • a fixed term position with four years or less remaining on your contract at the point of application. If this applies to you, you can ask for your own salary with this award.
    • a fixed term position with more than four years left on your contract at the point of application. If this applies to you, you cannot ask for your salary with this award and your host organisation must underwrite your salary costs for the duration of the award.
  • For permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contracts, you must have been appointed within the last three years unless, during this time, you:
    • spent time away from research due to personal circumstances (for example, for a career break, parental leave, long-term sick leave or a chronic illness)
    • worked part-time and research was not part of the role, for example, if you have been employed as a healthcare professional
    • have worked part-time and your cumulative research time is less than three years
    • changed research discipline, for example, moving from astrophysics to computational neuroscience, or environmental chemistry to social anthropology. There may be some crossover, such as in research sites or techniques, but the shift should still be a significant change.
    • were based in a low- or middle-income country where it is normal to be appointed to a permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contract early in your research career.

Other people involved in the application and award:

Sponsor

  • Your sponsor must be an individual at your administering organisation. Your sponsor must hold an established post (or an honorary academic appointment) at the administering organisation for the duration of the award.

Mentor

  • 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:
    • manage your application
    • develop your research careerprogress with your personal development
    • manage the processes and regulations at your host organisation (although they do not need to be based at your organisation).
  • Your sponsor can also be your mentor.

Collaborator

  • You can involve collaborators in your application and award. Collaborators support the delivery of the project but don’t lead on a specific component of the research.

For more information about who can apply, please refer to this link: https://wellcome.org/grant-funding/schemes/career-development-awards#who-can-apply-34de

How to Apply?

Apply for this scheme on the Wellcome Funding platform (please click).

For more information:

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