Wellcome is a global charitable foundation which provides funding opportunities to researchers so that everyone can benefit from science’s potential to improve health and save lives. The Wellcome Trust runs four strategic programmes: Discovery Research, Climate and Health, Infectious Disease and Mental Health.
Funding calls can be one-off, annual and or regular (3 times per year) under these strategic programmes.
Information about whether UQ researchers are eligible to be lead applicants or co-applicants on project teams is outlined under the “Who can apply” sections of each call, and changes depending on the specific call.
How to Apply
Step 1:
- Scheme Reading and portal registration (lead applicants only)
- Familiarise yourself with the requirements of the scheme listed on the Wellcome Trust website.
Step 2:
- Submit a scheme-specific Notice of Intent (NOI) available in the scheme-specific information below.
- By completing an NOI you help the Research Office resource the round appropriately and ensure that you receive any updates about the scheme, templates and other resources. NOIs will be collated centrally and distributed to Faculties and Institutes in order to provide maximum support to the UQ research community. You can decide that you are not in a position to proceed at any point after submitting an NOI.
Step 3:
- Complete your application in the Wellcome Trust’s application portal (if you are the lead applicant) and/or in collaboration with the lead applicant if you are a co-applicant. Please contact the RO early if you are a lead applicant so that you can add the correct institutional contact to your application.
- All Wellcome Trust applicants are required to provide a Letter of Support and letter from UQ finance as part of their applications. Letter templates are available from the scheme-specific information below. Please build-in time for institutional endorsement of these letters into your timeline.
- Email your full application including Funding Application Certification (FAC) signed by your Head of School or institute, draft letters, completed budget in UQ’s costing and pricing tool and application form to international@research.uq.edu.au
Step 5:
- Internal review is undertaken by UQ R&I and feedback provided.
Step 6:
- Lead applicants Institution will submit the application on their behalf. If UQ is the lead applicant, final submission will be by UQ R&I to the Wellcome Trust.
Readership and researcher support
Before applying, we recommend you:
- Familiarise yourself with the framework for Applying for Competitive Research Grants at UQ.
- Contact your faculty or institute research manager for advice on peer readership programs.
- Subscribe to the UQ R&I Mailer to stay up to date with round developments.
- Access the UQ R&I Grants Library, a helpful resource of past successful proposals.
- Read the UQ R&I Grant writing advice and strategy website for tips on preparing your application
Climate Impacts Awards – Now Open!
Climate Impacts Awards: Unlocking urgent climate action by making the health effects of climate change visible
These awards will fun projects which make the impacts of climate change on physical and mental health visible, to drive urgent climate policy action at scale. Funding is available for transdisciplinary teams to deliver short-term, high impact projects that can drive policy impact by combining evidence generation (or synthesis) with influencing and engagement strategies.
Amount: Up to £2.5 million per award
Funding duration: Up to 3 years
Number of grant available: 10-15
Key Dates
20 January 2026: Scheme Opens
23 February 2026: Scheme Webinar (Register Here)
25 March 2026: UQ NOIs close
25 March 2026: Internal close to UQR&I
8 April 2026: External close
August 2026: Decision
Notification of Intent
All researchers intending to submit an application to the Climate Impact Award are required to submit a mandatory Notice of Intent.
NOIs close on 25 March 2026.
NOIs will be collated centrally and distributed to Faculties and Institutes in order to provide maximum support to the UQ research community.
Eligibility
Eligibility to apply is global: the administering organisation may be based anywhere in the world apart from mainland China and the lead applicant may be at any career stage.
Each application must include one lead applicant and at least one co-applicant. There is no limit to the number of collaborators, but all team members must be essential to the delivery of the project.
See who can apply for more details on eligibility, salary support requirements and team structure.
All applicants are limited 2 applications in total:
- one application for this call as a Lead Applicant and one as a Co-Applicant or
- two applications as a Co-Applicant
Applicants cannot exceed the maximum number of Wellcome Awards for their career stage.
Genomics in Context Awards Open!
Genomics in Context Award: Collaborative research at the intersection of genomics, humanities, social sciences and bioethics
While research on the social, legal, and ethical aspects of genomics has advanced, broader humanities and social science perspectives—and community voices—are often missing or added too late. The Wellcome Trust’s Genomics in Context call seeks to change this by funding novel, transdisciplinary teams to integrate diverse partners early and co-develop discovery research. The aim is to move beyond ethical questions, often applied at the end of a research cycle, toward collaborative, innovative approaches from the outset.
Amount: Up to £500,000 are available for each project
Funding duration: 12-24 months.
Key Dates
- 11 November 2025: Round opens
- 2 March 2026: Internal Cose
- 16 March 2026: Application deadline
- May 2026: Shortlisting
- June 2026: Committee review
- July 2026: Decision
Notification of Intent
- All researchers intending to submit an application to the Genomics in Context Award are required to submit a UQR&I Notice of Intent
NOIs close on 2 March 2026.
