Biology of fungal adaptation

This award will support studies that explore the mechanisms and triggers for fungal adaptation, particularly in environments that are associated with disease and/or impacted by climate change. Awardees will generate important breakthroughs in the field, strengthen research networks and empower future leaders in this field.

Scheme at a glance 

Lead applicant career stage:
Administering organisation location:
Frequency:
One-off
Funding amount:

Up to £3 million. 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. 

Funding duration:

Up to 5 years

Coapplicants:
Accepted

Next deadline

Calculating next key date…

Who can apply 

Your experience

You can apply for this call if you: 

  • Are an individual researcher or in a team. Team size will depend on the proposed research but should include 2-8 individuals, including the Lead Applicant. Team applications are encouraged but you are only allowed to be part of one application. 
  • Have expertise in fungal research and/or in research relating to understanding the molecular mechanisms that fuel environmental adaptation. This call aims to transform our understanding through discovery-driven research, and we encourage collaborations that include partners from relevant disciplines, even if they don’t all have a background in fungal research. 

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.

Read about the different applicant roles at Wellcome. 

If you’ve spent time away from research

Career breaks, parental leave, sick leave

You can apply for this award if you have spent time away from research (for example for a career break, parental leave or long-term sick leave). We will take this into consideration during the review of your application. 

Retirement  

If you have retired, you must have a guarantee of space from your administering organisation and you must contact us before applying. 

Working part-time

Lead and coapplicants can be employed part-time. There is no formal minimum, but part-time applicants should still be able to contribute at least 20% of their research time to the project and their part-time work should be compatible with delivering the project successfully.

Who can't apply 

You should not apply for this call if: 

Is your organisation right for this call? 

An administering organisation is an eligible organisation that formally submits the application to Wellcome and is responsible for administering funding if the proposal is awarded. This is the organisation where the lead applicant is based. 

Where your administering organisation is based 

Your administering organisation can be based in the UK, Republic of Ireland or a low- or middle- income country (excluding mainland China). For applicants based in organisations/countries subjected to international sanctions we recommend they check our guidance on eligibility information for grant applicants

Your administering organisation can be a: 

  • higher education institution 
  • research institute 
  • non-academic healthcare organisation 
  • not-for-profit or non-governmental research organisation 

Commercial organisations are not eligible to apply as administering organisations for this call. However, coapplicants and collaborators can be based at commercial organisations. 

What your administering organisation must do

Your administering organisation must: 

  • Guarantee that the space and resources you need have been agreed and will be made available to you from the start date through to the end date of your award. 
  • If based in the UK, meet the responsibilities required by the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers. If based outside the UK, at a minimum the organisation must follow the principles of the Concordat. 
  • Give you, and any staff employed on the grant, ten days a year (pro rata if part-time) to undertake training and continuing professional development (CPD) in line with the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers. This should include the responsible conduct of research, research leadership, people management, diversity and inclusion, and the promotion of a healthy research culture. 
  • Provide a system of onboarding, embedding and planning for you when you join the organisation and/or start the award. 
  • Provide you with the status and benefits of other academic staff of similar seniority. 

Your research environment 

What is a research environment? 

Wellcome believes that a diversity of people and expertise leads to richer understanding and more impactful discoveries. Excellent research happens in environments where people from all backgrounds are treated with respect, supported and enabled to thrive. We hope to develop future leaders in fungal research and would like to see clear consideration made to the career development of applicants. 

Our definition of a research environment is not restricted to the quality of the infrastructure, but also considers the culture and behaviours that create excellent research practice. This includes research that is inclusive in design and practice, ethical and engaged with relevant community stakeholders as well as open and transparent. 

Read more about research environment and culture.

Is your research right for this call? 

What your research proposal must consider

This one-off funding call aims to provide funding for research into the biology of fungal adaptation. It will support an ambitious programme of research in an underserved, undervalued but increasingly important field. Our awardees will shift our understanding of how fungi adapt to various environments. 

