Contract opportunities
Find out about contract opportunities to support Wellcome's mission to improve human health – including an overview of each project, who can apply and how.
At Wellcome, we invite organisations to apply for contract opportunities that support our mission to fund discovery research and find solutions to three worldwide health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate.
Explore our requests for proposals (RFP) below.
Climate and Health RFPs
Brief: Wellcome is looking for a supplier to coordinate and enable the delivery of a training and support programme for Wellcome’s heat adaptation grantees. This dedicated programme will respond to the support needs of our grant holders and provide tailored ongoing cohort support throughout the six-year duration of their awards.
In addition, the cohort support programme will:
- strive to facilitate shared learning among the nine research teams and geographies
- foster a conducive environment for networking and future collaborations between research teams
- assess the effectiveness of the chosen cohort support model
The programme will include at least three convenings a year, one of which should be in-person and complement other grantee-support activities that Wellcome and others, such as the Global Heat Health Information Network, will provide.
Eligibility:
- The suppliers must belong to, or be well-connected to, academic institutions and research networks and be able to draw from specialised expertise to design and deliver the support required by the heat adaptation grantees.
- The suppliers must have a track record of working with researchers and/or research institutions from low- and middle-income countries and a good understanding of the challenges of conducting research in these settings.
- We expect suppliers to be inclusive and diverse in the team and contributors they draw on for the cohort support programme. This may include expertise from different research disciplines, policy and implementation partners, and broad geographical representation that includes low- and middle-income countries.
- Suppliers should demonstrate experience in delivering complex and highly collaborative initiatives focused on training and capacity building in research teams.
- Suppliers should be willing to work with Wellcome and other individuals, teams, or groups of stakeholders on the overall delivery of the project.
- It will be desirable for teams to have experience of supporting equitable partnerships and capacity strengthening at individual, institutional or societal level.
Submission of expression of interest and questions: 10 November 2023
Submission of full proposal: 29 December 2023
Discovery Research RFPs
There are currently no RFPs for Discovery Research
Infectious Disease RFPs
There are currently no RFPs for Infectious Disease
Mental Health RFPs
Wellcome's Mental Health team are looking for a supplier to help us understand how research or resources exploring people’s subjective experiences of mental health problems are integrated across diverse areas of mental health science.
Specifically, the supplier will consider the extent to which research or resources exist and their accessibility across other areas of mental health research. The supplier will develop a landscaping report highlighting what works well and why, as well as exploring existing barriers and ongoing initiatives. We also want further recommendations to facilitate the use of this research in ways that are inclusive, sensitive and appropriate.
Eligibility: Open to all
Submission of questions: 8 January 2024
Submission of full proposal: 5 February 2024
Brief: Wellcome is looking for a supplier to help us understand how technical challenges to sensor use in mental health research and clinical practice could be resolved.
Digital sensors, like the GPS tracker in a mobile phone or a heart rate sensor in a smartwatch, hold promise for tackling the mental health crisis. However, they are not easy to use. Interested researchers must contend with many different devices, each of which can present different technical challenges. At Wellcome, we want to understand what can be done to solve the technical challenges facing researchers and clinicians who aim to use sensors and sensor data in their work. We are commissioning this research to understand the technical challenges faced, how they are currently solved, and what opportunities exist for the development of new solutions.
Eligibility: Open to all
Submission of expression of interest and questions: 8th December 2023
Submission of full proposals: 26th January 2024
Wellcome is looking for a supplier to work with our Mental Health team to provide a report on citizen science in mental health. Citizen science is scientific work undertaken by members of the general public, often in collaboration with or under the direction of professional scientists and scientific institutions.
The report will have a specific focus on issues pertinent to early intervention in anxiety, depression and psychosis. It will cover the use of citizen science in the field thus far, its potential for development, ways of measuring impact, an analysis of potential practical and ethical issues with its implementation, and its broader potential to raise the profile and acceptance of mental health science as a scientific field. We anticipate that this report will guide Wellcome’s own thinking on the subject, and provide a resource for other funders and mental health scientists.
Eligibility: Open to all
Submission of expression of interest and questions: 20 November 2023
Submission of full proposals: 15 January 2024
Other RFPs
Research Environment:
Wellcome is seeking a supplier to be embedded as a social researcher (or team) within a community of practice for the teams who applied to the scheme, Institutional Funding for Research Culture.
The supplier will help Wellcome shape and support this community in line with its evolving aims. The supplier would need to build a relationship with member teams, seek appropriate informed consent and buy-in from the community and use a methodology and ethical practice appropriate to working with a collective. This is with four objectives in mind:
- conducting social research on the process and experience of community
- bringing together and concisely capturing learning
- providing a feedback and evaluation mechanism
- communicating in an open and ongoing way.
Eligibility: Please see further details listed in the RFP.
Expression of Interest and Supplier Q&A: 15th January 2024
RFP full proposal: 7th February 2024
Wellcome, on behalf of the Europe PMC Funder Group, is seeking a collaborator to deliver and manage funding and secretariat services for the next funding cycle for Europe PMC.
