Improving research environments

Excellent research happens in environments where people from all backgrounds are treated with respect, supported and enabled to thrive.

It requires attention to ethical, social and cultural considerations, and engagement with the needs and perspectives of relevant communities.

We believe that creative and high-quality ideas must be open and accessible to everyone to drive innovation and achieve the most significant impact.

These values cut across everything we do and everyone we work with. They are at the heart of the positive and inclusive research culture we want to encourage with our funding so that:

• the research that we support is strengthened by being ethical, open and engaged
• the people we fund thrive in equitable, diverse and supportive research cultures
• Wellcome is known as an innovative, efficient and inclusive partner and organisation

Improving research environments is a priority that cuts across all of Wellcome’s funding teams, underpinning our work on discovery research, climate and health, infectious disease and mental health. 

We also aim to contribute to the broader research ecosystem to ensure that Wellcome researchers have access to the resources, tools, and skills to pursue their work in ways that produce better evidence and meaningful impacts. This includes convening community events, doing policy work, investing in infrastructure, commissioning research and occasionally, offering funding for relevant activities.

Our activities aim to: 

• ensure that research is guided by and responsive to the needs and views of people involved in, or impacted by the work  
• navigate the complexities of innovation and encourage ethical, transformative research  
• openly share ideas, data and findings to speed up progress, enable reproducible research, and reduce duplication
• shape research culture and communities so that researchers from all backgrounds can thrive as they pursue bold ideas
• generate evidence and metascience on funding practices

You can expect to find questions about research environment within the funding criteria for most of our awards. You should be able to demonstrate how your research is open, ethical and engaged, as well as describe how you will foster a positive and inclusive research culture.

Wellcome also has several research policies related to open and ethical research, and we recommend that researchers consult these when designing funding applications and delivering successful awards.