This call focuses specifically on studies that explore the molecular mechanisms of, and triggers for, fungal adaptation.

Proposals must: 

  • Demonstrate a link to human health and/or climate change. For example, studies involving plant pathogenic fungi could be considered relevant if you can demonstrate that the pathways investigated are applicable in wider contexts and contribute to the understanding of fungal adaptation beyond this specific setting. It is essential that this association is well-established and clearly demonstrated. 
  • Consider adaptation from the perspective of the fungal organism.

Applications will be prioritised if:

  • They consider non-model fungal species.
  • They consider how fungi are adjusting to environmental change or have disease relevance. This includes (but is not limited to) adaptation leading to the production of antimicrobials or resistance to antifungals, as well as adaptation that is triggered or encouraged by climate change and results in expansion into novel niches or increased pathogenicity. 

What your research proposal can include

  • A focus on the molecular mechanisms of adaptation of: 
    • non-model and understudied fungal species, or 
    • fungal organisms affected by climate change, or 
    • disease-relevant fungal organisms 
  • Fungal adaptation catalysed by climate change and niche expansion, for example: 
    • mechanisms that lead to heat resistance and environmental adaptation 
    • understanding historical trends and looking at potential future adaptation 
    • response to extreme weather events 
    • geographic range shifts 
  • Mechanisms and processes of fungal adaptation that lead to zoonotic shifts and human pathogenesis. 
  • Fungal adaptation in the context of tolerance and/or resistance towards antifungals (intrinsic and/or acquired). This could include metabolic pathways that can contribute to drug resistance mechanisms or inform drug development. Direct drug development itself will be out of scope and considered too translational. 
  • Understanding pressures and mechanisms that lead to fungal adaptation to the host immune response and regulation of the host immune system by fungi. 

Research that is not right for this call

Your research proposal will be considered out of scope if: 

  • You have not clearly defined and provided appropriate evidence for how your project is linked to human health or climate change.
  • The connection to fungal adaptation is indirect, for example proposals primarily focused on food safety or driven by agricultural needs. 
  • The project is purely translational. This call is not intended to support directly translational clinical research, immediate biotechnological applications, surveillance, drug development, diagnostics, clinical trials or direct interventions. 
  • It focuses primarily on culture collections. This is a one-off funding call that is not intended for long-term infrastructural support. When relevant, proposals may include some resources for sample collection and characterisation; however, this will only be considered in scope if this is directly required to answer the research question. Follow-on support to maintain collections will not be provided as part of this call. 
  • The primary purpose of the application is the development of tools and/or technologies (including digital tools). If required, an element of tool development may be accepted. However, this will need to be in service of answering the research question. 
  • It focuses on adaptation of the host. For example, epidemiological studies focused on human healthcare or studies looking at the host’s immune response to fungal infection would both be out of scope. 
  • It is solely based on model organisms (such as brewer’s yeast, fission yeast and species used in biotechnological applications). The purpose of this award is to expand our understanding of the physiology of non-model fungi relevant to climate change and disease. The inclusion of model species may be justified only as part of a wider project. In this case, you must clearly justify the reasons, for example safety or the availability of tools. The knowledge gained must also be clearly leverageable, transferable onto relevant species and in service of the wider research question.

Research costs we'll cover 

You can ask Wellcome to pay for:

How to apply 

Where to apply

You need to apply for this scheme on the Wellcome Funding Platform. You will need to log in or create an account. You can save your application and return to it at any time. Get some tips to help you write your grant application

Information you need to provide 

As well as answering the application questions, you must provide: 

  • a letter of support from each organisation (of the lead applicant and any coapplicants) 
  • a letter of support from the director of finance at the administering organisation or any indirectly funded organisation requesting overheads, confirming the breakdown is a true representation of the costs incurred.

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.