Eligibility: Preference will be given to suppliers registered in either the UK or an EU member state.
Register interest and return non-disclosure agreement or NDA :10th January 2024
RFP full proposal: 1st February 2024
Translation and Portfolio Integration:
There are currently no RFPs for Translation and Portfolio Integration
Strategy:
Wellcome's Strategy team are looking for a Supplier or individual to play a central role in the implementation of Wellcome’s strategic engagement of multilateral negotiation process for the Brazilian G20. This consultant will also co-develop strategy for Brazil political engagement and G20 objectives with the Wellcome Government Relations team.
Eligibility: Supplier or individual must be based in Brazil.
Submission of questions and answers: 20 November 2023
Submission of full proposal: 7 December 2023
This project will examine and make recommendations around accountability models or mechanisms that could be agreed and institutionalised at the global political level to set targets and monitor progress on antimicrobial resistance or AMR, with a view to driving more effective progress on antimicrobial resistance from governments in collaboration with others.
Any model must work for all countries and contexts, with a particular focus on addressing the needs and priorities of low- and middle-income countries. This is due to the disproportionate impact of antimicrobial resistance in these contexts, recognising that global policy debates on antimicrobial resistance have not always been inclusive of all countries, their contexts and knowledge. This will be a fast-paced policy research project aimed at providing politically sensitive advice to senior stakeholders
Eligibility: Open to all
We expect the supplier’s team to be diverse in membership, inclusive in practice and have experience working across a range of global settings with or alongside minoritised communities. We anticipate it will be an asset if the supplier has a diverse global network. We are seeking an organisation with experience and capabilities to deliver research within a short timescale that is politically-sensitive and provide strategic political advice to senior stakeholders.
Submission of expression of interest and questions: 7 November 2023
Submission of full RFP response: 17 November 2023
Corporate Affairs:
Wellcome's Planning and Insight team within Corporate Affairs are seeking an agency or agencies who are expert in global brand health and reputation tracking, and strategic brand research, to deliver against two workstreams:
- Research and design a global tracking programme and deliver baseline results to track Wellcome’s brand health and reputation across more than 12 countries.
- Deliver multi-country qualitative insights to support the design and delivery of our brand strategy. Specifically, audience response to our beliefs and values, identification of emotive connections and brand journey mapping.
Eligibility: Open to all
Submission of expression of interest and questions: 11 December 2023
Submission of full proposals: 18 January 2024
Wellcome's Communications team within Corporate Affairs are seeking a qualified and experienced agency to provide strategic internal communications advice, content creation and creative assets. The successful agency will work closely with our in-house Internal Communications team to enhance our activities across Wellcome and Wellcome Collection, in line with our beliefs and values and brand guidelines, to effectively engage our employees on a range of issues.
Eligibility: Open to all
Submission of expression of interest and questions: 11 December 2023
Submission of full proposals: 15 January 2024
Culture, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (CEDI):
There are currently no RFPs for CEDI
We aim to make our contract opportunities open to all organisations, however there will be instances where we provide eligibility criteria based on the specific nature of what we are looking to procure. Please see each opportunity for specific eligibility criteria.
We do not contract with suppliers connected to the tobacco industry. For clarity, we define the tobacco industry as any company, entity or organisation (or groups or combinations of the same) whose business other than for an insignificant part (less than 10% of its revenue), is the development, production, promotion, marketing, or sale of tobacco in any country of the world. The term also includes any companies that are a subsidiary or a holding company or affiliate of the above. This also includes E-cigarette companies and non-tobacco related companies which are fully or partially owned by the tobacco industry.
Diversity and inclusion are central to our strategy. We want to make sure everything we do – and everyone who works with us – upholds these principles. Our intention is to work with kindness and consideration and to value the wellbeing of everyone involved in the collaboration. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the application process, please let us know.
Please send in your proposals electronically and refer to the individual RFP documents above for specific timelines and response requirements.
Grants: When funding someone to do something where Wellcome expects to receive nothing in return (except acknowledgement and progress reports), this will normally be through a grant.
Contracts: When funding someone to do something where Wellcome expects to receive something in return (such as goods, services, rights or other benefits), this will normally be through a contract.
| Grant | Contract | |
|---|---|---|
| Our rights | When we award a grant, we have no right to receive anything back – except acknowledgment of our funding and reports as detailed in the grant conditions. We can require that the grant is spent on the agreed activities, but we can’t direct how those activities are carried out. We can demand repayment if grant money is spent on something else, but not if we simply don’t like the outputs. We can terminate a grant, cancelling any future payments, at any time and for any reason in line with the grant conditions. |
When we award a contract, we have the right to receive what we are paying for as specified in the legally binding agreement. Depending on the exact terms, we will be able to require a certain level of quality and punctuality. If the supplier falls short, we may be able to make them do the work again or refund the money; we might also be able to sue for compensation. A contract can be terminated only in accordance with its provisions, which may require us to give a specific notice period or make payments even after termination. |
| Tax |
We generally won’t need to pay VAT on a grant. |
VAT is added to all UK invoices. Overseas taxes are charged as applicable. |
| Process |
Grants are usually awarded as a result of an application process, with appropriate types of review and approval. Most of our grants are awarded under our funding schemes. |
Contracts are usually awarded as a result of a procurement exercise. |
We don’t want your proposal to be limited in scope and ambition. However, there may be cases where a set budget is necessary and if so, we do expect you to submit a proposal that is within that.
