Wellcome International Training Fellowships 2021

• Preliminary application deadline: 5 November 2020, 17:00 GMT (was 19 November)
• Full application deadline: 4 February 2021, 17:00 GMT

This scheme offers nationals of low- and middle-income countries the opportunity to receive training at postgraduate or postdoctoral level.

Scheme at a glance

• Career stage: Postgraduate training , Postdoctoral research 
• Where your host organisation is based: Low- or middle-income countries (apart from India and mainland China) 
• Type of researcher: Basic, Clinical, Public health
• Level of funding: Usually £150,00 to £300,000 for salary, fees and research expenses
• Duration of funding: 3 years

Eligibility

Who can apply

You can apply for an International Training Fellowship if:

• you’re a national of a low- or middle-income country
• your proposed research focuses on a health priority in a low- or middle-income country
• you have sponsorship from an eligible host organisation in a low- or middle-income country apart from mainland China.

You must want to undertake a guided period of research so that you can consolidate your existing experience and explore new areas of research.

You must:

• have a PhD and be an early-career researcher or

• have a degree in a relevant subject and some initial research experience or

• be a clinically qualified doctor (and be qualified to enter higher specialist training), vet, dentist or clinical psychologist, and have some initial research experience. 

If you don’t have a PhD, we expect you to start one at the same time as the fellowship. You should register for your PhD at a local academic organisation. If this isn’t possible, contact us before submitting your application.

If you are in the last year of a PhD, you must have been awarded the PhD before you start the fellowship. We don’t provide PhD top-up funding.

You can apply if you have a permanent or rolling employment contract, but only if you’re at an early stage in your career. Please contact us first to discuss.

If you’ve been away from research (eg for a career break, maternity leave, or long-term sick leave), we’ll allow for this when we consider your application.

Your research proposal

Your research proposal should be within our science remit and focus on a health priority in a low- or middle-income country.

When we consider your application, we’ll look at:

• your research experience
• the quality and importance of your research question(s)
• your knowledge of the scientific area
• the feasibility of your proposal
• the suitability of your choice of sponsor, supervisors and environments
• your vision of how this fellowship will contribute to your career development.

We encourage fellows to collaborate with researchers in other low- and middle-income countries.

At the end of this fellowship, you should be able to show:

• you have the potential to be an independent leader in your area of research
• you have the skills and experience to apply for more advanced (intermediate level) funding schemes.

For more information, read our Guidance on International Training Fellowships [DOCX 25KB].

Who can’t apply

You can’t apply if:

• you’ve previously held, or currently hold, an internationally competitive fellowship at an equivalent level eg an NIH Fogarty fellowship
• you’re a researcher in India – instead see the Wellcome Trust/Department of Biotechnology India Alliance
• you’re currently applying for another Wellcome fellowship.

If you’ve already been unsuccessful with a full application for this scheme, please contact us before you apply again.

You can’t apply to carry out activities that involve the transfer of grant funds into mainland China.

MORE DETAILS AND INFORMATION FOR REQUIREMENTS AND APPLICATION ON OFFICIAL WEBSITE HERE.

Source: Wellcome Official website.