Deadline: June 20, 2016
Seed Awards provide responsive, flexible funding, enabling researchers to develop a novel idea to a position where they would be able to be competitive for a larger award from the Wellcome Trust, or another source.
Applications which propose to carry out interdisciplinary research across our Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Innovations funding are encouraged. Researchers at the start of their independent careers or those who wish to develop innovative ideas outside of their discipline or area of expertise are encouraged to apply.
Awards
Seed Awards are worth up to £100,000 and are normally for up to two years. They can provide funding for the direct costs of carrying out the research, including:
- materials and consumables;
- equipment;
- animals;
- research assistance;
- fieldwork and data collection;
- travel, including travel to meetings.
Awards are not intended to serve as short-term fellowships or to provide bridge funding. They cannot be used to pay your personal salary costs.
Eligibility
Candidate must:
- hold an appointment at an eligible institution in the UK, Republic of Ireland or a low- or middle-income country;
- not be based at a core-funded research institute;
- receive personal salary support from their host institution for the duration of the award, which must not come from Wellcome Trust funding (e.g. Institutional Strategic Support Fund). Alternatively, they may hold a personal award or fellowship if this provides their salary but no substantive research expenses;
- not currently hold significant funding for research (as a guide, broadly equivalent to the level of the Seed Award), or have held such funding in the 12 months before the application closing date.
Application Process
Please use WT Grant Tracker to complete your application form.
- Download a sample of the full application form.
- You are strongly advised to ensure that you meet the eligibility criteria before applying. You can the organizers at any point while you are preparing your application if you have any questions about your proposal or suitability for the scheme.
- Applications will be assessed by the Trust, aided by the Seeds Advisory Panel. You will be informed of the decision on your application within 8 to 9 weeks of the application deadline.
- Decisions will be made based on the strength of the application and will not involve an interview or written peer review. Written feedback will not be provided for unsuccessful applications.
- You may submit a second proposal at any time, but a new application must show clear differences in order to increase its chance of success. If there are two unsuccessful applications, another proposal will not generally be permitted for a further 12 months, and then should be to support a new idea.
For more information, visit Seed Awards in Science.
