Birkbeck College London5 November 2010

The Wellcome Trust

• an independent research-funding charity.

• established 1936.

• funded from private endowment.

• interests range from science to history of medicine to public engagement.

• Grant spend 2009/10: c£550m

The Wellcome Trust

Our Strategy

Strategic Plan 2010-20

• One vision

• Three focus areas

• Five challenges

Our new vision and mission

Our vision is to achieve extraordinary improvements in human and animal health

Our mission is to support the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities

Our breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health

Three focus areas…• Supporting outstanding

researcherssupporting the best researchers at all stages of their careers; creating the best research environments; influencing the policy landscape

• Accelerating the application of research

stimulating Technology Transfer, clinical research and uptake to policy & practice

• Exploring medicine in historical and cultural contexts

fostering medical humanities, education & public engagement

Five major challenges…

• Maximising the health benefits of genetics and genomics

• Understanding the brain

• Combating infectious diseases

• Investigating development, ageing & chronic disease

• Connecting environment, nutrition and health

Maximising the health benefits of genetics and genomics

• understanding how genomic variation affects disease

• unravelling the interplay of genetics, environment and lifestyle in disease

• investigating gene function

• managing data and informatics

• developing new health products, devices and technologies

• examining the ethical and social questions raised by genetics

• ensuring that appropriate governance is applied to research

Understanding the brain

• characterising neural networks

• integrating research efforts at the interface between basic and clinical neuroscience

• gaining new insights into mental health disorders

• fostering technology development and innovation

• integrating humanities, arts and social science perspectives

• promoting public dialogue and debate

Combating infectious disease

• understanding the burden of disease

• investigating pathogen emergence and transmission

• characterising mechanisms of pathogenesis and host response

• understanding the effects of co-infection and disease interactions

• developing better tools, products and devices

• exploring the social context of infectious disease control

• accelerating uptake of interventions into policy and practice

Investigating development, ageing and chronic disease

• characterising physiological processes in health and disease

• understanding chronic disease at individual and population levels

• developing skills and resources and new technologies

• supporting research to inform effective delivery of health innovations

• examining the societal context of research and healthcare provision & engaging the public on these questions

• influencing policy and practice

Connecting environment, nutrition and health

• addressing global malnutrition and obesity

• investigating the health impacts of climate change

• examining ecological public health

• understanding lifestyle choices and behaviour change

• evaluating interventions & informing policy and practice

• stimulating global dialogue and examining ethical, social and cultural contexts

How we fund

“….simply put, the best way to administer a creative research environment is to find people of great talent and reasonable ambition – whatever their specific disciplines – and leave them to their own devices” Joshua Lederberg, The Scientist, 1991

Generous, flexible and long-term support for the best people

Implementing the Strategic Plan: Funding for Biomedical Science

Investigator Awards

replacing project, programme, equipment, resources, technology development, flexible travel awards

Fellowships•Clinical, Basic & ‘Tropical’

•Training, Intermediate & Senior

Strategic Awards•Strategic Awards

•Themed Initiatives

Translation Awards

Investigator Awards

Investigator Awards

Long-term support for world-class researchers with the vision to innovate, take risks and explore the most challenging questions in their field of study.

Long term funding:

greater impact

alleviate renewal burden/distraction

Well resourced:

enable researchers to realise their vision.

Flexible spend:

follow research where it leads: innovate and take risks

People focus

Interview stage

Investigator Awards

• New Investigator Awards: To support world-class researchers who are no more than five years from appointment to their first established academic position and can demonstrate the ability to innovate and drive advances in their field of study.

• Senior Investigator Awards: To support exceptional world-class researchers in established academic position who are working at the forefront of their field and have a compelling long-term vision for their research.

Aimed at best and brightest researchers in established positions at all career stages

Applicants

•Predominantly single applicant

•Two joint applicants possible: shared vision

•Large-scale multi-applicant collaborations supported through Strategic Awards

•UK, and low or middle income countries, and Major Overseas Programmes (MOPS) eligible

Internationally competitive research programmesBroader aims - flexibilityPrincipal Applicant needs proventrack record of research and fundingSalaries for 3-4 posts, plus equipment, travel and materials, for five years. Awards typically in the region of £750k-£1.5m

What can you ask for on Investigator Awards?

• £100k - £425k per year for up to 7 years

• direct costs of research

• not own salary costs

• no proportion of FECs ie: no change to policy

Costs awarded to be finalised after the decision is made and will depend on scientific needs of proposed research

(Optional) CV

details check

Main application submission

Expert Review Group

Scientific review &

short-listing

External peer

review

Selection Panel

Interviews

Assessment Process

Assessment Criteria- The track record and standing of the candidate

- The quality and importance of the research question.-The approach to solving these questions.- The suitability of research environment

- How the proposed research addresses our Strategic Challenges.

Expert Review Groups

•Short-list Investigator Award applications for interview by the Selection Panels.

•9 ERGs based around scientific streams/disciplines.

•ERGs map to Challenges.

•In future, short-listing of Fellowship applications for the Fellowship interview Committees.

Selection Panels

•Interview candidates for New Investigator and Senior Investigator Awards shortlisted by the Expert Review Groups.

•Multi-disciplinary core membership, supplemented by ERG members and co-opted experts

•Sessions aligned with Challenges plus Tropical Medicine & Public Health

Timetable

30th July 2010: Final closing date for full project and programme grant applications.  

1st Oct 2010: Applications for Investigator Awards can be submitted. 

22nd Nov 2010: Closing date for the first round of Investigator Award applications.

March 2011: Final Funding Round for project and programme grant applications.

May 2011: First Investigator Awards made.

Fellowships

Investigator awards and Fellowships

Senior Investigator awards

New Investigator awards

Personal Support Schemes – Biomedical Scientists

Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowships

For the best newly qualified post-doctoral basic science researchers with no more than 1 year of postdoctoral research.Annual competition.

Research Career Development Fellowships

Successful postdoctoral scientists with 3-6 years post-doctoral research experience.Considered twice a year.

Senior Research Fellowships

For outstanding individuals of exceptional ability (with 5-10 years post-doc experience) to continue their independent programmes of research.Annual competition.

Research Training Fellowships

• For medical, dental and veterinary graduates with little or no research experience, to pursue training in a high quality research lab towards a PhD or MD. • Considered three times a year.

Intermediate Clinical Fellowships

• For clinicians who have had an outstanding start to their research career to continue research at postdoctoral level and maintain a clinical career. • Considered twice a year.

Senior Research Fellowships

• For outstanding clinical investigators to further develop their research potential and to establish themselves as leading investigators in clinical academic medicine.• Annual competition..

Personal Support Schemes – Clinical Scientists

•Basic & Clinical PhD Studentship Programmes.

• Research Career Re-entry Fellowships.

• Separate Career Pathway Schemes exist for researchers in Veterinary Medicine & Tropical Medicine.

Other Personal Support schemes

Strategic Awards

• ambitious initiatives across the breadth of the Wellcome Trust's interests

• highly flexible and responsive to emerging opportunities

• partnership with host institution

• recent examples:

• testing a new TB vaccine candidate

• London Pain Consortium

• Structural Genomics Consortium

• Public Health Foundation of India

• Biomedical Engineering

Strategic awards

Strategic Awards

Awards are normally for five years and can provide funds for: • equipment • support staff • consumables • training programmes • networking • biological, clinical or epidemiological research resources.

Preliminary applications for Strategic Awards may be submitted at any time and are assessed on a rolling basis.

Contact the Trust to discuss.

For more information visit our website:www.wellcome.ac.uk