Doctoral Programmes for Healthcare Professionals

The aim of this call is to support doctoral programmes that will train the next generation of healthcare professional academics in world-leading research environments across the UK and Republic of Ireland, and retain these talented researchers in the dual career pipeline. We welcome applications from teams who propose to host and administer such a programme at their institution(s) over multiple intakes of fellows. 

This call will not directly fund individual fellows – please do not apply with your own doctoral project.

You can apply to this call to renew an existing programme or to secure funding for a new programme. 

Applications must be from a team of established researchers. The lead applicant will be the lead Director of the programme and there can be up to seven coapplicants who will be co-directors of the programme. Together, they will form the programme leadership team. Coapplicants may be based at the same organisation as the lead applicant, or at a different eligible organisation as part of a consortium application (where the programme is hosted across multiple organisations). 

We encourage applications from teams that are diverse and interdisciplinary, covering multiple areas of expertise and professional backgrounds. 

All applicants must be from eligible organisations that can sign up to our grant conditions. We expect all applying organisations to be supportive of the proposed programmes.

Your experience

Read about the different applicant roles at Wellcome.

You should not apply for this call if:  

• You are looking for funding to do your own PhD/DPhil.
• You intend to carry out activities which involve the transfer of funds into mainland China
• You cannot demonstrate that your team can dedicate enough time and resources to the programme, if funded

• You are already an applicant on two applications for this funding call:

  • you can only be a lead applicant on one application and a coapplicant on another one, OR
  • you can be a coapplicant on two applications

  You must demonstrate that you have sufficient capacity for both programmes if funded. The applications should be for different programmes with no overlap of activities.

The administering organisation is where the lead applicant is based. It is responsible for submitting your final application to Wellcome and managing the finances of the grant if it is awarded.

Where your administering organisation is based

The administering organisation must: 

• be based in the United Kingdom
• be able to sign up to Wellcome’s grant conditions

An organisation can only be the administering organisation for one single-institution programme, entirely hosted at this organisation. The organisation may administer one additional programme as the lead of a consortium involving multiple organisations. There is no limit on the number of programmes on which an organisation may be a coapplicant.  

The organisation can be a: 

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

Where the administering organisation is not degree awarding, it must be part of a consortium application with degree awarding organisation(s).

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

What's expected of lead applicant and coapplicant organisations

We expect all applying organisations (lead and coapplicants) to provide a letter of support as part of the application. In this letter, they must: 

• guarantee that the space and resources applicants need have been agreed and will be made available to them from the start date through to the end date of the award
• demonstrate, if they are a part of multiple applications, that there is sufficient capacity to support and/or administer each programme if funded
• outline how they will recognise the contributions of the programme leadership team and participating supervisors

Your research environment

Wellcome believes excellent research happens in environments where people from all backgrounds are treated with respect, are supported and enabled to thrive. A diversity of people and expertise leads to richer understanding and more impactful discoveries. To ensure this is prioritised, Wellcome is committed to assessing Research Environment throughout its application process. 

Our definition of a supportive research environment is not limited to the quality of the infrastructure and resources. We take a holistic view that includes the culture and behaviours that create excellent research practice.

We believe that a doctoral programme should be an example of an excellent research environment. Therefore, considerations regarding research environment should be integral to your application. You will have the opportunity to highlight aspects of research environment and culture in your application, where you describe the team’s research vision, academic leadership and programme management. We believe that integrating these criteria into each of the assessment conditions will help embed them throughout successful programmes. You can access guidance on how to discuss research environment in your application.

This requirement is part of our ongoing commitment to promoting positive research environments. It’s particularly important in this case, as a training programme has a unique ability to lead by example.

What your doctoral programme proposal must include

Your doctoral programme must:

• fit within what we support in Discovery Research
• have a clear plan for recruitment of diverse applicants, and monitoring and evaluation plans for the recruitment strategy
• have a specific plan for supporting fellows at pre- and/or post-doctoral transition through career progression activities.
• be open to all healthcare professionals registered in the UK or Republic of Ireland such as doctors, vets, dentists, clinical psychologists, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, unless specifically designed around the needs of a particular professional or specialty group

What your doctoral programme proposal can include

Your doctoral programme can:

• be specifically designed around the needs of a particular professional or specialty group, for example, nurses or physiotherapists, or primary care
• support research in any discipline – including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), experimental medicine, humanities and social science, clinical/allied health sciences and population health
• while remaining within the bounds of what we fund in Discovery Research, either:
  • have a disciplinary or subject focus, OR
  • involve multiple disciplines brought together around a cross-cutting theme
• include collaborations with industry
• include collaborations with eligible organisations based anywhere in the world
• be hosted across multiple organisations, or be hosted at a single institution

What your doctoral programme proposal must not include

Your doctoral programme must not include:

• Training for non-healthcare professionals.
• Training for healthcare professionals who aren't registered in the UK or Republic of Ireland.
• Research that falls outside of what we support in Discovery Research. Check what we don't fund.

The programme should not be substantially overlapping with any other doctoral provision at the point of award (anticipated October 2026).

Essential criteria and weightings

We will review your training programme, the skills and experience of the team and your research environment. The assessment weightings are used at the interview stage. 

