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.
Find research contract funding opportunities and requests for proposals (RFP) below.
Climate and Health
There are currently no contract opportunities for Climate and Health
Discovery Research
Discovery Research are seeking to commission a supplier or group of suppliers for up to a 6-month contract to produce a comprehensive landscape report on the use of archive, manuscript and material culture resources for life, health, and wellbeing discovery research, with the following objectives:
- Describe the unique value of archive, manuscript and material culture resources for research to understand life, health and wellbeing across the humanities, social sciences and life sciences.
- Understand the challenges/barriers to be tackled in order to significantly enhance approaches to using archive, manuscript and material culture resources for life, health and wellbeing discovery research.
- Detail the approaches, technologies, material/data and capabilities that could contribute to solving the challenges/barriers to maximise this research.
- Define the opportunities for transformative life, health and wellbeing research that would be enabled by working towards the goal of significantly enhancing approaches to using archive, manuscript and material culture resources.
Eligibility: Open to all
Wellcome is a global funder, which necessitates a global perspective, as different regions will encounter different challenges, and present different opportunities.
Submission of supplier Q&A: 19 June 2024
Submission of RFP response: 25 July 2024
Discovery Research are seeking to commission a supplier or group of suppliers for up to a 6-month contract to produce a comprehensive landscape report on the use of new forms of social data resources for life, health, and wellbeing discovery research, with the following objectives:
- Describe the unique value of social data resources for research on life, health and wellbeing across population and public health, social sciences, and humanities.
- Understand the challenges/barriers to be tackled in order to significantly enhance approaches to using new forms of social data (“smart data”) in research on life, health and wellbeing in the UK and globally;
- Detail the approaches, capabilities, technologies and data that could contribute to solving the challenges/barriers to maximise this research.
- Define the opportunities for transformative life, health and wellbeing research that would be enabled by working towards the goal of significantly enhancing approaches to using new forms of social data.
Eligibility: Open to all
Wellcome is a global funder, which necessitates a global perspective, as different regions will encounter different challenges, and present different opportunities.
Submission of supplier Q&A: 19 June 2024
Submission of RFP response: 25 July 2024
Infectious Disease
Wellcome are commissioning a review to gain a better understanding of:
- the tuberculosis (TB) biomarkers landscape
- the most promising biomarkers to target treatment of early disease, preventing progression to active disease
- treatment response biomarkers.
The goals of the review are:
- To map out the landscape of TB biomarkers research. This includes which potential biomarkers have been identified, what questions about TB status and treatment response they can answer, their strengths and limitations. It should also cover mapping key stakeholders, initiatives and organisations.
- To work with the research community (including industry) and identify the most critical biomarker use cases and prioritisation criteria that can target treatment of early disease and prevent progression to active disease.
- To assess the identified candidate biomarkers against the use cases and prioritisation criteria, then validate the conclusions with the research community.
Eligibility: Open to all
Expression of interest and supplier Q&A submission: 5 July 2024
Full RFP submission: 29 July 2024
Wellcome launched a funding call to generate evidence for global and national decision making on the effectiveness of different oral cholera vaccine (OCV) dosing schedules on preventing cholera and impact on duration of protection. The funding call specified proposals that include activities to support policy engagement and research uptake.
Wellcome is convening a workshop for grantees to work with relevant decision makers on co-developing research uptake plans. This will be a 1.5-day, in-person meeting in Mombasa, Kenya, from 3 to 4 October 2024. Participants will include representatives from the research teams, Global Taskforce on Cholera Control (GTFCC) Country Support Platform representatives, and national policy makers from the countries where the research is taking place.
Wellcome is looking to contract a facilitator based in Kenya for the 1.5-day workshop. Prior to the workshop, the facilitator will work with the Wellcome team to finalise the agenda and workshop tools and familiarise themselves with the facilitation guide. Approximately 1 day FTE.
Eligibility: Open to all (ideally based in Kenya)
Submission of full RFQ: 12 July 2024
The landscape review will identify key knowledge gaps in the available data and analytical tools to better understand the transmission dynamics and risks of mosquito-borne arboviruses. The review will help us understand the implications of cross-reactive and/or co-circulating arboviruses on host immune responses and clinical outcomes, transmission dynamics and impact on the development of effective intervention and control strategies.
