# Discovery Award

**Funder:** Wellcome
**Budget:** Average £3.5M; applications above £5M subject to additional scrutiny
**Duration:** 3-8 years (average 7 years)
**Consortium:** Optional — coapplicants accepted, team of 2-8 applicants led by an established researcher, or individual applicant without coapplicants
**Application:** Single stage, apply anytime
**TRL:** Discovery science
**Frequency:** Continuous
**Next round:** 2026-09
**Eligible countries:** GB, IE
**Official call:** https://wellcome.org/research-funding/schemes/wellcome-discovery-awards
**Last updated:** 18 Oct 2026

> **Recently updated:** catalog cleanup 2026-07-04: duplicate row (canonical sibling kept)

## Eligibility & scope

Funds bold, creative research in any discipline (STEM, experimental medicine, humanities, social science, clinical/public health) with potential to improve health. Administering organisation must be a not-for-profit in UK, Republic of Ireland, or a low/middle-income country (excluding India and mainland China); lead applicant needs a permanent or long-term contract. Location rules change for submissions from 29 October 2026: check the current funder requirements for the UK and eligible low- and middle-income countries in Africa, South Asia and South-East Asia.

## Summary

Discovery Awards accepts continuous applications from 23 September 2026. The scheme funds established researchers and teams working on questions relevant to health.

## Key dates

- Current round: 22 September 2026, 15:00 BST.
- Continuous applications from 23 September 2026.
- Location eligibility changes on 29 October 2026; submissions through 28 October use the earlier rules.

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Source: [The Great Grantsby](https://grantsby.eu/grants/wellcome-discovery-award-2026) — EU grant monitoring for academic researchers. Always verify details on the funder's website before applying.

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