Climate Impacts Awards: Unlocking urgent climate action by making the health effects of climate change visible
The aim of this scheme is to make the impacts of climate change on physical and mental health visible to drive urgent climate policy action at scale. We will fund transdisciplinary teams to deliver short-term, high-impact projects that maximise policy outcomes by combining evidence generation, policy analysis, engaged research approaches and communication strategies.
Scheme at a glance
- Lead applicant career stage:
- Administering organisation location:
- Anywhere in the world (apart from mainland China)
- Strategic programme:
- Climate & Health
- Frequency:
- Annual
- Funding amount:
Up to £2.5 million
- Funding duration:
Up to 3 years
- Coapplicants:
- Accepted
Next deadline
About this scheme
In 2023, Wellcome launched the Climate Impacts Awards and funded 11 innovative global projects.
In 2024, we will fund projects that generate context-specific evidence using community knowledge and experiences to deliver actionable policy outcomes that can be scaled to multiple settings. We will prioritise funding for research that involves and serves the needs of communities most impacted by the health effects of climate change, and advances stories and narratives that tend to be absent in the media or underrepresented in public discourse (Perga et al, 2023). This will include generating and/or synthesising relevant data and insights (preferably across multiple sites or countries) on significant health issues arising from climate impacts.
We are looking for proposals with a clear theory of change and strong understanding of policy levers. Policy outcomes should be achievable within the award period, innovative in their design and should support meaningful and sustainable change. Proposals should describe the intended policy outcomes and how new insights and effective communication will influence these outcomes.
Teams must have prior demonstrable success in work that combines science, policy and society (Serrao-Neumann, et al 2021). We use the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) definition of transdisciplinary research. Transdiscipilary research combines knowledge from different scientific disciplines, citizens, public and private sector stakeholders to address complex societal challenges. By engaging key stakeholders from the outset and embedding different expertise in the research design, we expect that teams will use evidence and impactful narratives on the effects of climate change on health to drive urgent policy change that supports collaborative solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation.
This scheme aims to make the impacts of climate change on health visible. There are many reasons the impacts of climate change could be invisible.
These include but are not limited to:
- distance: decision makers not being based where the impacts are happening
- ideology: political polarisation results in missing voices, disinformation or lack of information
- unseen: some of the climate impacts of environmental drivers of health outcomes (for example, certain chemicals, pollutants or microscopic organisms) may not be visible and therefore may be ignored
- linkage: the links between climate change and health effects not being explicitly made or understood
- low priority: climate change's effects on health are not given much focus due to competing priorities, unconvincing analyses and communications challenges.
This scheme is motivated by recent reports that indicate that the window to take urgent climate action is closing rapidly (IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report). Despite the overwhelming evidence of the negative impacts of climate change, this evidence is not leading to the scale of action required. Few of the important health effects of climate change are being researched and assessed (Berrang-Ford, 2021). Where we do have evidence, it is not being reliably communicated to key stakeholders (Perga et al, 2023).
The health effects of climate change are not evenly distributed, and disproportionately burden vulnerable communities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs). We will prioritise funding for research that serves the expressed needs of at-risk populations with high exposures and vulnerabilities to the health effects of climate change (in this context, vulnerability may result from the intersection of factors such as geography, socio-economic status, demography, gender, race, ability, ethnicity, co-morbidities and occupation).
Research must be designed using an engaged approach that includes the voices of key stakeholders and impacted communities. Narratives of community impacts can help to bridge the gap between global climate discussions and local realities, making the urgency of climate action more palpable. We believe this will both drive greater action on climate change and support collaborative solutions toward climate change adaptation and mitigation.
The aim of this scheme is to make the impacts of climate change visible across a wide range of physical and mental health outcomes in order to drive urgent climate policy change at scale. This year’s award will support proposals that:
1. Identify an evidence gap that can be filled within a short time frame (for example, 12-18 months within the project duration) by generating and/or synthesising data and insights on the context-specific environmentally mediated health effects of climate change.
Examples from the first round of awards:
- generating evidence on the impacts of climate change on nutritional status and mental health using primary research and historical data
- improving the evidence base for impacts of extreme hot weather on mental health in vulnerable urban communities.
2. Clearly articulate the:
- demand driving the research
- pull-factors in the policy opportunity targeted
- policy implications of the proposed set of activities and how these can be achieved within the timeframe of the award
- communication strategies and how they will lead to impact.
Example from the first round of awards:
- addressing the underreported risks posed by polar tipping points on global health and the healthcare sector, effectively communicate these impacts and enable policymakers, healthcare industry leaders, and citizens in climate-vulnerable regions to develop more effective adaptation plans.
3. Demonstrate a core team with a history of working together and history of delivering projects (this does not have to be reflected across the entire team/partnership). The award will support transdisciplinary teams that work across the science-policy-society interface (Serrao-Neumann, et al 2021).
We hope to see new and innovative partnerships that must combine researchers from different scientific disciplines, policymakers, community stakeholder representatives, and/or engagement experts. In addition to strong health expertise, we are particularly interested in teams that can demonstrate strong climate expertise. Proposals must demonstrate why the chosen team and partnerships have the correct and relevant expertise to tackle the problem articulated.
4. Meaningfully engage relevant stakeholders and communities from the outset. This should be reflected in the composition of the team as well as the design of the research proposal and communication strategy. Wellcome supports the use of an engaged research approach. This approach asks researchers to include engagement in the design of their project, while being inclusive of a range of stakeholders.
For this award, relevant stakeholders and communities could include:
- local or national governments
- civil society and community-based organisations
- international or multilateral organisations
- private sector partners.