The landscape review will be delivered through a phased approach with three objectives:
- To identify the availability of open and publicly accessible public health research datasets for mosquito-borne diseases relevant to the Infectious Disease Strategic Programme. These include dengue, Zika, Chikungunya, Yellow Fever and Rift Valley Fever in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean.
- To identify where there may be key data gaps for the five diseases and understand what the barriers are to data sharing and accessibility, and tools to overcome these challenges and drive collaboration across the key geographies.
- To convene and facilitate a two-day hybrid workshop for up to 70 delegates to share the findings from the landscape review.
Submission of interest and questions: May 24 2024
Submission of proposal: June 21 2024
Mental Health
Wellcome's Mental Health team wants to commission several supplier teams to develop innovative lived experience collaborations in mental health research. We want these collaborations to create innovative, substantial and sustainable projects to advance lived experience involvement in mental health science, influence the field and help us achieve our mission.
We are interested in supporting projects that address one or more of the following aims:
- Developing new and sustainable methods and models of embedding lived experience in areas where such practice is less well established.
- Expanding, strengthening and developing culturally and contextually appropriate methods and models for innovative lived experience partnerships across low- and middle-income countries.
- Developing new approaches to advance lived experience leadership in mental health research.
Eligibility: Open to all
Submission of questions: 30 April 2024 (deadline has been extended)
Submission of expressions of interest online form: 9 July 2024
Invited suppliers will be asked to submit full proposals in line with the RFP timetable. Please do not submit a full proposal unless you have been invited to do so by Wellcome after the expressions of interest stage.
Download the full RFP [PDF 225KB]
Other contract opportunities
Data for Science and Health:
There are currently no contract opportunities for Data for Science and Health
Research Environment:
There are currently no contract opportunities for Research Environment
Translation and Portfolio Integration:
We are seeking to engage an external expert to provide thought leadership and advisory support for a project focused on investigating regulatory pathways and systems for developing snakebite treatments. This time-limited project will contribute towards advancing Wellcome’s Snakebite programme.
The position requires up to two days per week which can be remote, in-person or hybrid, for a total of no more than 104 full working days (based on a seven hour workday), with an estimated duration of up to 12 months. The position offers a fixed fee of £700 per day.
Eligibility: External experts with experience in regulatory affairs related to medical products.
Deadline for submission of proposals: 21 June 2024
Strategy:
There are currently no contract opportunities for Strategy
Corporate Affairs:
Wellcome is seeking a Learning and evidence partner for Centres for Exchange. Centres for Exchange (CfE) is a collaborative learning and design project, led by the Community Engagement team, that aims to rethink knowledge exchange with communities in research.
The overarching goal for Centres for Exchange is to support diverse communities to play a meaningful, inclusive and reciprocal role in the research ecosystem to ensure that research is responsive to local socio-political contexts and needs.
We will be funding 8-9 community-based organisations in Kenya, South Africa and India, as the ‘proofs of concept’ in this next phase of the work.
Potential suppliers will work alongside these and with Wellcome to co-develop an adaptative learning process for each organisation and for the programme as a whole, and evidence this approach against the programme goals.
Potential suppliers are asked to develop and implement learning processes for each of the proof of concept organisations.
Eligibility: The team and leadership of this project should include people with experience in working in the Global South and who also engage with the Global North context.
Submission of expression of interest and questions: 10 July 2024
Submission of full proposal: 24 July 2024
Culture, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (CEDI):
There are currently no contract opportunities for CEDI
Finance
Wellcome's Finance team are currently working on a finance transformation programme which seeks to improve the operational efficiency of the finance function and enhance the level of organisation-wide engagement with and utilisation of financial data/insights to make more informed decisions. The programme has reached a crucial phase. A strategic change management plan is essential to maximise engagement, identify emerging challenges and ensure a smooth transition to future ways of working.
Wellcome is looking for a supplier to review our finance transformation programme and develop a robust change management proposal to enhance the programme's effectiveness and ensure its successful implementation.
Eligibility: Open to all
Submission of expression of interest and questions: 10 July 2024
Submission of full proposal: 22 July 2024
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.
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Facilitators:
Complete this form if you have expertise in facilitating workshops, producing write-ups of events and other facilitation activities.
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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.