Wellcome Trust

Wellcome Early-Career Award

Salary + up to £400,000 over 5 years for researchers establishing their own independent research programme.

Programme guide in progress

We are still researching the full guide for Wellcome Early-Career Award. In the meantime, you will find the live open calls, eligibility basics and related programmes below.

Next deadline

21 July 2026 (36 days away)

Wellcome Early-Career Awards – July 2026 Round

View full call details →

Key facts

Career stage: Postdoc transitioning to independence
Salary: Covered for 5 years
Research costs: Up to £400,000
Time commitment: ≥80%
Success rate: ~12-15%

Who is eligible?

•PhD + no more than 3 years of postdoctoral experience at the application deadline (extensions for career breaks, clinical training, COVID-19 impact, part-time work; no-PhD route needs ≥4 years equivalent research experience)
•Host institution in UK, Ireland, LMIC, or approved country
•Health-related biological, biomedical, medical, or public health research
•At least 80% time commitment to the Wellcome research

Open calls right now

Curious who tends to win this grant?

See past Wellcome Early-Career Award awardees →

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Related programmes

Wellcome Trust

Wellcome Discovery Award

Average £3.5M over 7 years (range 3-8) for mid-career and established researchers pursuing transformative discovery science in health.

European Research Council

ERC Starting Grant

Up to €1.5M for early-career researchers 2-7 years post-PhD conducting ground-breaking frontier research.

Dutch Research Council (NWO)

NWO Veni

Up to €320,000 over 3 years for researchers in the Netherlands within 3 years of PhD completion.

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