From spring 2024, the Charity may provide additional places on shortlists for researchers who are disabled, or who “identify as being from a Black, Bangladeshi or Pakistani heritage background”

The announcement on 25 January comes alongside a new £20 million scheme to provide “flexible funding” for underrepresented groups and is the latest effort by the charity to be in the vanguard of equality, diversity and inclusion in UK research.
Wellcome noted that their commitment to positive action across funding calls doesn’t mean all applications from underrepresented groups will automatically be added to the shortlist, and that there isn’t a minimum level of representation required in shortlists for each call or scheme. Applications from underrepresented groups who might previously have just missed out on making the shortlist could be given a place. The rest of the evaluation process will be unchanged. In addition to underrepresented groups, Wellcome noted that they will consider whether there is a sufficient mix of disciplines and geographies on the shortlist to achieve the aims of the call and may add additional applications to shortlists.
The charity spent £1.7 billion in 2022-23 and plans to spend £16bn over 10 years. The new £20m funding scheme will award up to £200,000 to UK-based researchers of Black, Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage. Wellcome noted that this will be an annual call for an initial four years, each worth around £4.5m. Funding will be available to researchers from postdoctoral stage up to but not including professorship working across any area that Wellcome supports. The awards are aimed at helping researchers stay in research and progress their careers. Having initially designed the scheme for Black researchers, Wellcome expanded it to include researchers of Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage, due to similar patterns of underrepresentation.