Supplementary grant funding

We will provide supplementary funding for:

• the costs of paid parental leave or sick leave taken by Wellcome-funded staff
• the cost of paid jury service where it is the employer's policy to provide pay for this leave
• additional direct research costs (such as research staff and expenses) when a Wellcome grantholder takes parental leave, sick leave or paid jury service

We may provide supplementary funding to cover:

1. Increases to the grantholder's salary (where they are funded by Wellcome) resulting from:

• promotions – within an organisation and when moving to another organisation)
• regrading – for example, when a clinician completes their clinical training and receives an Honorary Consultant Contract (HCC)

Any request must include evidence to show that the standard institutional process has been followed. Contact the Funding Manager looking after your award.

2. Additional Programmed Activities (PAs) when a clinician with a Honorary Consultant Contract, formally renegotiates their employment contract from the standard 10 PAs a week to 11 PAs. We will not pay for a 12th PA.

3. Salary support for compassionate leave. 

We will pay up to five full days' salary. If your employing organisation provides more than five days, we will consider a supplement to your grant for 50% of the cost incurred by your organisation for the extra days. Your organisation must pay the remaining 50%.

4. Support to enable grantholders, and anyone working on a grant, including Wellcome-funded students, to complete their project if:

• they are disabled or have a long-term health condition, and
• the government and/or their employer doesn't cover these costs, either in full or not at all

Read about how to ask for these costs.

5. Open access publication costs if:

• the costs are in line with our open access policy, and
• your organisation does not receive Wellcome open access block grant funding

6. Visa, work permit, renewal and Immigration Health Surcharge costs for staff employed on your grant, their partners and dependants, where:

• the personal costs they are entitled to exceed the costs awarded, and
• there are insufficient grant funds to cover these costs

We will not supplement the cost of applying for indefinite leave to remain.

7. Additional overseas allowances, where the personal costs they are entitled to exceed the costs awarded.

8. Adverse currency exchange rate movements, if your grant was awarded in a currency chosen by Wellcome. Read our guidance on currency exchange rate fluctuations.

9. Unexpected circumstances such as war and natural disasters that organisational insurance does not cover.

We will consider a request for supplementary funding (and additional time if needed) under two categories:

1. For completion of original award objectives where unpredictable events have prevented the objectives of the original award being completed and there are no remaining funds left on the award. These supplements may be considered on all our funding schemes.

Examples include:

• technical failure
• access hampered, for instance due to facility shutdown or refurbishment
• patient recruitment delays

2. For unforeseen developments where a new research direction has arisen directly resulting from the original grant objectives which may enhance the original outputs, and additional funds are needed to pursue. These supplements are only available for one-off funding calls and directed activity.

Examples include:

• to expand scope and/or methodology beyond original activity that will contribute to the original outcome(s)
• to investigate further initial findings that will contribute to original outcomes
• to provide additional and specialist resources (not previously budgeted for) to maximise opportunities created and/or enhance original objectives
• to expand clinical trials, for example, to add new sites or a new arm to the original trial (this does not cover recruitment delays nor delays to clinical trials)

No additional extensions and/or revisions to the end date will be considered, including bringing the end date earlier, unless they are related to change due to parental leave, sick leave or changes to working hours.

We will consider requests of no more than 30% of the original award value. If an extension in time is also being requested, it must not be for longer than 12 months.

We will not provide a costed extension and a no-cost extension on the same grant.

How to request a costed extension (supplement for research-related reasons)

Submit your request using the online form within the last 12 months of the grant and no later than 3 months before the original end date. 

We will not normally consider requests if there is more than 12 months remaining on a grant.  You can use grant funds flexibly in line with our guidance on how to transfer funds between budget headings and submit your request within the last 12 months of the grant. 

Requests will not be considered if they are received after the original grant end date.

You will need to tell us:

• the amount of supplementary funding you need
• the proposed new end date (if requesting an extension in time)
• under which of the two categories you are requesting a supplement (see above)
• justification for the request
• how much funding remains on the grant
• that remaining funds are not being used from ring-fenced budget headings for other purposes

We don't provide supplementary funding when the actual costs of employing staff are more than the salary budget we've awarded. For example, when:

• actual pay awards for staff are more than those used to calculate the salary budget
• staff are employed on a higher salary than originally budgeted for
• there is an increase in employers' National Insurance and/or USS pension contributions

We won't provide supplementary funding for increases in stipend rates or studentship fees.

You can use any of the other funds on your grant, with the exception of ring-fenced budgets, to cover the actual costs of employing staff or if there are increases to stipend rates or studentship fees.