Wellcome Accelerator Awards

Scheme at a glance Lead applicant career stage: Early-career researcher, Mid-career researcher Administering organisation location: UK Frequency: Annual - Until 2028 Funding amount:

Your salary (if required) and up to £200,000 for project expenses

Funding duration:

Up to 2 years

Coapplicants: Not accepted Next key date Full application deadline: 25 August 2026 See all key dates Who can apply Your background and experience

The lead applicant must:

Self-identify as being from a: Black heritage background, including a mixed heritage background. For example, Black African; Black Caribbean; Black Other; Mixed background (must include Black African, Black Caribbean or other Black backgrounds). Bangladeshi heritage background, including a mixed heritage background. For example, Bangladeshi Other; Mixed background (must include Bangladeshi backgrounds). Pakistani heritage background, including a mixed heritage background. For example, Pakistani Other; Mixed background (must include Pakistani backgrounds). Currently be working in or ordinarily resident in the UK. Have completed a substantive period of research training relevant to their discipline by the time they submit the application. This means you must fit at least one of the following: you have completed a PhD (for example, in the life sciences) or an equivalent higher research degree if you are currently studying for a PhD, you must have passed your viva examination by the application deadline if you have not started a PhD or equivalent degree, you must have at least four years' equivalent research experience (for example, in the humanities and social sciences) Have been awarded an undergraduate degree at a UK institution or a PhD at a UK institution.

If you hold your first permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contract, you must have been appointed within the last three years unless, during this time, you:

spent time away from research due to personal circumstances (for example, for a career break, parental leave, long-term sick leave or a chronic illness) worked part-time and research was not part of the role (for example if you have been employed as a healthcare professional) worked part-time and your cumulative research time is less than three years

If you hold a proleptic appointment, you can request your salary costs from Wellcome for the duration of the award.

If your contractual circumstances change between the point of application and your award activation, you must tell us immediately, as this may change your eligibility for salary. We will not normally supplement salary funds after the award has been made (read our supplementary grant funding page for more information).

How much time you must contribute

You should spend at least 80% of your research time on the grant.

If you are requesting your salary on the award, you should not spend more than 20% of your time on non-research related activities, for example, clinical duties, teaching or administration. If you're in a clinical craft speciality, you may spend up to 40% of your time on clinical duties.

If you are not requesting your salary on the award, you should be spending sufficient time on the proposed activities to achieve the aims of the proposed work.

Health professionals

If you are a health professional and want to continue with clinical activities, you must be registered with and licensed by the relevant professional regulator in the country you intend to work in. Read our Q&As for health professionals.

Read about the different applicant roles at Wellcome.

Where you're based

You must be currently working in or ordinarily resident in the UK.

Your administering organisation must be in the UK. The grant cannot be held at an organisation outside the UK at any time.

Your nationality

Any nationality is eligible, as long as you meet the conditions outlined above for the lead applicant.

Other Wellcome awards

You cannot apply for this scheme if you are an early-career researcher or mid-career researcher who already holds another Wellcome award as a lead applicant.

You cannot concurrently apply for an Accelerator Award and an Early-Career Award or Career Development Award.

If you already hold other active awards with Wellcome from previous funding opportunities, please refer to our information on applying for and holding multiple Wellcome awards at one time.

Submission of projects that were previously rejected from other Wellcome funding schemes is allowed.

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.

Working part-time

Lead applicants can be part-time. There is no formal time contribution, but your part-time work should be compatible with delivering the project successfully.

Other people you can involve in the application and award Collaborators Show Resubmissions

If your application was shortlisted, you will need to make significant changes to the application and may submit one further application.

If your application was not shortlisted, you should make changes to the career plan and proposed activities and may submit again.

Who can't apply

You should not apply for this scheme if:

you do not self-identify as belonging to one of the heritage backgrounds outlined in the ‘Who can apply’ section above you are not currently working in or ordinarily resident in the UK you do not hold an undergraduate degree or a PhD awarded from a UK institution you have held your permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contract for more than three years (unless the exceptions above apply) you have not completed a substantive period of relevant research training as defined above Is your organisation right for this scheme? Type of organisation

You must be based at an eligible host organisation that can sign up to our grant conditions.

It can be a:

higher education institution research institute non-academic healthcare organisation not-for-profit organisation Where your administering organisation is based

Your administering organisation must be in the UK.

What your administering organisation must do

Your administering organisation must:

Meet the responsibilities required by the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers for institutions, managers and researchers. Commit to supporting you in completing the funded activities (for example, by adjusting administrative or teaching requirements, or providing space and resources for a research project). Give you 10 days a year (pro rata if part-time) to undertake training and continuing professional development (CPD) in line with the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers. This should include the responsible conduct of research, research leadership, people management, diversity and inclusion, and promoting a healthy research culture. Provide a system of onboarding, embedding and planning for you when you join the organisation and/or start the award.

If your host organisation is a core-funded research organisation, a Wellcome Accelerator Award should not replace or lead to a reduction in existing or planned core support.

Is your project in scope for this scheme? What your plan can include

The funding is flexible and can be used for research activities or activities adjacent to research. This includes, but is not limited to:

developing a novel research idea, pilot, proof-of-concept, or scoping study and gathering related preliminary data taking up research skills training opportunities or other appropriate courses writing and (co-)authoring papers, books, articles or funding applications research time at another research institution in the UK or abroad secondment opportunities for areas allied to research (for example, the pharmaceutical industry or non-governmental organisations) planning meetings of collaborative networks or conferences

This is not an exhaustive list of eligible activities. Applicants are encouraged to propose activities they believe will best enable them to reach their next career stage, and to take full advantage of what we offer to strengthen their professional profile in multiple ways.

If your plan includes research activities, research in any discipline is permitted but must align with Wellcome’s Discovery Research remit.

If your plan includes research-adjacent activities, they must either:

be related to human life, health and/or wellbeing, for example, writing a book or research article about human health, or doing a secondment at a pharmaceutical company, or be supporting you to pursue a research career related to human life, health and/or wellbeing, for example, attending relevant training that will build the skills you need or make your profile more competitive in this field

This award is designed to support successful caree