A wide range of approaches are acceptable if these achieve the objectives of the award. We expect coapplicants with a diversity of expertise to be included in the application.
Examples from the first round of awards:
- Including diverse grassroots workers’ expertise and knowledge in developing locally led adaptation responsive to climate-related health risks by:
- surveying occupational groups to capture their exposure to climate-related health risks
- conducting in-depth interviews with informal outdoor workers to understand the health impacts of climate change
- adopting a participatory vulnerability analysis (PVA) approach to de-centre data collection.
- Maintaining a dialogue with communities as new evidence becomes available, and seeing how the evidence matches their lived experience. Working with community members to co-develop appropriate communications materials including documentary films and oral histories.
While not a requirement, we are particularly interested in receiving proposals that:
- include economic analysis within the programme of work
- foster collaborations with private sector partners
- advance understanding of the limits of adaptation to climate change
- advance narratives that support climate change mitigation
- come from communities underrepresented in climate and health research such as Small Island Developing States and Indigenous populations.
Eligibility and suitability
About you
You can apply for this award if you are a team leader who wants to advance transdisciplinary research on the impacts of climate change on health.
You will be expected to:
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have prior experience of research engaging with policy/practitioners/implementation partners
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have knowledge brokering competencies such as the ability to act as a bridge between research teams and impacted communities
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actively promote a diverse, inclusive, and supportive environment within your team and across your organisation.
Your research team can include researchers from any discipline (natural, physical and social sciences as well as technology) but must be transdisciplinary (see the definition of transdisciplinary from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development here), and include expertise in public engagement and communications.
During your award we expect you to:
- identify an important policy and/or practice evidence gap where the case can be made that evidence generation or synthesis could help drive urgent action
- create a transdisciplinary team involving researchers, policy makers, communicators, and other stakeholders with a history of engagement with at-risk populations and communities
- co-develop and co-produce the necessary evidence to fill the identified gap with the involvement of impacted populations and communities
- deliver public engagement that embeds at-risk populations and communities within the research life cycle
- communicate the evidence to the target audience
- provide recommendations for potential solutions.
The award will be held by a team of researchers led by an established team leader from an eligible administering institution (see below).
Lead applicant
At the time of submission:
- Must have experience in leading transdisciplinary research-communication activities that deliver policy and/or practice actions that serve the expressed needs of populations and communities at-risk of the health impacts of climate change.
- Should have experience leading a team, have prior experience of research engaging with policy, practitioners and implementation partners, and have knowledge brokering competencies - such as the ability to act as a bridge between research teams and climate-impacted communities.
- Must be able to demonstrate that they have a permanent, open-ended, or long-term rolling contract for the duration of the award.
- Must be able to contribute at least 20% of their time to this project.
- Must be based at an eligible administering organisation that can sign up to our grant conditions.
Wellcome cannot make awards to teams with co-lead applicants.
Administering organisation and team institutions
You must be based at an eligible administering organisation that can sign up to our grant conditions (it can be based in any country apart from mainland China). The project must have a team leader or coapplicant based in all countries where the research activities are taking place.
For this scheme Wellcome will not distinguish or prioritise between lead applicants from universities or research institutions.
Eligible administering organisations for the proposal and team member institutions can be:
- academic institutions
- non-governmental
- civil society
- international and multilateral organisations
- private sector organizations
- local or national government.
Administering organisations must be able to meet Wellcome grant conditions. For-profit organisations are eligible to apply as long as they are able to sign up to our grant conditions.
One organisation can submit multiple different applications.
The team
Team members (coapplicants, staff, consultants) must include all the requisite research, public engagement and/or communication skills and capacities to carry out the proposed work including co-producing the project with key local stakeholders serving the expressed needs of the impacted populations and communities at the heart of the proposal.
For example, team members could include (but are not limited to) backgrounds in:
- climate,
- health,
- specific sectors,
- economics,
- political science,
- media.
Your team or consortia should be able to demonstrate:
- a strong track record in research on the impacts of climate change on health
- a strong track record in working with communities most affected by climate change
- a strong track record of working in collaboration with policymakers, implementers and/or decision makers involved in delivering climate solutions (including finance) in relevant sectors
- experience designing and planning research projects in collaboration with in-country implementation partners from government, NGOs and/or other relevant institutions and organisations
- experience designing and delivering communications and/or public engagement activities responsive to the expressed needs, interests and capacities of at-risk communities.
We will be looking across the team or consortia (including lead applicant and coapplicants) for the criteria identified on this page. The lead applicant must have experience in leading transdisciplinary research-communication activities that deliver policy and/or practice actions that serve the expressed needs of populations and communities at-risk of the health impacts of climate change.
Coapplicants
- Can be based anywhere in the world (apart from mainland China).
- Must be able to contribute at least 20% of their time to this project.
- Must be essential for delivery of the proposed project and provide added value to the team, for example designing the research, writing the application, providing training, knowledge brokering or managing the programme.
- Must have a guarantee of space from the administering organisation for the duration of the award.
- Must be based at an eligible organisation that can sign up to our grant conditions.
- Must include in-country policy actors and/or practitioners, civil servants, private sector, civil society actors.
- Do not need to have a permanent, open-ended, or long-term rolling contract at their organisation.
- Can be at any career stage.
- Can only be a lead applicant on one application for this scheme. Lead applicants can be included as a coapplicant on one other application, but they must be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient capacity for both projects if funded. Coapplicants can be listed on a maximum of two applications only.
