Wellcome Early-Career Awards
This scheme provides funding for early-career researchers from any discipline (including humanities and social science) who are ready to develop their research identity. Through innovative projects, they will deliver shifts in understanding that could improve human life, health and wellbeing. By the end of the award, they will be ready to lead their own independent research programme. Successful applicants will be funded for up to five years and will carry out an extended period of research on their own project.
Scope and funding
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 and/or develop methodologies, conceptual frameworks, tools or techniques that could benefit health-related research.
When to Apply
Wellcome have three calls per year with deadlines in:
- February
- May
- October
How to apply through the University of Bristol
You should identify a mentor at Bristol that you would like to work with. You and your mentor should inform the relevant School Research Director (SRD) and the Research Development Associate (RDA) for Arts and Social Sciences & Law that you intend to submit an application.
Your School may have an internal review process in place – please seek advice from your SRD and/or mentor.
There isn’t an internal selection process but applications do require a lot of work and you will need an RDA and your mentor to give you feedback on drafts to ensure it is as strong as possible. There is additional support around impact, public engagement and policy engagement from teams in the Division for Research Enterprise and Impact (DREI) – your RDA support can direct you to the appropriate contact(s).
You will need to contact the relevant Costing Specialist in Finance for your School to work on your Worktribe financial costing.
Application timeline:
- RDA first Draft Review to rda-sslarts@bristol.ac.uk - approx. 8 weeks before Wellcome deadline
- Final Worktribe financial costing submitted to Finance at least one week before Wellcome deadline
- Wellcome Deadline – please check the webpage for the most up to date deadlines. For info - you will need to submit several days prior to this in order to leave time for institutional approval from UoB - please confirm with your Costing Specialist.
- Shortlisting takes place approximately 2- 3 months after submission, and interview dates are advertised on the call page.
Applications to all Wellcome schemes are submitted via the Grant Management System.
Eligibility and further details
Find full eligibility guidelines and more information about the scheme on the Wellcome Trust website.
Visit the Welcome Trust website for further information.
School Research Directors
If you wish to apply to this scheme, it is recommended that you get in touch with your School Research Director as they will be able to advise you on any internal School processes and on any School support available:
- School of Economics - Monica Costa-Dias / Yanos Zylberberg
- School of Education - Shelley McKeown-Jones
- School for Policy Studies - Susan Harkness
- School of Sociology, Politics & International Studies - Katharine Charsley
- University of Bristol Business School - Andrew Sturdy
- University of Bristol Law School - Alan Bogg