Grant

Wellcome Early-Career Awards

Wellcome

Applications are taken as they come. They say: "Applications can be submitted at any time" No fee to apply Last checked 5 Oct

At a glance

Deadline: Applications are taken as they come. They say: "Applications can be submitted at any time"
Fee: No fee to apply
Who may apply: based at an eligible research organisation in an African low- or middle-income country, which is every African country Wellcome lists except Seychelles
a PhD passed at viva, or at least four years of research experience equivalent to a PhD
no more than three years of postdoctoral experience at the date you submit
Where: Your own administering organisation. From 29 October 2026 Wellcome only accepts applications from lead applicants based in the UK and in low- and middle-income...

Five years of your own salary plus up to 400,000 pounds of research costs, held at your own institution in Africa. It is the award that takes a new PhD holder to running their own research programme.

Applications are taken as they come. They say: “Applications can be submitted at any time” Read it on their page

The facts

What you get: Your salary and up to 400,000 pounds for research expenses. Certain costs do not count towards that limit.
Where: Your own administering organisation. From 29 October 2026 Wellcome only accepts applications from lead applicants based in the UK and in low- and middle-income countries in Africa, South Asia and South-East Asia. Applications submitted on or before 28 October 2026 are assessed under the current rules.
How long: Usually 5 years

Where you stand

This one is free. There is no fee to apply, and nobody should ask you for money at any point.

What they ask for

based at an eligible research organisation in an African low- or middle-income country, which is every African country Wellcome lists except Seychelles
a PhD passed at viva, or at least four years of research experience equivalent to a PhD
no more than three years of postdoctoral experience at the date you submit
a sponsor who holds an established post at your organisation and will guarantee your space and resources, and a named mentor
at least 80 per cent of your research time on the project, no more than 20 per cent on teaching, admin or clinical duties

Get ready to apply

Built only from what this listing states.

A long application, by our reading.

1. What to get ready

It asks for something outside the usual documents; read it below.

In their words: “Application through Wellcome Funding, with a sponsor statement and a named mentor”

2. Dates

No closing date is stated.
Openings with no closing date can close once they have enough people, so sooner is safer. Our advice
On the date, the listing says: Applications accepted year round. All Wellcome deadlines close at 15:00 GMT/BST. Interview and decision rounds listed for May 2027 and September 2027. From 29 October 2026 Wellcome only accepts applications from lead applicants based in the UK and in low- and middle-income countries in Africa, South Asia and South-East Asia. Applications submitted on or before 28 October 2026 are assessed under the current rules.

Download checklist (.txt) Send to WhatsApp

The download is a small text file. You can read it later without data. It also lists each condition they set, so you can tick yourself against them. WhatsApp sends the same list to you, or to somebody helping you.

No CV yet? Make a plain one from your answers. Nothing you type is kept.

Tips for applying for a grant

General advice from us, the same for every grant. It is not what this organisation says; that is above.

Say what the money is for, exactly, and how much of it goes where. A simple budget in a table is enough.
Describe what you have done so far, with numbers you can prove: customers, people served, sales, months running.
Check whether they need your business registered, and in which country.
Answer their questions in their order. Reviewers score each one.

If there is an interview or a test

Expect questions on your numbers. Know them without reading them.
Be ready to say what happens to the project if you do not get the grant.

All our tips and messages to copy. Practise answering, with nothing kept. Received an offer? Check whether it is real, then read before you say yes.

How to apply

You apply on Wellcome's own website, not here. We never send an application for anybody and we never ask you for anything to pass on. Check their page for anything not shown here.

Go to the application

How we checked this

This was opened and verified at Wellcome's own website on 5 October 2026: it was real, still open, and open to people from African countries. If anything here is wrong, tell us.