This fellowship is the most senior of a series of career awards aimed at building sustainable capacity in areas of research that have the potential for increasing health benefits for people and their livestock in low- and middle-income countries.
Research should be aimed at understanding and improving public health and diseases of local, national and global relevance. Topics include:
Fellowships are for up to five years in the first instance and provide support that includes:
- a basic salary
- research expenses (e.g. consumables, equipment, collaborative travel, research assistance, technical support, fieldwork and data collection)
- training costs where appropriate and justified
- an inflation allowance and support to attend scientific meetings.
Contributions to costs of the project that are directly incurred by the overseas institution may also be provided.
The salary should normally be based on the pay scales of the employing institution and must be justified by the head of the institution. The salary level should be appropriate for the holder of a competitive grant and allow him/her to focus full-time on research.
If the fellow is already in receipt of a salary from the host institution, the host institution may use the salary to pay for a replacement member of staff while we provide the fellow's salary for the duration of the fellowship. It is not expected that the fellow will hold a salary in addition to the one provided by the Trust.
Overseas allowances will be provided for periods of training or collaborative research spent outside the home institution country, where appropriate.
Research-dedicated costs (excluding salary costs) should not exceed £100 000 per annum.
This fellowship is subject to competitive rolling scientific review every five years, and renewed awards will be funded on the basis that the Trust and the host institution will each provide 50 per cent of the Fellow's basic employment costs for the duration of any renewal period.
We will consider applications that fall within the Public Health and Tropical Medicine remit. This covers research on infectious and non-communicable diseases within the fields of public health and tropical medicine that is aimed at understanding and controlling diseases (either human or animal) of relevance to local, national or global health. This includes:
- demographic, social science and health economic studies
- epidemiological, field and community based studies
- health care systems and policy research
- measurement of infectious and chronic disease burden
- population studies
- clinical trials and case control studies
- studies of disease mechanisms in the natural host
- determinants of disease susceptibility and resistance
- immunity or resistance in natural hosts of vectors.
This can include laboratory based molecular analysis of field or clinical samples, but projects focused solely on studies in vitro or using animal models will not normally be considered under this scheme.
- graduate in a subject relevant to public health or tropical medicine (for example; biomedical or social science, veterinary medicine, physics, chemistry or mathematics) with a PhD and at least five years' postdoctoral experience, or
- medical graduate with a higher qualification equivalent to membership of the UK Royal College of Physicians (i.e. qualified to enter higher specialist training), or be recognised as a specialist within a relevant research area, and have at least five years' research experience.
Applicants who do not have a PhD but who are educated to first degree or Master's level and have substantial research experience, as evidenced by their publication record, may be considered.
You should have a substantial record of publications in your chosen area of research in leading international journals. Applications are particularly encouraged from outstanding low- and middle-income country researchers working overseas who wish to return to their home country.
Due allowance will be given to those whose career has been affected by a late start or for personal reasons (e.g. time away due to maternity, paternity, adoption leave or other caring responsibilities, or ill-health).
We do not normally accept resubmissions of fellowship applications.
You may not apply for more than one Wellcome Trust fellowship at any one time.
Sponsorship and supervision
You must be based at an eligible host institution in a low- and middle-income country, and have an appropriate sponsorwho is a Head of Department (or equivalent), and holds an established post for the duration of the fellowship and has a track record in research and research training.
Your sponsor must be able to guarantee that space and facilities will be made available for you. The sponsor is expected to support you in your research and to ensure that you will be released from the majority of your administrative and teaching commitments to enable you to focus on research.
You must have the full support of your sponsor, who should give an undertaking that, conditional only on your sustained performance as a research worker:
- if a suitable vacancy arose locally or elsewhere, support would be given to you as a candidate for the post
- the sponsoring department would hope during the tenure of the fellowship to be able to arrange for a suitable new post for you.
An additional sponsor(s) must be identified for periods outside the host institution, i.e. the institution(s) where periods of training will take place.
You may apply to remain in your current laboratory (even if you already hold an established post), to return to one where you have previously worked, or to move to a new laboratory, in a low- and middle-income country.
The time permitted for clinical duties or other non-research activity during the fellowship is normally restricted to a maximum of eight hours each week.
In terms of renewal, fellowships will be subject to a competitive, rolling scientific review every five years. If successful, Senior Fellowships will be renewed on the basis that the Trust and the host institution will jointly fund the Senior Fellow's salary through a partnership for the duration of any renewal period.