Your application can have a maximum of 7 coapplicants. Applicants should ensure that each coapplicant provides added value to the team in terms of the expertise and experience outlined in the criteria.
Time spent away from research and part-time working
You can apply if you've been away from research (for example a career break, maternity leave, or long-term sick leave). We'll allow for this when we consider your application. Lead and coapplicants can be part-time. There is no formal minimum, but part-time working needs to be compatible with delivering the proposal successfully.
What’s expected of the administering organisation:
- You must be based at an eligible organisation that can sign up to our grant conditions and grant funding policies.
- We expect organisations based in the UK to meet the responsibilities required by the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers for institutions, managers and researchers. Any organisation with Wellcome funding that is based outside the UK is expected, at a minimum, to follow the principles of the Concordat.
- We also expect your administering organisation to:
- give you, and any staff employed on the grant, at least 10 days a year (pro rata if part-time) to undertake training and continuing professional development (CPD) in line with the Concordat. 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 start the award.
- provide you with the status and benefits of other staff of similar seniority.
- if your administering organisation is a core-funded research organisation, this award should not replace or lead to a reduction in existing or planned core support.
Inclusive research design
The proposed research should be equitable, diverse and inclusive in a way that is appropriate to the place in which the research is conducted and the aims of the research or other activities.
This should focus on:
- Who defines and does the research: we expect our partners to demonstrate to us that their research community has substantive input from, and engagement with, the primary end users or subjects of their research, be they patients, participants or policymakers.
- How the research is done: we expect our partners to demonstrate to us that their research agenda and the design and conduct of their research substantively engages with the needs and values of the people and communities who are participating in, or are the subject of, their research.
- Who benefits from the research: Wellcome already has a commitment to focusing on those most affected by our health challenges. Accordingly, we expect our research partners to be able to demonstrate within their research and activity plans that their outputs will be made meaningfully accessible and used by those who most need it and, if appropriate, those who participated in the research.
Who can’t apply
You cannot apply if you intend to carry out activities that involve the transfer of grant funds into mainland China.
For those holding other Wellcome awards:
- An early-career researcher can be a lead applicant on one Wellcome award and a coapplicant on one other Wellcome award, or a coapplicant on two Wellcome awards.
- A mid-career researcher can be a lead applicant on one Wellcome award and a coapplicant on two other Wellcome awards, or a coapplicant on three Wellcome awards.
- An established researcher can be:
- a lead applicant on two Wellcome awards, one as the sole applicant and one as lead applicant for a team, or both as the lead applicant for a team. They can also be a coapplicant on two other Wellcome awards; or
- a lead applicant on one Wellcome award, as the sole applicant or lead for a team, and a co-applicant on three other Wellcome awards; or
- a coapplicant on four Wellcome awards.
The awards should be for different research projects, with no overlap in work packages.
About your proposal
Wellcome's Climate & Health team will continue to modify the award each year, guided by learnings and insights from the past year and broader trends in the climate and health space. What is in/out of scope this year may not be the same in subsequent years, as well as the remit and criteria.
In scope
- Proposals where the primary focus is on the current or future direct and environmentally mediated physical or mental health outcomes attributable to climate change (Haines & Ebi 2019 for definitions), making the health effects of climate change visible.
- Proposals that include the four key elements of:
- an evidence gap that can be filled in the short time available
- a clear policy pathway
- engaged research approach with key stakeholders identified
- a communications strategy that can drive change.
Out of scope
- Proposals where the primary focus is on:
- Socially mediated health effects (such as migration and livelihoods) - we are aware that all health outcomes have a social context but are looking for research where environmentally driven aspects of climate change are the primary driver(s) of a given health outcome.
- Current or future health effects attributable to the consequences of climate change action (mitigation or adaptation). Wellcome is not looking to fund research on these unintended consequences of maladaptation through this award. We may consider funding opportunities on those topics in the future.
- Current or future health effects attributable to the drivers of climate change (for example, fossil fuel emissions).
- Proposals where the goal of the project is general advocacy for a specific issue, rather than specific policy opportunities that can be achieved in a realistic timeframe through targeted and co-produced evidence and communications activities.
- Proposals where the four key elements are not articulated.
- Proposals submitted in the first round of the scheme that were not shortlisted.
- Proposals that were shortlisted in the first round that have not undergone major revision.
How applications will be assessed
Applications will be triaged internally at Wellcome with expert methods advisors. Shortlisted applications will be submitted for review by the Funding Advisory Committee which will make funding recommendations to Wellcome’s Climate & Health team. The team will use these as a basis for final funding decisions. The total number of projects we fund through this award will depend on several factors, such as the number and quality of applications received.
Wellcome has a preference for proposals focused on policy outcomes informed by communities most impacted by climate change in both HICs and LMICs. Wellcome does not have a preference for single or multi-country studies but does have a preference for proposals that aim to demonstrate the scale of the problem and the potential for climate action at scale.
There is no preference for proposals that generate new data versus synthesise available data. Data should be managed/collected following the FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship.
The Funding Advisory Committee will assess applications based on the following criteria:
Theory of change (25%):
- Problem articulation: ability to articulate the problem and identify the evidence gap. For example, if your proposal outlines a solution/s, guided by policy analysis and insight. Clarity about the policy opportunity and implications of the proposed activities.
- Potential to have policy impact in the timeframe of the award. For example, is this work scalable or transferable?
- Evidence of demand for this research.
- Relevance of the proposed work in driving context-specific climate action.
Approach and methods (50%):
- The quality, innovation and mix of methodologies proposed. For example, is the presented theoretical and conceptual framework informed by different perspectives (such as natural sciences, social sciences, epidemiological analysis, economic analysis, political analysis and climate sciences).