- NOIs will be collated centrally and distributed to Faculties and Institutes in order to provide maximum support to the UQ research community.
Eligibility
- Eligibility to apply is global: the administering organisation may be based anywhere in the world apart from mainland China and the lead applicant may be at any career stage.
- Each application must include one lead applicant and 1-4 co-applicants. There are no requirements for the number of collaborators or consultants.
Teams are required to have at least:
- one researcher from any genomics-related area of the life sciences (as lead applicant or co-applicant)
- one researcher from the humanities, social sciences or bioethics (as lead applicant or co-applicant)
- one wider key stakeholder involved in shaping and developing the research (as co-applicant, collaborator, consultant or through other roles proposed by the team)
All applicants are limited to only one application for this call and cannot exceed the maximum number of Wellcome Awards for their career stage.
Scheme Resources
- Genomics in Context Awards | Funding Webinar | Wellcome
- Wellcome Trust Applicant Roles
- Sample Application form
- How to write a Wellcome Trust application
UQ Templates and Key documents
- Lead Applicant - Letter of Support template (DOCX, 37.9 KB)
- Co-applicant - Letter of Support template (DOCX, 58.7 KB)
- Lead Applicant - Financial Letter template
- Co-applicant - Financial Letter template
- Funding Application Certification (FAC)
- Costing and Pricing Tool
Applicant Resources:
A range of resources and workshops from the UQ library are also available to assist researchers applying for this scheme.
Wellcome Trust Discovery Awards Open!
This scheme provides funding for established researchers and teams from any discipline who want to pursue bold and creative research ideas to deliver significant shifts in understanding related to human life, health and wellbeing.
Wellcome Discovery Awards support research into the:
- fundamental processes that underpin biology, to understand more about how human life works
- complexities of human health and disease, including clinical and population-based approaches
- burden of disease and its determinants, where this brings new and transformational knowledge
- development of methodologies, conceptual frameworks, technologies, tools or techniques that could benefit health-related research
- needs, values and priorities of the people and communities affected by disease and health disparities
- social, ethical, cultural, political, economic and historical contexts of human health and disease.
Research can involve observational, experimental or theoretical approaches and can be carried out in the laboratory, office, clinic or field.
Wellcome Discovery projects can be in any discipline and can be in a single discipline or multidisciplinary in nature.
Funding Amount and Award Duration
There is no cap on funding under this scheme, however the average size of a Wellcome Discovery Award is £3.5 million. Applications above £5 million will be subject to additional scrutiny.
The average duration of a Wellcome Discovery Award is 7 years, although projects can be funded from 3 to 8 years.
Eligibility
*UQ is not an eligible administering institution, but UQ researchers can apply as co-applicants on applications lead by researchers at eligible administering institutions.
Eligible administering institutions need to located in UK, Republic of Ireland, Low- or middle-income countries (apart from India and mainland China).
UQ Notice of Intent (NOI)
All UQ researchers must complete a mandatory Notice of Intent for this scheme.
Key Dates 2026: Round 1
- 26 November 2025: 2026 Round 1 Opens
- 16 March 2026: Internal UQR&I Deadline for applications
- 31 March 2026, 15:00 BST: External close
- June 2026: Shortlisting
- 08-10 September 2026: Interviews
Key Dates 2026: Round 2
- 1 April 2026: Applications open\
- 8 September 2026: Internal UQR&I Deadline for applications
- 22 September 2026, 15:00 BST: External close
- November 2026: Shortlisting
- 9-11 March 2027: Interviews
Key Dates 2026: Round 3
- 23 September 2026: Applications open
- 9 February 2027: Internal UQR&I Deadline for applications
- 23 February 2027, 15:00 GMT: External close
- April 2027: Shortlisting
- 20-22 July 2027: Interviews
Application Requirements
In addition to the research project application form you will be required to provide the following documentation to the Wellcome Trust as part of your application to be eligible, so please advised UQR&I of your intent to apply via a compulsory NOI as soon as possible:
All applicants require:
- a letter of support from UQR&I confirming the breakdown is a true representation of the costs incurred
- a quote if you wish to purchase a piece of equipment costing £100,000 or more
- a letter from UQR&I confirming organisational support.
Key documents and resources (Wellcome Trust)
Tips for writing applications to the Wellcome Trust
Successful Wellcome Discovery projects
Contact
Please direct any enquires for this opportunity to internationalgrants@research.uq.edu.au
Contact UQ R&I
Scheme queries
internationalgrants@research.uq.edu.au
Round coordinator
Pre-Award Health Team
If you are applying through UQ but you are not a current UQ staff member, please contact the round coordinator at internationalgrants@research.uq.edu.au so that you can be added to a mailing list for updates.