This is a contract and not a grant. It should be costed as part of the supplier's budget in order to complete the activity on time and in full.
We can pay in various currencies please ensure this is clear on your proposal.
The main VAT requirement is to account for reverse charge VAT at 20% on any B2B (business to business) services received from overseas. This is to provide a level playing field for all businesses, that is UK VAT is payable on services regardless of where the supplier is based. In the case of a UK supplier, the supplier will charge UK VAT at 20% on its services. Where the supplier is based abroad, no VAT is charged by the supplier but the responsibility to account for VAT is shifted to the recipient, who then accounts for the VAT as if the supply was made in the UK.
We always endeavour to provide feedback to suppliers who make it through to the interview stage. Some panels may also provide feedback at earlier stages, but this is at their discretion.
Unless specified on the RFP all contract opportunities are open to all organisations including individuals.
If the lead organisation is working with a sub-processor (collaborator), that sub-processor does not have to complete the Third-Party Risk Assessment form.
The lead organisation must however tell Wellcome who is their sub-processor and send us their independent security certificate and/or security audit report for review as required in the Third-Party Risk Assessment form.
We cannot contract to any countries on the UK government financial sanctions list.
If you would like to stay up to date with contract opportunities, then please register your details here.
By completing this form you consent to be added to our contact database and be contacted via email when new requests for proposals are uploaded to Wellcome's website. There may also be occasions when we contact you about contract opportunities that are not listed on the website.
The Procurement team supports Wellcome on all matters relating to procurement. We operate as business partners who provide guidance and run procurement exercises with our stakeholders.
Please do not use this address to submit expressions of interest or proposals. Please refer to the email address provided in the relevant contract opportunity document as to where these should be sent.
Here, you can find some of our previous RFPs that have now expired, including an overview of each project, to enable suppliers to understand the format and structure.
The Strategic Partnerships team is seeking an individual consultant to provide dedicated expertise on Climate and Health partnerships work as well as support Wellcome’s wider Strategic Partnerships function.
Eligibility: Individual consultant with partnerships expertise and strong understanding of the climate and health research ecosystem
Initial response deadline: 7 July 2022
Wellcome would like to partner with BIOVAC to commission a report, based on a literature review/landscape analysis, on how to build an enabling environment for the African continent to increase its end-to-end manufacture of vaccines. We are interested in understanding what the barriers to vaccine development and manufacturing on the African continent are and what strategies and actions can be taken to increase the manufacture of vaccines.
Eligibility: Open to all countries
Initial Response Deadline: 27 June 2022
Wellcome’s Discovery Research team aims to design new funding activities to reduce barriers that are slowing down and/or blocking progress in the field of Bioimaging. Wellcome has a history of supporting innovation in bioimaging and our current portfolio of investments has supported work that ranges from new tools and technologies to infrastructure and data repositories. We want to progress our work even further and identify new key areas where Wellcome investments in bioimaging methodologies, equipment, tools and technology development (across the scales of life, from atoms to humans) will afford field-opening, filed-shaping and field-advancing opportunities.
The purpose of the RFP is to commission a delivery partner to provide critical insights on the following fundamental questions:
- What are the nascent technologies/methodologies in the field of bioimaging that will enable researchers to formulate new hypotheses and address new fundamental questions for life, health, and wellbeing?
- What are specific barriers (in terms of technology, methodology, hardware, software, and access) that are limiting progress in the field of bioimaging in both High-Income Countries (HICs) and Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)?
- Who are the key leaders on an international level that are driving development in the field of bioimaging?
Wellcome is intending for this piece of work to equally cover both, the UK/HIC and LMIC landscape, addressing the different needs in both settings.
Eligibility: Open to all countries
Response deadlines:
Expressions of Interest – 20 May 2022
Full proposals – 6 June 2022
We’re looking to appoint a bold and creative agency/consultant to determine how we can best use photography to advance our brand and strategy. As well as reviewing the effectiveness of Wellcome Photography Prize as a vehicle for our brand, we need to better understand how our audiences respond to photography and how to ensure the imagery we use reflects our commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Eligibility: Open to all countries
Initial response deadline: Closed
We’re looking to commission a team to identify and evaluate the properties, strengths, and weaknesses of selected measures for depression, anxiety and psychosis and to produce a toolkit for their use by researchers, funders and journals. The team will also produce an implementation plan to encourage the uptake of common metrics by key stakeholder groups.
Eligibility: Open to all countries
Initial response deadline: 5 May 2022
Download the full RFP [PDF 573KB]
Watch a recording of our webinar from 11 April 2022 to find out more.