- Justification for the chosen methods, including qualitative and quantitative work packages.
- Relevance and innovation of the proposed communication strategy. For example, the ability to communicate the policy opportunity, implications of the proposed activities and engagement with key stakeholders.
- The approach to engaged research:
- Clear identification and justification of key stakeholders and impacted communities' involvement (for example, local, or national governments, civil society, community-based organisations, international or multilateral organisations, private sector, local or national government).
- Evidence of stakeholders and impacted communities contributing to the research design and research questions and their involvement is clearly shown throughout the lifespan of the proposed activities. For example, if the project responds to the needs, interests and capacities of the stakeholders and impacted communities.
- The engagement methods and framework that will be used and how these are integrated and beneficial to the wider ambitions of the project.
- Monitoring and evaluation to track and assess the results of planned activities throughout the lifetime of the project.
Team, skill and experience (25%):
- Transdisciplinary teams: the team composition includes an appropriate combination of individuals and organisations with the capacity, skills and experience to deliver the project and its intended outcomes. Outline how your team will work across the science-policy-society interface and has expertise in climate and health.
- Successful partnerships: evidence of a history of working together and using a transdisciplinary approach.
- Evidence that the team has the relevant expertise to deliver the approach and methods outlined. For example, triallists, policy analysis, policy practice, engagement practices and communication strategies.
- Evidence of a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion. For example, your approach to recruiting a diverse team and how you will promote inclusion of members in the research and outputs produced.
- Clear articulation of what a positive research culture is and how teams will foster this through their future work.
The maximum word count for the programme of work description is 3,000 words.
Applicants do not need to submit ethics approval to the administering organisation by the deadline but should give some consideration to potential ethical issues that may arise through the proposed work in the application.
Please provide any relevant links including publications, websites, social media and videos. We advise you to use links strategically, and be sure to include all of the crucial information in the text of the application as the reviewers are not required to go through each link. Any links must be written out in full URL format.
What we offer
Lead applicant
You must contribute at least 20% of your research time to this award.
If you are based at a higher education institution, research institute or non-academic healthcare organisation in the UK or Republic of Ireland, you cannot ask for your salary.
You can ask for a contribution to your salary if you are based at a higher education institution, research institute or non-academic healthcare organisation:
- in another high-income country (not UK or ROI)
- or a low-and middle-income country (LMIC).
In both cases you must hold a permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contract that states that you have to get your salary from external grant funding.
Your administering organisation must confirm:
- that your employment contract states you must get salary recovery from external grant funding
- that they will underwrite the salary and post for the period of time that you will be working on the grant.
The amount we pay will be proportionate to the time you contribute to the award, for example if you contribute 30% of your time to the award we will fund 30% of your salary.
If you work at a not-for-profit, non-governmental or commercial organisation, you can request salary. Wellcome requires lead applicants to be completing research and leading a research team. Your organisation would have to be able to sign up to Wellcome's grant conditions and capable of carrying out the research.
Coapplicants
Coapplicants must contribute at least 20% of their research time to this programme.
If any coapplicant employed on your grant holds a permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contract that states that they have to get their salary from external grant funding, you can ask us for a contribution to their salary in your application.
The amount we pay will be proportionate to the time they contribute to the award, for example if they contribute 30% of their time to the award we will fund 30% of their salary.
Your administering organisation must confirm:
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that the coapplicant’s employment contract states they must get their salary from external grant funding to participate in the research
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that they will underwrite the post, including any salary costs not covered by Wellcome, for the period of time that the person will be working on the grant.
Coapplicants can also ask for salary where they:
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Are employed by a charity, social enterprise or commercial organisation. The amount they request must be proportionate to the time they will spend on the grant.
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Don’t have a permanent, open ended or long-term rolling contract and they:
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will spend 80% of their time on this grant. They can ask for their full salary. Their post does not need to be underwritten and can be contingent on the application being successful.
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will spend less than 80% of their time on the grant. They can request salary proportionate to the time they will spend on the grant. The administering organisation must guarantee space and salary support if they cannot get it from other sources for the period of time they are working on the grant. Their post cannot be contingent on the application being successful.
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are employed on the award as post graduate research assistants. If they are to spend 100% of their time on the award their post does not need to be underwritten by the administering organisation and can be contingent on the application being successful.
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Alternatively, coapplicants may get their salary through employment on another grant.
Staff working on your grant
We will cover the salary costs of all staff, full or part-time, who will work on your grant.
Staff members may include:
- research assistants or technicians employed on your grant
- specialist service staff, for example data analysis, fieldwork and clinical studies
- project manager, if you have multiple applicants on your programme
- support if you or a member of staff employed on your grant is disabled or has a long-term health condition – see 'Disability-related adjustment support'.
Teaching buyout
- If you’re a humanities and social science researcher, you can ask for funds for research or teaching replacement to cover the cost of a temporary replacement lecturer. You must retain at least a 10% commitment to teaching.
Costs:
- can cover up to 33% FTE of your contracted time
- are usually for a person at a more junior level than the postholder
- can be spread across the full period of the grant.
If you already get buyout costs from another grant (funded by Wellcome or elsewhere), you can ask us for this cost, but only for the period of time on this award when you won't receive buyout costs from another grant.
You must provide a letter from your employing organisation, confirming that your contract includes a teaching commitment. You should include this in your grant application.
PhD fees
We do not provide studentships on this award.
