Establishing infrastructure hubs to power evidence synthesis in low- and middle-income countries

Establishing infrastructure hubs to power evidence synthesis in low- and middle-income countries

Wellcome will fund five new global infrastructure hubs to enable more timely, relevant and affordable AI-enabled evidence synthesis to address policy-scale challenges. This is part of Wellcome’s first series of Evidence Synthesis Infrastructure Collaborative (ESIC) investments.

The hubs will establish foundational evidence synthesis capabilities that can be used to address Wellcome’s strategic priorities in global health.

Share this page Share with Email Share with LinkedIn Share with Bluesky Share with X Share with Facebook Skip to contents On this page Call at a glance Who can apply Who can't apply Is your organisation right for this call? Is your research right for this call? How applications are assessed Research costs we'll cover How to apply Key dates More information about this funding call Contact us Back to top Print this page Call at a glance Lead applicant career stage: Established researcher Administering organisation location: Low- or middle-income countries (apart from mainland China) Frequency: One-off Funding amount:

£1.5 to £1.9 million

We expect to make 5 awards in this competitive funding call.

Funding duration:

3-5 years

Coapplicants: Required Next deadline Calculating next key date… Application process timeline Who can apply

You can apply to this call if you are a team of researchers, existing or new:

with demonstrated expertise in evidence synthesis production, use and dissemination from eligible organisations based anywhere in the world (apart from mainland China) with the lead applicant based in a low- and middle-income country

We encourage applications from teams that:

bring a diversity of expertise and perspectives, with interdisciplinary collaborations that cover multiple areas include researchers at various career stages, from experienced to early-career

Your experience The team Show Lead applicant Show Coapplicants Show Collaborators Show

Read about the different applicant roles at Wellcome.

If you’ve spent time away from research

You can apply for this award if you have spent time away from research (for example, for a career break, parental leave or long-term sick leave). We will take this into consideration during the review of your application.

Retirement

If you have retired, you must contact us before applying. You must have a guarantee of space from your administering organisation for the duration of the award.

Working part-time

Lead and coapplicants can be part-time. Their part-time work should be compatible with delivering the project successfully.

Who can't apply

You should not apply for this call if:

you intend to carry out activities which involve the transfer of funds into mainland China you cannot demonstrate that you can dedicate enough time and resources to the project, if funded you are already an applicant on two applications for this funding call: you can only be a lead applicant on one application and a coapplicant on another one

you can be a coapplicant on two applications

You must demonstrate that you have sufficient capacity for both projects if funded. The applications should be for different projects with no overlap of activities.

you already have applied for, or hold, the maximum number of Wellcome awards you are a member of the ESIC Steering Group

Find out how many Wellcome awards you can apply for, or hold, at one time.

Check what kinds of research project aren’t right for this award.

Is your organisation right for this call?

The administering organisation is where the lead applicant is based. It is responsible for submitting your final application to Wellcome and managing the finances of the grant if it is awarded.

The administering organisation must be able to sign up to Wellcome’s grant conditions.

Where your administering organisation is based

The administering organisation must be based in a low- and middle income country and not in mainland China.

The administering organisation can be a:

higher education institution research institute healthcare organisation not-for-profit or non-governmental research organisation

Commercial organisations are not eligible to apply as administering organisations for this call. However, coapplicants and collaborators can be based at commercial organisations.

Multilateral organisations may be eligible to apply to this funding call. Please contact us if you are looking to apply from a multilateral organisation. If your organisation is confirmed as eligible, proposals must meet all funding call requirements, including submission of an application form.

Organisations must guarantee that the space and resources applicants need have been agreed and will be made available to them from the start date through to the end date of the award.

Collaboration agreements

If the application involves a collaboration or partnership between multiple organisations, the partners must enter into a suitable collaboration agreement, including provisions that cover:

confidentiality publication rights access to background intellectual property ownership of foreground intellectual property arrangements for the protection, management and exploitation of foreground intellectual property

The lead applicant’s administering organisation is required under our grant conditions to own all the foreground intellectual property arising from the project and to take the lead in any commercialisation activity. For guidance, read Wellcome's intellectual property policy.

Your research environment

Wellcome believes that a diversity of people and expertise leads to richer understanding and more impactful discoveries. Excellent research happens in environments where people from all backgrounds are treated with respect, are supported and enabled to thrive.

Our definition of a research environment is not limited to the quality of the infrastructure but also considers the culture and behaviours that create excellent research practice. This includes research that is inclusive in design and practice, ethical and engaged with relevant community stakeholders, as well as open and transparent.

Read guidance on how to talk about research environment in your application.

Is your research right for this call? What your research proposal must include

This call will fund the development of global evidence infrastructure hubs. These hubs will establish foundational living evidence synthesis capabilities in key sectors that can support health research and health policy. We are looking to specifically address health research and policy that is related to challenges in either Climate and Health, Infectious Disease, Mental Health or Discovery Research. Teams are expected to focus on at least one but may also respond to multiple of these areas. No preference is given to applicants based on which area(s) they address or whether they address more than one.

Your research proposal must include:

1. Creating a new global evidence infrastructure hub OR building on an existing global evidence infrastructure hub.

2. A focus on one of the following five sectors that can be leveraged to advance health research, as well as to advance sector-specific research:

food systems humanitarian assistance economic growth peace and effective institutions

social protection

These policy sectors are aligned to one or more of the pillars of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which provide the organising framework used by ESIC’s partner, the Global SDG Synthesis Coalition.

3. A clear connection to at least one of Wellcome’s strategic priorities of Climate and Health, Mental Health, Infectious Disease or Discovery Research.

4. A clear demonstration of how the evidence synthesis infrastructure will be applied to at least one health challenge, for example:

the health co-benefits of climate-linked transitions to sustainable food systems reduction of emerging infectious disease outbreaks during humanitarian crises strengthening interventions for depression, as well as on trust and social inclusion

5. How the research will connect to the development and maintenance of sector-specific living evidence synthesis infrastructure, which includes:

sector-specific taxonomy living evidence maps policy-scale AI-enabled Living Evidence Syntheses (LES), for example, living systematic reviews dynamic user-focused question banks tracking of ‘windows of opportunity’ data repository that can contribute to and leverage ESIC’s open data system for evidence synthesis protocol registry, and movement towards full coverage of policy-scale high-priority questions and advice for next-generation research

6. The contributions your research will make to developing cross-sectoral standards for policy-scale AI-enabled LES, developing any required sector-specific variants, and addressing local, regional or global crises.

7. A diverse set of interest holders contributing to co-production, testing and p