How Wellcome manages application demand
Wellcome receives high volumes of applications. To manage this, we use demand management measures.
Why we use demand management measures
Demand management measures can help make sure that the effort invested by people in all stages of the funding process – applicants, administrators, peer reviewers - is proportionate to the likelihood of success and resources invested.
Limiting resubmissions
A resubmission is an application that has previously been reviewed by our shortlisting Advisory Groups. These do not include applications withdrawn by Wellcome before shortlisting.
The same project may be submitted for consideration a maximum of two times across all Wellcome schemes and themed funding calls. Resubmissions should include significant changes, demonstrating clear development of the original proposal.
If you have submitted an application with a project that has already been reviewed twice, any subsequent application must be with a new project.
Check the funding opportunity page you are applying to for specific resubmission criteria on that funding opportunity.
Please consider carefully before resubmitting an application. It must reflect clear progress and not respond solely to reviewer comments.
How we manage demand for the Discovery Research funding schemes
Current rounds will close at the deadline advertised on the scheme page. When the schemes reopen for new applications, they will be always open. This change will be in place from August for Early-Career Awards and Career Development Awards and from late September for Discovery Awards.
The Discovery Research funding schemes are:
These schemes are always open, without deadlines. Applicants can submit applications at any time. This avoids high peaks in demand at the point of advertised deadlines.
We assess submitted applications for eligibility at regular intervals and assign them to the next shortlisting meeting. If the next meeting has reached capacity your application will go to the following meeting. The shortlisting and interview committee will each meet three times each year.
We encourage applicants to apply well in advance of any planned project start date to allow for review and decision-making.
The time it takes us to give you a decision depends on which shortlisting meeting your application is reviewed at. Once we have received your application and confirmed which meeting your application will go to, we will let you know the date.
If your application is shortlisted it will go to the next scheduled interview meeting. For example, if shortlisted in February, your interview date would be in May.
How we manage demand for one-off funding calls
Open one-off funding calls will have deadlines.
If we receive a high volume of applications, we may choose to apply a cap on the number we progress through to review. We will then use random selection methods to select the applications taken forward into the assessment process. Caps will be based on the anticipated number of awards and the desired award rate.