Staff salaries should be appropriate to skills, responsibilities and expertise. You should ask your host organisation to use their salary scales to calculate these costs, which should include:
- basic salary
- employer’s contributions, including any statutory obligations (for example, National Insurance contributions if you’re based in the UK) and pension scheme costs
- Apprentice Levy charges for UK-based salaries
- any incremental progression up the salary scale
- locally recognised allowances such as London allowance.
You should allow for salary pay awards during Year 1. If the pay award is not yet known, applicants should use the International Monetary Fund inflation rate, selecting the ‘inflation, average consumer price’ option as indicator.
From Year 2 onwards, you should use your organisation’s current pay rates. We’ll provide a separate inflation allowance for salary inflation costs.
Read about the responsibilities of grantholders and host organisations for people working on a Wellcome grant.
If you have named people on your grant whose salaries will be funded by Wellcome, you can ask for visa or work permit costs to help them take up their posts at the host organisation. You can also ask for:
- visa costs for the person's partner and dependent children
- essential associated costs, such as travel to attend appointments at a visa application centre or embassy, and essential English language tests
- Immigration Health Surcharge costs for the person, their partner and dependent children if they will be in the UK for six months or more.
If you or a member of staff working on your grant is disabled or has a long-term health condition, you can ask for adjustment support to help you carry out your project.
Costs can include, but are not limited to:
- additional costs for staff to help with day-to-day activities related to your project
- assistive technology to help use computers, research equipment or materials – for example, text to audio software
- care costs for assistance animals if you need to travel.
We will not pay for capital or building costs, such as access ramps.
You can ask for these costs if your government and/or employer:
- does not cover any of the costs
- only covers some of the costs (if they do, we will only meet the shortfall).
The costs we provide must not replace the support you may get from the government or your organisation, who are responsible for providing these costs.
If you don't know what these costs are now, you can ask for them after we've awarded your grant.
You can ask for costs to cover the following types of training.
Continuing professional development and professional skills training
You can ask for a contribution towards these costs.
Types of training can include:
- measuring and monitoring the environmental sustainablity of your research
- research leadership, professional and people management skills
- career development support
- responsible conduct of research
- diversity and inclusion
- promotion of a healthy research culture.
We expect your host organisation to provide and fund this training. However, if these types of training are not available, or the quality is inadequate, you can ask for up to £500 a year for you and each member of staff employed on your grant who will be:
- in post for 12 months or more, and
- working on the grant for at least 50% of their time.
You will need to justify these costs in your application.
Research skills training
You can ask for costs to cover training for the technical and research skills you need to deliver your proposed research.
You can ask for whatever research skills training you need for you, and each member of staff employed on your grant, who will be:
- in post for 12 months or more, and
- working on the grant for at least 50% of their time.
You will need to justify these costs in your application.
We will pay for the materials and consumables you need to carry out your project, including:
- laboratory chemicals and materials (for example reagents, isotopes, peptides, enzymes, antibodies, gases, proteins, cell/tissue/bacterial culture, plasticware and glassware)
- project-specific personal protective equipment (PPE) that is above the standard expected for the setting
- printing associated with fieldwork and empirical research
- associated charges for shipping, delivery and freight.
You can ask for funds to buy animals if they are essential to your project. We will also fund the charge-out rates for animal house facilities if your organisation uses full economic costing methodology. These costs include:
- running costs (including animal maintenance, any experimental procedures, licences and relevant staff training)
- appropriate estates costs
- cage and equipment depreciation costs, but not building depreciation costs.
We may not pay the full charge-out rate for an animal house facility if we've provided significant funding towards the infrastructure and/or core support of the facility.
If your organisation does not use full economic costing methodology to establish charge-out rates for animal house facilities, you can ask for funds to cover:
- the cost of buying animals
- running costs (including animal maintenance, any experimental procedures, licences and relevant staff training)
- staff costs, for example, contributions towards the salaries of animal house technicians.
We will not provide estates or depreciation costs.
Equipment purchase
You can ask for basic items of equipment that are essential to your research project.
Costs may include purchase, delivery, installation, maintenance and training, where necessary.
We will cover VAT and import duties if:
- the usual UK exemptions on equipment used for medical research don’t apply
- you’re applying from a non-UK organisation, and you can show these costs can’t be recovered.
You can also ask for specialised equipment if:
- it is essential to the success of the proposed research project
- it is not available at your host organisation or through collaboration, and
- you’ll be the main user and have priority access to the equipment.
If a complete piece of specialised equipment costs £100,000 or more, we expect a contribution of at least 25% of the total costs, including maintenance, from the host organisation or another source. In some cases, we may expect a larger contribution. We’ll discuss this with you after we’ve assessed your application. Contributions can include benefits in kind, such as refurbishment or the underwriting of a key support post.
Multi-component items must not be broken down into component parts to avoid this contribution.
Equipment maintenance
We will cover maintenance costs for equipment if:
- you are requesting it in your application
- it is existing equipment that is:
- funded by us or another source
- essential to the proposed research project
- more than five years old
- cost effective to keep maintaining it.
We won’t cover maintenance costs for equipment if there is a mechanism in place to recoup these costs through access charges.
Computer equipment
We will cover the cost of one personal computer or laptop per person up to £1,500.
We won't pay for:
- more expensive items, unless you can justify them
- installation or training costs.
You can ask for the cost of access to shared equipment, facilities or services if they’re essential to your project.
These may include materials and consumables, plus a proportion of:
- maintenance and service contracts
- staff time costs for dedicated technical staff employed to operate the equipment or facility.
We don’t cover the costs of:
- estates and utilities
- depreciation or insurance
- other staff, for example, contributions towards departmental technical, administrative and management staff time.
