Wellcome Trust: Intermediate Clinical Fellowships

Eligibility Criteria

The award is open to individuals with a relevant connection to the EEA.

You should have previously undergone a period of research training and will have completed, or be about to complete, a higher degree.

Due allowance will be given to those whose career has been affected by a late start or for personal reasons (e.g. time away due to maternity, paternity, adoption leave or other caring responsibilities, or ill-health).

Where applicants have taken formal maternity, paternity or adoption leave as the primary carer (either the mother, father, partner or adopter), the Trust will allow an additional six months for each period of parental leave when assessing eligibility. Each case will be considered individually and the employing institution may need to confirm that the applicant qualifies for this provision.

You should have completed general professional training as defined by the relevant college.

• Medical and dental candidates should either have a National Training Number (NTN) or Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training (CCST) or equivalent.

• Veterinary candidates should have a degree in veterinary medicine (e.g. BVSc, BVM&S, BVMS, BVetMed, VetMB) and some experience in clinical practice and will have completed, or be about to complete, a higher research degree (preferably a PhD).

• GPs are advised to contact the office to clarify their eligibility.

• Clinical Psychologists must have obtained a professional Doctorate-level qualification in Clinical Psychology accredited by the British Psychological Society.

To apply for up to four years' support,you must be close to completing your higher clinical training, or have finished your higher clinical training but have not yet taken up a permanent post. Clinical work during the fellowship is restricted to eight hours or two programmed activities per week.

If you require further clinical training of between one and two years at specialist registrar level, you can apply for up to five years' support, comprising three years of research and up to two years of higher clinical training. You should demonstrate that you merit special help to continue your research career while completing clinical training, and, if successful, you can consider yourself a clinical scientist. Time permitted for clinical duties or other non-research activity during the fellowship may be up to 40 per cent.

The proposed research should fall within our normal funding remit.

Applications that previously would have fallen under the remit of tropical medicine are now considered under this scheme. Candidates carrying out research in the areas of public health and tropical medicine will be considered by the Public Health and Tropical Medicine Interview Committee.

Applicants undertaking internationally competitive postdoctoral research in stroke prevention, treatment and rehabilitation may be awarded a jointly funded Wellcome Trust/ Stroke Association fellowship under this scheme. Eligible applications will be administered by the Trust in the usual way.

Resubmissions are only allowed in exceptional circumstances. If your application has been unsuccessful, please contact the Office for further advice.

Sponsorship

You can apply through any eligible UK or Republic of Ireland sponsoring institution. For research to be carried out primarily in a low- or middle-income country, an appropriate training institute, such as a Wellcome Trust Centre for Research in Clinical Tropical Medicine, must be identified.

The sponsor must have a contract of employment with the academic institution or, in the case of a NHS employee, an honorary academic appointment. He/she must also have tenure beyond the duration of the proposed fellowship.

Your sponsor should possess a strong track record in research and mentoring, and is expected to provide guidance during the application process as well as mentorship throughout the fellowship.

Sponsors are advised to read all the scheme information provided here.

Offered Benefits

Fellowships are for up to four or five years, depending on situation (see 'Eligibility'). They provide research expenses (materials and consumables, travel, support to attend scientific meetings, fieldwork and data collection) and the fellow's salary, set by the host institution according to age and experience.

Requests for specific items of equipment, where relevant, may be considered, and research or technical assistance may be requested. However, a laboratory appropriate to the research proposed should be selected, and the necessary facilities required for the proposed research must be available to the candidate.

Funding for a period of research abroad may be requested if scientifically justified, and we provide appropriate allowances for fellows based overseas.

No funding is provided for course fees or examination fees.

Fellowships may be taken up on a part-time employment basis, where appropriate. Applicants are advised to consult their training authority on conversion to a flexible national training number and to discuss this with us.

We are prepared to consider salary requests at consultant level for fellows who are awarded an honorary consultant contract during the tenure of the fellowship.

Successful candidates for this scheme may be considered for a Wellcome-Beit Prize Fellowship. These are intended to provide additional recognition for outstanding biomedical researchers who have been awarded Wellcome Trust Intermediate Fellowships.