Wellcome is an independent, global charitable foundation governed by its constitution. The Board of Governors has responsibility for Wellcome's activities. The Executive Team is responsible for its day-to-day management. We take advice from advisory committees of experts and peer reviewers to make funding decisions on grant applications.
The Wellcome Trust is an independent, global charitable foundation (registered charity number 210183). Like all registered charities in England and Wales, Wellcome is regulated by the Charity Commission.
The Wellcome Trust was created in 1936 by the will of Sir Henry Wellcome. It is now governed by our Constitution, an updated version of Sir Henry Wellcome's will.
The Trust is a charity registered in England and Wales (registration number 210183). The sole trustee of the Wellcome Trust is The Wellcome Trust Limited, a company limited by guarantee registered in England (company number 2711000).
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Our Board of Governors guides and oversees Wellcome in achieving its mission to improve health for everyone by helping great ideas to thrive. The board is responsible for all Wellcome’s activities but focuses on our mission, professionalism and people.
The governors ensure that we:
- fulfil our mission by adopting the right long-term strategy and priorities
- uphold high standards in the way we run Wellcome, and the way we conduct ourselves
- are true to our beliefs and values in all that we do
- have a high-quality culture of which we can be proud and that reflects our principles
- have the right people in place to deliver our mission, both within Wellcome and externally in the activities we support.
Accountability
We are accountable to society for delivering our mission, while using our independence for public benefit.
Committees of the Board
The Board of Governors is supported by its principal committees, all of which have at least one member who is a governor. The membership and terms of reference of these committees are:
Our leadership team is made up of senior managers from Wellcome's different divisions. It is chaired by our Chief Executive Officer, John-Arne Røttingen. It reports directly to the Board of Governors.
Executive committee members are responsible for Wellcome's day-to-day management and provide advice to both the governors and the Chief Executive Officer on strategic, planning, operational and policy matters.
Wellcome's operations are guided by policies that ensure how we act is legal, ethical, responsible and transparent.
Individual members of our Board of Governors may, in various circumstances, sit on committees as members or observers.
We rely on external experts to help us make decisions across Wellcome's funding remit. External experts act as members of our advisory committees and provide us with written peer reviews.
Advisory committees
View a list of the advisory committees that shortlist and interview people who have applied for funding.
Expert reviewers
We recognise the effort that the research community dedicates to providing reviews. We are very grateful to all the reviewers who provided their invaluable expertise, which is important for our decision making. In recognition of these people, we have listed below the names of all those who provided expert and committee reviews in 2022.
Read our latest annual reports, financial statements and bondholder update.
We've published details about our gender and ethnicity pay gap.