We do cover these costs if related to animal housing facilities.
If the facilities or equipment were paid for by a Wellcome grant, you can only ask for access charges if:
- the grant has ended
- any support for running costs and maintenance contracts has ended.
You can ask for overheads if your grant will be based at a:
- university outside the UK or Republic of Ireland
- research organisation that does not receive core funding for overheads
- charitable or not-for-profit organisation
- small or medium-sized commercial organisation.
You can also ask for overheads on any part of your grant that is sub-contracted to any of the organisations listed above.
If you’re based at a UK university you can’t ask for overheads for sub-contracted activity if your university will include the sub-contracted funding in its annual report to the UK Charity Research Support Fund.
Coapplicants need to provide a breakdown of finances and a letter of support from a finance director, and not just a percentage of total costs.
Overheads can include:
- estates, for example building and premises
- non-project dedicated administrative and support staff
- administration, for example finance, library, and room hire.
The total cost for overheads should not be more than:
- 20% of the direct research costs if you’re based in a low- or middle-income country
- 15% of the direct research costs if you’re based anywhere else.
These costs must directly support the activity funded by the grant.
How to apply for these costs
In your grant application you must:
- give a full breakdown of costs (you can't ask for a percentage of the research costs)
- explain why these costs are necessary for your research
- include a letter from the finance director of your host organisation, or the sub-contracted organisation, confirming that the breakdown is a true representation of the costs incurred.
Conference attendance
You can ask for a contribution towards the costs of attending scientific and academic meetings and conferences, including registration fees. The limits are:
- Grantholder – £2,000 a year
- Coapplicants – £2,000 a year
- Research and technical staff on your grant – £1,000 each a year
We provide costs to cover caring responsibilities if you or any staff employed on your grant attend a conference. This includes childcare and any other caring responsibility you have. We will pay these if:
- Wellcome is providing the salary
- the conference is directly related to the research
- the caring costs are over and above what they'd normally pay for care
- the conference organiser and their employing organisation are unable to cover the costs.
You can ask for up to £1,000 per person for each conference.
Collaborative travel
You can ask for travel and subsistence costs for collaborative visits for you and any staff employed on your grant. You’ll need to justify each visit and its duration.
Other travel
We will pay for other essential visits, for example to facilities, for sample collection and for fieldwork. You can include subsistence costs.
Carbon offset costs
This applies to all types of travel costs Wellcome provides.
You can ask for:
- The cost of low carbon travel where practical, even if it's more expensive (for example travelling by train instead of flying).
- Project-related resources or activities that provide an alternative to travel, such as video conferencing, communication and file-sharing software.
- Costs to offset the carbon emissions of the journeys you make. If carbon offsetting for travel is not part of your organisational sustainability strategy, you can ask us for a similar level of support for other sustainability initiatives. Your organisation must get our approval before submitting an application.
We won't pay for the core infrastructure that your host organisation should provide, unless you're eligible to ask for these costs under our overheads policy. Examples of these costs include:
- organisation-wide video conferencing packages
- high-speed broadband
- HD screens.
See our carbon offset policy for travel for information on what you and your organisation need to do.
Subsistence costs
If you’re away for up to one month you can ask for subsistence costs. These include accommodation, meals and incidentals (for example, refreshments or newspapers).
If your administering organisation has a subsistence policy, use their rates.
If your administering organisation doesn’t have a subsistence policy, please use the HMRC rates.
If you’re away for more than one month and up to 12 months, we will pay reasonable rental costs only, including aparthotels. You should discuss appropriate rates with your administering and host organisations, or Wellcome, as appropriate. We expect you to choose the most economical options, booked in advance where possible.
If you’re from a low- or middle- income country and will be working in a high-income country for more than one month and up to 12 months, you can also ask for up to £10 a day to cover extra costs, such as transport and incidentals.
If you’re away for more than 12 months, we will pay the costs of your housing. You should discuss your needs with your administering and host organisations.
The allowance we provide will be based on family and business need. We will set the maximum allowance we pay for each location. This will be based on current market data or, where data is unavailable, in consultation with your administering organisation, using equivalent market rates. Please contact us if you need help calculating the costs.
We will cover the direct expenses you have to pay to find and rent a home. We will not cover the cost of utilities or any refurbishment.
Overseas research
If you or any research staff employed on your grant will be doing research away from your home laboratory, we'll help with the additional costs of working on the project overseas. Please see the 'Overseas allowances' section for details.
You can ask for these costs if you are applying from a higher education institution, a research institute, a non-academic healthcare organisation, a not-for-profit or non-governmental research organisation or a small company.
If you or any staff employed on your grant will be spending time in another country, we’ll help you with the additional costs of working on the project overseas.
Our overseas allowances are:
- a contribution towards the personal cost of carrying out research overseas, to ensure that you are not disadvantaged
- provided on the assumption that you’ll be paying income tax, either in your home country, or the country you will be working in (your personal tax is your responsibility).
- provided on the understanding that you or your partner will not receive equivalent allowances from elsewhere
- determined by the amount of time you will spend away from your home country.
Carbon offset costs
We expect the people we fund to choose travel that has a lower carbon impact, where practical, even if it’s more expensive (for example, travelling by train instead of flying).
You can ask for costs to offset the carbon generated by the travel, as part of your overseas allowances. If carbon offsetting for travel is not part of your organisational sustainability strategy, you can ask us for a similar level of support for other sustainability initiatives. Your organisation must get our approval for other sustainability initiatives to be included in applications.
See our carbon offset policy for travel for information on what you and your organisation need to do.
