Collaborative Awards in Science is a funding scheme introduced by the Wellcome Trust as a result of changes made to its funding framework at the end of 2014. The changes drew a clearer distinction between strategic and responsive funding, and responsive funding, which represents the majority, has been divided into five categories that run across the Trust’s Science, Innovations, Medical Humanities, Society and Ethics, and Engaging Science programmes. These categories are: people, seeds, teams, places and resources.
Collaborative Awards in Science fall into the teams category and are intended to provide flexible support to excellent groups of independent researchers with outstanding track records. Proposals should address important scientific problems that can only be achieved through a collaborative team effort. Applications which propose to carry out interdisciplinary research across the Trust’s Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Innovations funding are particularly encouraged.
Collaborative Awards are for teams of researchers and each applicant must be essential to the proposed collaborative research. They must have:
- Proven research expertise and experience in their field.
- An academic or research post (or equivalent).
- A salary for the duration of the award period.
Applicants should usually be based at eligible organisations in the UK, Ireland, or low- or middle-income countries. However, exceptions can be made for projects that need specific expertise or resources provided by team members based in other countries.
Team size will depend on proposed research, but should generally have more than two applicants, and no more than seven. Teams may be based in the same or different organisations, and must bring different expertise or disciplines to the research question. Members of a team must have proven experience in collaborative research and consist of independent research groups.
Awards do not normally exceed £4 million and the amount will depend on what a proposal can justify as necessary to fulfil its objectives. They are normally for up to five years and provide funding for the direct costs of carrying out the research.
Preliminary applications should be submitted through the Wellcome Trust Grant Tracker system by the closing date of 15 November 2017.
UEL Research, Innovation and Impact 