In general, fellowships may be held in 'not for profit' institutions that are able to sign up to our
Grant Conditions. Institutions that have not previously received significant funding from the Trust will be required to submit information to enable us to assess eligibility. Applications will not be considered by a decision-making committee until all eligibility checks have been completed.
Awards will be made following a rigorous review process and interview. The application process may take up to four months to complete, from receipt of the main application, and consists of the following stages:
- Preliminary application - assessment of eligibility and advice on competitiveness
- Invited main application - review by the relevant Expert Review Group and shortlisted for interview
- Interview - by Interview Panel, with additional peer review from relevant scientific experts.
Stage 1: preliminary application A preliminary application form should be completed, via the Trust's
eGrants online application system and submitted any time before the published deadline. (Note: select 'International' in the 'Funding Area' drop-down menu, then 'Senior Research Fellowship in Public Health and Tropical Medicine' form in the 'Scheme Name' drop-down menu, then select 'Principal/Senior Research Fellowship' to choose the preliminary application form).
Please note that your host institution will need to be registered on eGrants
before you can create a new preliminary application form. A list of registered institutions can be found
here. If your host institution is not on this list, you will need to contact
eGrants Support for further information, and allow sufficient time for your institution to be registered.
Your preliminary application must be accompanied by an institutional statement of commitment from your host institution sponsor confirming that:
- the necessary space and facilities will be made available to conduct the research funded by the Wellcome Trust, and will continue to be available for the duration of the award
- the Fellow will be granted the status and benefits of other academic staff of similar seniority.
Stage 2: main application If a main application is invited, you will be asked to complete the main application form (available on
eGrants). The form will require you to provide information additional to that provided in the preliminary application, particularly in relation to your research vision.
A copy of the home institution's salary scale and justification of your salary level from the head of department should be submitted with your full application.
Stage 3: scientific review and shortlisting Main applications are reviewed and shortlisted for interview by one of the Trust's
Expert Review Groups.
If you are shortlisted for interview, you will be asked to provide further information on your application, prior to the interview itself. This will include details relating to (as appropriate):
- your data management/sharing plan
- your proposed clinical trial
- your proposed use of animals
Stage 4: External peer review
Before interview, we will seek comments from external referees.
Stage 5: Interview Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed by the
Interview Panel.
Interviews will be conducted at the Wellcome Trust's offices in London. Travel and accommodation costs will be provided.
Application advice
Reviewers typically assess:
- the calibre of the candidate
- the quality and importance of the research question(s)
- the approach to solving these questions
- the suitability of the research environment.
Successful applicants will have a substantial record of publications in their chosen area of research in leading international journals.
Award process
If successful, and before an award letter is issued, candidates will be asked to provide:
- full details of the costs requested
- information on human participation, biological samples and personal data
- information on consultancies, equities, directorships and commercial exploitation
- details of key collaborator(s)
- other details, as required.
We reserve the right not to process an application if the scheme's eligibility criteria are not met.
Successful applicants may have the opportunity to apply for
Enhancement funding.
Applications are now considered three times a year.
The timetable for the next round of the competition is below:
- Next preliminary application deadline: 20 September 2013
- Main application deadline: 22 November 2013
- Shortlisting of candidates by Expert Review Group: January 2014
- Shortlisted candidate interviews by Interview Panel: 1-3 April 2014
- Next preliminary application deadline: 13 December 2013
- Main application deadline: 28 February 2014
- Shortlisting of candidates by Expert Review Group: April-May 2014
- Shortlisted candidate interviews by Interview Panel: 8-10 July 2014
Schedule for preliminary applications submitted to 10 May 2013 deadline:
- Main application deadline: 12 July 2013
- Shortlisting of candidates by Expert Review Group: Sept-Oct 2013
- Shortlisted candidate interviews by Interview Panel: 3-5 December 2013
Applications are made via the Trust's eGrants online application system. Your host institution will need to be registered on eGrants before you can create a new preliminary application form. A list of registered institutions can be found
here. If your host institution is not on this list, you will need to contact
eGrants Support for further information, and allow sufficient time for your institution to be registered.
Invitations to complete a main application form will usually be sent to candidates within one month of the preliminary application deadline.
Interviews will be conducted at the Wellcome Trust's offices in London.
Late applications will not be accepted at any stage.