If you will be away more than 12 months, we will provide overseas allowances for your partner and any dependants if they are travelling with you.
If you will be away for 12 months or less and can justify why your partner and dependants must travel with you, we may provide overseas allowances for them.
We define your partner as the person:
- you’re married to
- you’re not married to but with whom you’ve been in a relationship for at least a year
and
- you live with at the same permanent address and share some form of joint financial commitment with, such as a mortgage.
See a list of low- and middle-income countries, as defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
You can ask for the following allowances. You need to provide estimated costs as accurately as possible.
We will pay your travel costs at the beginning and end of your overseas work. Costs can be for air, ferry, train or coach fares.
All fares should be:
- in line with our carbon offset policy
- booked in advance where possible.
If you are away for up to 12 months, you can ask for up to 80kg of additional baggage or unaccompanied airline freight for your outward and return journeys.
If you are away for more than 12 months, you can ask for the costs of shipping your personal items at the beginning and end of your overseas work.
We will pay the full cost of transporting:
- half a standard shipping container if you’re travelling alone
- a whole standard shipping container (20ft) if you’re travelling with a partner and/or dependants.
We will pay the cost of your medical insurance and travel insurance.
If you will be working in a low- or middle-income country we will also cover the cost of emergency evacuation cover.
We won’t pay for medical insurance if you will be based in the UK or Republic of Ireland.
We will pay the costs of visas, vaccinations and anti-malaria treatment.
You can ask for this if you’ll be based in a low- or middle-income country and it is necessary.
Costs can include guards, panic buttons and alarms. You should ask your employing organisation for advice on the level of security you need.
If you’re away for up to one month you can ask for subsistence costs. These include accommodation, meals and incidentals (for example, refreshments or newspapers).
If your administering organisation has a subsistence policy, use their rates.
If your administering organisation doesn’t have a subsistence policy, please use the HMRC rates.
If you’re away for more than one month and up to 12 months, we will pay reasonable rental costs only, including aparthotels. You should discuss appropriate rates with your administering and host organisations, or Wellcome, as appropriate. We expect you to choose the most economical options, booked in advance where possible.
If you’re from a low- or middle- income country and will be working in a high-income country for more than one month and up to 12 months, you can also ask for up to £10 a day to cover extra costs, such as transport and incidentals.
If you’re away for more than 12 months, we will pay the costs of your housing. You should discuss your needs with your administering and host organisations.
The allowance we provide will be based on family and business need. We will set the maximum allowance we pay for each location. This will be based on current market data or, where data is unavailable, in consultation with your administering organisation, using equivalent market rates. If you need help calculating the costs please contact us.
We will cover the direct expenses you have to pay to find and rent a home. We will not cover the cost of utilities or any refurbishment.
If you’re away for more than 12 months we will pay:
Local nursery or school fees
You can ask for these costs if you are in a location where there isn’t free local education of the same standard as in your home country.
Costs include:
- local nursery school fees up to a maximum of 570 hours a year for 3 to 4 year olds
- local junior or secondary school fees, up to the end of secondary school education.
Local international school fees
You can ask for these costs if local schools do not provide the same standard of education as in your home country. We will only pay the published termly school fees.
We will not cover the costs of:
- extracurricular activities, including field trips
- other extras including, but not limited to, uniforms, sports kit and equipment, transport, meals, books and electronic equipment.
Boarding school fees
We will consider paying the cost of boarding school fees in your home country if:
- a local international school is not available
- both parents, guardians or the sole care giver live outside the home country.
The allowance covers:
- up to a maximum of £30,000 a year for each child for the published termly fees only
- the cost of return airfares at the start and end of each school term, in line with our carbon offset policy for travel.
We will not cover the costs of:
- additional annual leave airfares
- extracurricular activities, including field trips
- other extras including, but not limited to, uniforms, sports kit and equipment, transport, meals, books and electronic equipment.
We will cover the cost of providing special needs education as far as possible. Please contact us to discuss your needs.
We would not usually expect to provide an education allowance if you will be working in a high-income country.
If you will be away for more than 12 months, we’ll pay for you to travel back to your home country for annual leave. This is in addition to your outward and return travel costs and depends on how long you will be away:
- 12-24 months – 1 annual leave trip
- 25-36 months – 2 annual leave trips
- 37-48 months – 3 annual leave trips
- 49-60 months – 4 annual leave trips
- 61-72 months – 5 annual leave trips
- 73-84 months – 6 annual leave trips
- 85-96 months – 7 annual leave trips.
All fares should be:
- in line with our carbon offset policy
- booked in advance where possible.
If you will be away for more than 12 months, you can ask for up to 100 hours of lessons in the local language for you and/or your partner during the first 12 months of your visit.
We will cover 100% of the costs for local language school classes or up to 50% of the costs of individual tuition.
We will not cover the cost of examinations or personal learning materials such as DVDs and books.
We cover fieldwork costs if they’re essential and you can justify them. Costs can include:
- survey and data collection, including communication and data collection services and any associated costs such as essential field materials, travel costs and language translation services
- the purchase, hire and running costs of vehicles dedicated to your project
- expenses for subjects and volunteers, including the recruitment of participants, their participatory fees and travel costs
- statistical analysis.
You can ask for other fieldwork costs that aren’t listed here, but you’ll need to justify them.
How we calculate your inflation allowance
We will add an inflation allowance to your award. Your inflation allowance is based on your total eligible costs and the duration of the award.