How long it takes to apply

You must leave enough time for: 

  • you and any coapplicants to complete the application 
  • your organisation to review and submit the application 

Getting support with your application

We offer disability-related support for applicants. Read the disability-related support guidance if you: 

  • are disabled or have a long-term health condition and you need help applying for funding 
  • need to defer your application 
  • need help completing your project, for example costs for assistive technology 

If you need help with anything else, please contact us.

Application process

  1. Before you apply

    Make sure you read everything on this page.

    Get some tips to help you write your grant application.

    You do not need to contact us before you write and submit your application.

    View the sample application form [PDF 254KB].

  2. Submit your application to your administering organisation for approval

    Complete your application form on Wellcome Funding.

    Submit your application to the ‘approver’ your administering organisation for approval. Make sure you leave enough time for the to review and submit your application to Wellcome before the deadline. The approver may ask you to make changes to your application.

    If this is your organisation’s first time applying for Wellcome funding

    If this is your organisation’s first time applying for Wellcome funding, they will need to contact us to request an organisation account. Email fundingsupport@wellcome.org with your organisation’s:

    • name
    • address
    • country
    • team email address for the people who will approve and submit your application (this is usually a research management team).

    We will create the organisation account and provide access to the approvers. Review our guidance for research offices.

  3. Administering organisation reviews your application and submits it to us

    Your application must be submitted by 17:00 (GMT) on the deadline day. Review our guidance for research offices on using the Wellcome Funding platform.

  4. Shortlisting

    We will check your eligibility for the call and that your application fits the call scope. If your application is not eligible or is not within the funding call scope, we will withdraw your application and contact you to explain why.

    A committee will assess eligible and in remit applications against the assessment criteria outlined below, to make shortlisting recommendations to Wellcome.

    Committee membership will be comprised of a diverse range of international experts in fungal biology and will take into account Wellcome’s diversity and inclusion priorities.

    If your application is shortlisted, we will invite the lead applicant accompanied by up to three coapplicants for a virtual interview.  
     

  5. Interviews

    The committee will interview shortlisted applicants online and make funding recommendations to Wellcome. 

    Accessibility requirements will be accommodated.

    You will be asked to give a presentation at the start of your interview. Details of the requirements for this presentation, and the date when slides need to be submitted to Wellcome, will be shared in advance. 

    We will provide further information on the structure of the interview, room layout and committee membership before the interview. 

    The focus of the interview will be on questions and answers. The committee will assess the application against the full set of assessment criteria, rather than one specific aspect of the proposal. 

    The committee will consider your application and interview responses when making funding recommendations to Wellcome.
     

  6. Funding decision

    Final funding decisions will be made by Wellcome’s Discovery Research Decision Board. 

    You will receive an email notification of the funding decision soon after the decision has been made in June 2025.

    The reasons for a decision will be provided to unsuccessful interview applicants in writing.
     

How applications are assessed 

Stage 1: Eligibility and remit review 

We will check your eligibility for the call and that your proposed research is within the call’s scope of funding. If your application is ineligible or is not within the funding scope, we will withdraw your application and contact you to explain why.

Stage 2: Shortlisting

At the shortlisting stage, the Committee will consider how your proposed work aligns with the scope of the funding call, as well as the quality and feasibility of your design.

Stage 3: Interview

If shortlisted, you will be invited to attend a virtual interview. During the interview, you may be asked to: 

  • justify costs 
  • discuss your experience or your team’s composition 
  • discuss your research environment considerations
     

Essential criteria and weightings for interviews  

  • Proposal (50%) 
  • Lead/Team (25%)
  • Research Environment (25%)

Further information on the assessment criteria will be published in due course.

Application process timeline 

You must submit your application by 17:00 (GMT) on the deadline day. We don’t accept late applications.

  1. 28 January

    Full application deadline

  2. March

    Shortlisting

  3. 6-8 May

    Interviews

  4. End of June

    Decision

Contact us