Mental Health Award: Transforming early intervention for anxiety, depression and psychosis in young people

Mental Health Award: Transforming early intervention for anxiety, depression and psychosis in young people

Funding for projects that robustly test the real-world effectiveness and assess implementation strategies of scalable transformative early interventions for anxiety, depression and psychosis in young people.

Share this page Share with Email Share with LinkedIn Share with Bluesky Share with X Share with Facebook Skip to contents On this page Overview 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 Application process timeline Contact us Back to top Print this page Overview Lead applicant career stage: Established researcher Administering organisation location: Anywhere in the world (apart from mainland China) Frequency: One-off Funding amount:

£200,000 for the Foundation Phase and £5 million to £8 million for the Impact Phase

Funding duration:

12 months for the Foundation Phase and up to 5 years for the Impact Phase

Coapplicants: Required Upcoming application stage Calculating next key date… Application process timeline This award is structured in two phases: Foundation Phase (open to applications week commencing 28 July 2025)

This first phase of the funding call will provide teams with £200,000 to build their teams and develop their detailed proposal for their research study over 12 months. We expect to make around 20 awards in the highly competitive Foundation phase of this funding call.

This research proposal must be for a definitive effectiveness study and assessment of strategies for implementation and scaling of a psychological and/or a social intervention. The research must take place in the UK or a low- and middle-income country (LMIC). The proposal must capture multiple outcomes that are relevant to people with lived experience and implementing partners, including mental health outcomes, functional outcomes and full economic evaluation.

Projects will be chosen for the Foundation Phase based on:

the existing evidence of efficacy for the intervention

potential for being taken to scale, with the cost of the intervention low enough to be sustainable in the proposed context

potential for sustainable partnerships between research teams and implementing partners

outline plans for real-world testing of the effectiveness and implementation of the intervention

Teams taking part in the Foundation Phase will be invited to be part of a community of practice to participate and share learning in key areas relevant to developing, implementing and scaling psychological and/or social interventions. Wellcome will provide support to teams during the Foundation Phase as they develop their research proposals.

Impact Phase (open to applications February 2027)

In the second phase of the funding call, all funded teams from the Foundation Phase will be invited to apply for the Impact Phase. We expect the award amount for the Impact Phase to be between £5 million and £8 million and the duration to be up to 5 years. The upper limits will be confirmed during the Foundation Phase.

Who can apply

You can apply to this call if you are a team:

From any relevant discipline. We consider a broad range of disciplines to be relevant to mental health science, including but not limited to those listed in our principles of mental health funding. From eligible organisations. Based anywhere in the world (apart from mainland China). The research itself must take place in the United Kingdom and/or low- or middle- income countries. Your experience The team Show Lead applicant Show Coapplicant Show Collaborator Show

Read about the different applicant roles at Wellcome.

If you’ve spent time away from research Career breaks, parental leave, sick leave

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. Part-time applicants should still be able to contribute at least 20% of their research time to the project if a lead applicant and 10% if a coapplicant . Applicants who do not have protected research time and implementation partners must be able to contribute at least 20% of their time to the award if a lead applicant and 10% if a coapplicant. Their part-time work should be compatible with delivering the project successfully.

Who can’t apply

You cannot 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 for your career stage. Find out how many Wellcome awards you can apply for, or hold, at one time depending on your career stage. Your proposed research does not fit the aims of this award. Check if your research is right for this call. Is your organisation right for this call?

The administering organisation is where the lead applicant is based. It is the organisation 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.

The administering organisation can be based anywhere in the world apart from mainland China. However, the research must take place in the United Kingdom and/or low- or middle-income countries (LMICs).

At the Foundation Phase, the administering organisation must be one of the following:

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

Multilateral organisations can apply. Please contact us to discuss further. Proposals must meet all funding call requirements.

Commercial organisations cannot be the administering organisation. We recognise the important role commercial partners may play in developing and scaling interventions and welcome them as coapplicants and collaborators. If you are funded through the Foundation Phase and there is a strong rationale for a commercial organisation to be the administering organisation at the Impact Phase, you will have an opportunity to inform us of this at the next phase.

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.

This is an important requirement for Wellcome funding, and it will be assessed at the Impact Phase but not the Foundation Phase.

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

Is your research right for this call?

There are hundreds of millions of people being held back by mental health challenges across the globe. The majority of mental health problems start in adolescence or early adulthood. We are looking for interventions that can reach large numbers of people in a low-cost and sustainable way.

What your proposal must include

Your Foundation Phase project proposal must:

1. Identify a psychological and/or social intervention