We will use an inflation allowance that reflects the inflation rate of the country where the host organisation is based using data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). You'll receive the following allowance if the costs in your application are in pounds sterling.
| Award duration (in months) | Inflation allowance |
|---|---|
| 0-12 | 0.0% |
| 13-24 | 1.01% |
| 25-36 | 2.04% |
| 37-48 | 3.08% |
| 49-60 | 4.13% |
| 61-72 | 5.20% |
| 73-84 | 6.28% |
| 85-96 | 7.38% |
The costs in your application must be based on current known costs, excluding inflation.
You should allow for salary pay awards during Year 1. These should be based on pay awards already agreed; if you don’t know what the pay award is yet then use the IMF rate for the currency your award will be made in.
If your organisation receives open access block grant funding, you can ask them to cover your open access article processing charges.
If you're at an organisation that does not receive block grant funding, we’ll supplement your grant when your paper has been accepted for publication.
You cannot ask for these charges in your grant application. Data privacy and governance safeguards around indigenous/traditional knowledge are acceptable.
If you need to carry out clinical research using NHS patients or facilities, we will cover some of the research costs.
Annex A of the guidelines for attributing the costs of health and social care research and development (AcoRD) sets out the costs we cover, and which costs should be funded through the Department of Health and Social Care in England, or its equivalent in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. If you're based in the Republic of Ireland, we would expect you to adhere to the spirit of these principles.
Read more information on our clinical trials policy.
If your proposal involves clinical research using NHS resources, check if you need to upload a SoECAT form with your full application.
You can ask for costs that are essential to the project. These can include:
- materials, including printing and publishing
- other costs relating to engagement activities that are essential to carry out your research, such as collaborating with people with lived experience, patient involvement (including under-served groups) and community engagement
- dissemination of research results and findings arising from Wellcome funded research and workshops.
For more information, please refer to our guidance on using an engaged research approach.
We will provide funds if you need to outsource project work to:
- contract research organisations
- other fee-for-service providers.
Applicants can use day rates, provided an appropriate estimate for the number of days to be worked is included in the relevant section of the proposal.
Allowed costs
You may ask for the following costs (you will have to justify them in your application):
- specialist publications that are relevant to the research and not available in institutional libraries
- consultancy fees
- expenses for subjects and volunteers – includes recruitment of participants, their participatory fees and travel, as well as interviewee expenses
- reasonable research-associated costs related to the feedback of health-related findings but not any healthcare-associated costs
- costs associated with developing an outputs management plan
- questionnaires, recruitment material, newsletters etc for clinical, epidemiological and qualitative research studies
- recruitment, advertising and interviewee travel costs for staff to be employed on the grant
- purchase, hire and running costs of project-dedicated vehicles
- project-specific personal protective equipment (PPE) that is above the standard expected for the setting
- computing, including recurrent costs dedicated to the project (for example, software licences).
Disallowed costs
We will not pay for:
- estates costs – such as building and premises costs, basic services and utilities. This also includes phone, postage, photocopying and stationery, unless you can justify these within a clinical or epidemiological study.*
- page charges and the cost of colour prints
- research, technical and administrative staff whose time is shared across several projects and isn’t supported by an audit record*
- PhD stipends
- charge-out costs for major facilities* – departmental technical and administrative services, and use of existing equipment
- cleaning, waste and other disposal costs*
- indirect costs – this includes general administration costs such as personnel, finance, library, room hire and some departmental services
- office furniture, such as chairs, desks and filing cabinets
- clothing, such as lab coats and shoes
- non-research related activities such as catering, room and venue hire for staff parties, team-building events and social activities
- indemnity insurance (insurance cover against claims made by subjects or patients associated with a research programme)
- ethics reviews, unless you are in a low- or middle-income country
- radiation protection costs
- contingency funds
- organisation insurance
- clinical examination or course fees
- working capital costs of commercial organisations.
*We will fund these costs in the case of animal-related research.
How to apply
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.
- Watch the recording of our webinar on applying to the Climate Impacts Awards (recorded on 5 February, 2024).
- Watch the recording of our panel discussion on making the health effects of climate change visible (recorded on 12 February, 2024).
2. Submit your application to your administering organisation for approval
- Complete your application on Wellcome Funding.
- View the sample application form.
- Submit it to the 'authorised organisational approver' at your administering organisation for approval. Make sure you leave enough time for the approver to review and submit your application before the deadline. The approver may ask you to make changes to your application.
3. Administering organisation reviews your application and submits it to us
- Your application must be submitted by 17:00 BST on the deadline day.
4. Shortlisting
- Shortlisting will be carried out internally as the application assessment criteria outlines above.
5. Funding decision
- An external expert committee will make funding recommendations to us based on which we will make final funding decisions.
- You will receive an email notification of the funding decision soon after the decision has been made.
- The reasons for a decision will be provided to unsuccessful applicants in writing.
Log in to our online grants system. You can save your application and return to it any time.
Disabled applicants
If you are disabled or have a long-term health condition, we can support you with the application process.
Key dates
You must submit your application by 17:00 BST on the deadline day. We don’t accept late applications.
Open to applications
- 5 February 2024, 09:00 UTCWatch the recording
Webinar
Applying to the Climate Impacts Awards
- 12 February 2024, 12:00 UTCWatch the recording
Webinar
Making the health effects of climate change visible
- 3 April 2024
Full application deadline
- July 2024
Final funding decisions
Contact us
Questions on eligibility, what we offer and applications
If you have a question about eligibility, what we offer or about completing the application form using Wellcome Funding, send our funding information advisers a message.
Remit questions
If you have a question about your proposal, contact us at: climateimpacts@wellcome.org
We do not answer questions on the scope or competitiveness of proposals.