Roles and responsibilities of people involved in Wellcome funding applications

Lead applicant

A lead applicant is responsible for creating and submitting a grant application. They have intellectual ownership of the application and the project. When there are coapplicants, this intellectual ownership is shared. As the official ‘grantholder’ for the award, the lead applicant is formally accountable for: 

• how grant activities are completed 
• the financial management of the grant 
• complying with Wellcome's conditions of the award.

Coapplicant 

Discovery Awards and most funding calls allow coapplicants on an application. 

Where a funding opportunity allows a coapplicant on an application they must: 

• make a significant and essential contribution to the research proposal, for example designing the research, writing the application or managing the research project
• be able to contribute a minimum amount of their research time to the research project (the time a coapplicant is expected to contribute is different depending on the funding scheme they’re applying for)
• be based at an eligible organisation
• meet the call or scheme’s eligibility and suitability criteria.

Guest editor

A lead applicant can give a guest editor access to their application form so they can help review and edit it. Guest editors can't submit applications.  

Sponsor

Where a funding scheme requires the lead applicant to have a sponsor they must:  

• have an established post (or an honorary academic appointment) at the applicant’s administering organisation for the duration of the award
• give the applicant research guidance during the application process and throughout the grant 
• support the applicant's development throughout the grant (the level of support  needed depends on the applicant's career stage) 
• have a strong track record in research, training and mentorship 
• confirm the organisation’s support for the applicant. 

Mentor 

Where a funding scheme requires the lead applicant to have a mentor, they should have a track record in training and mentorship, and support and guide the applicant on how to:

• manage their application
• develop their research career
• progress with the applicant’s personal development
• manage the processes and regulations at the administering organisation (although they do not need to be based at your administering organisation).

A sponsor can also be the mentor for a lead applicant.

Collaborators 

Collaborators support the delivery of the project but don't lead on a specific component of the research. For example, collaborators can support by:

• sharing facilities
• providing access to resources
• providing expertise on working in different countries
• sharing subject-specific knowledge and guidance.

Principal investigator

A grantholder or principal investigator is what we call a ‘lead applicant’ after they’ve been awarded a grant. 

There is a maximum number of grants a researcher can apply for, or hold, at the same time. The maximum number depends on the researcher’s career stage. 

Early-career researcher

Early-career researchers should have, or be about to finish, a PhD or equivalent. 
 
An early-career researcher can apply for, or hold, a maximum of 2 grants at once. You can only be a lead applicant on one of them.  

You could be a: 

• lead applicant on 1 Wellcome grant and a coapplicant on 1 other Wellcome grant 
• coapplicant on 2 Wellcome grants.

Maximum number of grants an early-career researcher can apply for or hold

Find out more about the people who can work on a Wellcome grant and the staff costs you can claim.