Your training programme (50%). We will be looking at the vision/identity of the proposed programme, including but not limited to the unmet need you are addressing (for example, a programme for a clinical specialty/profession, or research area, or with a disciplinary focus). We will also consider the quality of and approach to training and career development support. 

We will review: 

• the strategic case for the programme, including the choice of participating organisation(s)
• your ambition and vision
• the research training plan
• the proposed integration with clinical practice and connectivity with the NHS/healthcare systems
• your approach to fellow development and mentoring
• your plans for supporting tailored career transitions for individual fellows at the beginning and/or end of their doctorate
• the quality and resources of the physical research environment(s)
• how the programme will foster a positive research culture
• your approach to cohort building 

Your team’s skills and experience (25%). We will be looking at the suitability of the team to deliver the programme. 

We will review: 

• your research contributions
• your research training experience
• the contribution of each applicant
• the appropriateness of the supervisory pool for delivering the programme’s vision
• your plans for recognition and development of the programme leadership team 

Your programme management plans (25%). We will be looking at the wider research environment supporting the delivery of the programme’s aims. 

We will review: 

• your recruitment strategy
• your approach to EDI
• institutional support and commitments from collaborators (for example the NHS or industry)
• your plans for management and organisation of the programme
• how you will monitor the progress and wellbeing of students, the success of the programme and the quality of the supervision

We will provide funding for five intakes of three to five fellows for each Doctoral Programme. We expect successful programmes to plan their recruitment so that the first fellows start their training in autumn 2027. 

Each doctoral fellowship is for 3 years, including dedicated time for maintaining clinical skills (up to 0.2 FTE, or 0.4 FTE for craft specialties). 

We will make a single award to each programme, based on the information provided in your application. For each fellow we will provide: 

• PhD/DPhil registration fees at the home student rate
• college fees (where applicable)
• fellows’ salaries (as appropriate to clinical status) 

We will also make a fixed contribution towards: 

• research expenses
• training, including technical, discipline-specific and transferable skills
• travel for conferences, meetings and other collaborative travel
• career progression activities.
• recruitment costs
• overseas allowances for fellows who will spend a period of 12 months or more outside the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland

Costs Wellcome will not pay for 

Wellcome will not pay for: 

• programme administrative costs
• salary costs for directors/co-directors/supervisors
• overheads

How Wellcome grant payments work

Information you need to provide

As well as completing the online application form, you will need to provide additional documents, as detailed in the application instructions: 

• One document that details the case for support.
• Another document that provides additional programme information. This should include your letter(s) of support.

How long it takes to apply

You must leave enough time for:

• reading all the information on this page before applying
• you - and your coapplicants - to complete the application
• your administering organisation to review and offer feedback, and for you to complete any suggested changes  
• the authorised organisational approver at your administering organisation to have time to approve and submit your application to Wellcome by 15:00 GMT on 10 February 2026

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.

If you need further support with completing your application or need to request an extension to the deadline, please contact us.

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.

Application process

Before you apply 

• Make sure you read everything on this page and download and read the application instructions [DOCX 49KB].
• You do not need to contact us before you write and submit your application. 

Submit your application to your administering organisation for approval 

• Complete your application form on Wellcome Funding.
• Include the two PDFs outlined in the application instructions.
• Submit your completed application form to the 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. 

Administering organisation approves and submits it to Wellcome 

Your application must be submitted by 15.00 GMT on the deadline day. We do not accept late applications. 

Shortlisting

• We will check your eligibility for the call and that your proposed programme is within the call’s scope. If your application is ineligible or your proposed programme does not meet the aims of the funding call, we will withdraw your application and contact you to explain why.
• Wellcome staff will review applications against the assessment criteria.
• If your application is shortlisted, we will invite you for interview.
• We are unable to provide feedback on applications that are not shortlisted. 

Interview 

• An external committee will interview shortlisted applicants and make funding recommendations to Wellcome.
• The lead applicant will attend the interview, accompanied by up to two coapplicants.
• We’ll contact the lead applicant to ask if interview attendees have any accessibility requirements.
• 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.
• Committee membership will be comprised of a diverse range of international members and will take into account Wellcome’s diversity and inclusion priorities. 

Funding decision 

• Final funding decisions will be made by Wellcome.
• You will receive an email notification of the funding decision soon after the decision has been made in Summer 2026.
• If unsuccessful, we will write to you after this with the reasons for the decision. 

You must submit your application by 15:00 GMT on the deadline day. We don’t accept late applications.

Upcoming events 

Register to attend our webinar on 4 November 2025. A recording of this webinar will be made available on this page afterwards.

Why Wellcome is launching this scheme 

Research-active healthcare professionals occupy a unique position in health research, working at the interface of discovery research and clinical practice. Their clinical insights generate patient-centred research questions, providing a rich space for field-opening discovery research. However, recent national reports have highlighted ongoing challenges facing those healthcare professionals wishing to pursue research. In the United Kingdom, both the number and the proportion of healthcare professionals who are also research-active are in decline. 

Doctoral training is the entry point for a healthcare professional’s academic career path, so it is vital to support this step and ensure that fellows are equipped for a career in research. We expect the doctoral programmes we fund to be exemplars of best practice in holistic training and support in a positive research environment and upskill the next generation of healthcare professional academic leaders.