Wellcome Trust Research Enrichment - Public Engagement funding is designed to help Wellcome grantholders who want to use public insights to develop their research. Such public engagement helps to build the public's trust in research and ensure research is valued within society.

There are no limits on project scope, however, the proposal should be aligned to the current research programme and must be underpinned by a clear rationale. Proposed programmes of activities should include opportunities to:

• Explore how public engagement can ensure the research resonates with the public.
• Use insights from the public to develop the research.
• Develop the applicant's public engagement and leadership skills, and the skills of the research team members.

Applicants can ask for funding of between £10,000 and £250,000. The funding levels requested are usually around 5% of the total research grant, and should be based on the funding level and time remaining on the main Wellcome grant and the scale and scope of the proposed public engagement project.

Funds can be used for a variety of costs, such as:

• Dedicated salaried posts, where justified.
• Other personnel costs directly related to the programme, including salary replacement or cover (eg teaching staff).
• Consultancy costs and project management fees.
• Direct activity and production costs, including venue costs, equipment and materials.
• Relevant public engagement training and development.
• Travel costs.
• Evaluation, including formative/development costs.
• Administration costs that are not already covered by other funding.
• Marketing and publicity costs for events and activities.
• Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.
• Contingency costs, as long as these are reasonable and justified.
• VAT on fees where the VAT cannot be reclaimed.

Applicants must be:

• Current Wellcome-funded grantholders from one of the Trust's eligible schemes, or
• Successful applicants to one of the Trust's eligible schemes (ie received an award confirmation letter).

Applications from researchers at all career stages are encouraged, although it is expected that most applicants will have some experience of public engagement.

All of the Trust's funding schemes are eligible apart from the following:

• Biomedical Vacation Scholarships
• Doctoral Studentships
• Engagement Fellowships
• Four-year PhD Studentships in Science
• International Master's Fellowships
• Master's Studentships in Humanities and Social Science
• PhD Training Fellowships for Clinicians
• Seed Awards in Humanities and Social Science
• Seed Awards in Science
• Small Grants in Humanities and Social Science
• The Hub Award

If the main Wellcome grant is one of the following, the Trust should be contacted at the earliest opportunity as there is a different application process:

• Wellcome Centre
• Africa and Asia Programme
• Developing Excellence in Leadership and Training in Africa Programme
• Longitudinal Population Study Grants

The following key dates apply to this scheme:

• First 2022 application deadline: 8 March 2022 (17:00 GMT)
• Second 2022 application deadline: 31 May 2022, (17:00 GMT); this is the last deadline for this scheme

Applicants must submit their application through the Wellcome Trust Grant Tracker (WTGT) system.

In case of interest, please contact leonor.norton(ELIMINAR)@sjd.es