Mental Health Award: Using physical activity and circadian-based interventions to reduce anxiety and depression in young people

Scheme at a glance Lead applicant career stage: Established researcher Administering organisation location: Anywhere in the world (apart from mainland China) Frequency: One-off Funding amount:

£1-4 million per grant

We expect to make 5-10 awards in this highly competitive funding call.

Funding duration:

3-4 years

Coapplicants: Required Upcoming application stage Application deadline: 14 July 2026, 15:00 BST Application process timeline Who can apply

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

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).

We encourage applications from teams that:

are diverse and interdisciplinary, with collaborations covering multiple areas of expertise include researchers at any stage of their career include those who are new to the field of mental health science. 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. 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 as a lead applicant.

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

Check what kinds of research projects aren’t right for this scheme.

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 can be based anywhere in the world apart from mainland China.

The administering organisation must be a not-for-profit and can be a:

higher education institution research institute healthcare organisation non-governmental organisation charity social enterprise

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 to discuss further. When contacting us, please confirm whether your organisation can accept our grant conditions. If your organisation is confirmed as eligible, proposals must meet all funding call requirements, including submission of an application form.

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

Mental health challenges hold back millions of young people. One-third of individuals experience the onset of a mental health disorder before age 14 and almost half before 18. With this Mental Health Award, we will fund interventions for young people in the UK and Africa that have the potential to scale, while deepening our mechanistic understanding of how and why they work. Specifically, we want to fund projects that integrate circadian rhythms and/or physical activity, two key active ingredients in the development and treatment of mental health problems.

Your research proposal must:

1. Include a circadian-based and/or physical activity intervention for anxiety and/or depression in young people in the UK and/or Africa Show 2. Outline plans for the mechanistic study Show 3. Demonstrate pathways to implementation Show 4. Include plans for lived experience involvement Show 5. Include one or more of our recommended common measures Show What your research proposal must not include

Your research proposal must not:

Primarily target neurodevelopmental conditions, neurodegenerative diseases, or mental health disorders and symptoms outside of the broad categories of anxiety and depression. Include an intervention delivered outside of the UK or Africa. Focus solely on general wellbeing and non-clinical anxiety and depression rather than validated mental health outcomes or symptoms of anxiety and depression. Focus on exploratory or curiosity-driven mechanistic research that is not directly relevant to the scope of the call. Include an intervention that: Does not involve physical activity or circadian rhythms as the primary intervention component. Lacks existing evidence. Is intended for universal/primary prevention. Solely focuses on diagnosis, prognosis or monitoring of symptoms. These may be an additional focus where the primary focus of the intervention is symptom reduction.

Read about what research we fund in mental health.

How applications are assessed

All applications will be evaluated using the same weighted assessment criteria.

Essential criteria and weightings

There are four weighted assessment criteria:

Intervention and proposed methodology (40%) Suitability and expertise of the team (20%) Suitability of the research location and approach to research environment (20%) Lived experience involvement (20%) 1. Intervention and proposed methodology (40%)

Potential and impact

The proposed research will advance early intervention for depression and/or anxiety in young people. The intervention has strong potential to be implemented, scaled and adapted for real world use.

Rationale and strength of evidence

There is a strong rationale for the proposed intervention and the focus on the proposed population, age range and mental health condition(s) or symptom(s). The supporting evidence demonstrates that the intervention has the potential to produce meaningful clinical or preventative effects in the intended population and credible proposed mechanism(s) of action.

Strength of methodology

The proposed study design is rigorous, well-controlled, appropriately powered and well‑matched to the research aims. The chosen approach is clearly justified and capable of demonstrating intervention efficacy. The proposal outlines a clear plan to investigate hypothesised mechanisms of efficacy, including how intervention components are expected to produce therapeutic effects across biological, psychological, environmental and/or social pathways. The measurement strategy for mechanisms is robust and capable of demonstrating causality. Objective measures are incorporated where feasible and justified. The project is we