Burroughs Wellcome Fund

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OVERVIEW: The Burroughs Wellcome Fund broadly funds research in the biomedical sciences. Its main grant making goals are supporting early- and mid-career scientists and STEM education at all levels.

IP TAKE: Early- and mid-career researchers in biomedicine and health should get to know the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF). This funder offers generous multi-year funding to support and encourage research in fields of interest relating to infectious diseases, reproductive health, climate-related health concerns and more. Many of its awards provide multi-year support to individuals or teams and accept letters of inquiry and/or applications for funding. Programs tend to change somewhat every year, however, so check back frequently for updates and new opportunities.

PROFILE: With roots in 19th-century England, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund was established in the U.S. in 1955, as an outgrowth of a philanthropy the pharmaceutical company had begun in England. It was affiliated for decades with Henry Wellcome’s drug enterprise, until a generous gift from the U.K.’s Wellcome Trust enabled its independence from the business in 1993. It now distributes grants through a wide range of focus areas, including Biomedical Sciences, Infectious Diseases, Interfaces in Science, Regulatory Science,Reproductive Sciences, Climate Change, Career Guidance, Diversity in Science and Science Education.

Grants for Diseases and Public Health

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund typically awards disease-related grants out of four of its funding programs.

  • The Biomedical Sciences program runs three subprograms.

    • The Resident Faculty Scholar award allows “a faculty member, or small groups of faculty members” to utilize the fund’s headquarters for “mini-sabbaticals/project incubation” related to the organization’s areas of interest. Residencies include “[o]ffice space, computer access, meeting facilities and other dry laboratory resources” for up to six months. BWF offers funding for “support travel, lodging, meetings, and faculty salary.” Faculty of all levels of seniority are eligible to apply, and the fund generally awards two residencies per year.

    • The Physician-Scientist Institutional Award support researchers with doctoral degrees in “physical, mathematical, or engineering sciences working on a biological problem.” In each round of funding, BWF awards multi-year grants in the amount of $2.5 million to up to five researchers with the aim of supporting the career development of innovative independent researchers in the field. This program last ran in 2019 and is not currently accepting applications. Check back periodically for updates.

    • Career Awards for Medical Scientists provide five years of funding totaling $700,000 to physician-scientists during “advanced postdoctoral/fellowship training and the early years of faculty service.” This program appears to run annually and sometimes names specific areas of research interest.

  • The Infectious Diseases program awards researchers whose work concerns “…human-pathogen interactions in these infectious diseases.” Wellcome awards $500,000 over five years to researchers studying pathogenesis, focusing on the interaction between human and microbial biology. This program accepts applications and appears to run annually.

  • The Regulatory Science program awards grants for up to $500,000 over five years for studying regulatory science informing how medical regulatory decisions are made. This program does not accept applications and does not appear to run annually. Sign up for updates at the program’s webpage.

  • One of BWF’s newest programs, Reproductive Science, supports the Next-Gen Pregnancy Initiative to support research on causes and conditions relating to preterm birth and maternal complications. The program supports individual scientists or teams pursuing basic and/or translational research and prioritizes projects that forge “new connections between reproductive scientists and investigators who are involved in other areas is particularly encouraged.” Grants of up to $500,000 are distributed over a four-year period.

  • The Burroughs Wellcome fund’s Climate Change program focuses on the effects of climate change on human health. The fund offers two awards in this area.

    • Climate and Health Interdisciplinary Awards individual scientists and/or research teams pursuing research on “assessing or mitigating the impacts of climate change on human health.” The fund prioritizes collaborative work and research by “Early career faculty and postdoctoral fellows nearing their transition to independence.” The award is of determinable size and aims to provide “flexible funding for conceiving and piloting work that will grow into productive and informative collaborations among researchers approaching connected questions from fields that usually do not interact.” This program accepts letters of inquiry, but proposals are accepted by invitation only.

    • Climate Change and Human Health Seed Grants “promote the growth of new connections between scholars, practitioners, educators, and/or communicators working to understand, spread the word about, and mitigate the impacts of climate change on human health.” One-year grants range between $2,500 and $50,000. Through the application process the fund may suggest “that separate groups of applicants submitting similar proposals work together to develop a single proposal or that applicants consider becoming involved in efforts aligned with work funded in earlier quarters.” Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Grants for Science Research, Higher Education and STEM

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund funds a range of awards and prizes for early career scientists, medical students, student researchers and teachers.

  • Diversity in Science Program runs two enrichment programs to promote diversity at the graduate and postdoctoral levels.

    • The Graduate Diversity Enrichment Program offers doctoral students from underrepresented backgrounds scholarships of up to $5,000 disbursed over a two-year period. Limited to universities in North Carolina, the program also offers awardees “opportunities for greater science and research enrichment experiences.” This program appears to run annually with an application due date that falls in June. BWF gives as many as ten awards per cycle.

    • The Postdoctoral Diversity Enrichment Program supports “underrepresented minority postdoctoral fellows in a degree-granting institution in the United States or Canada whose training and professional development are guided by mentors committed to helping them advance to stellar careers in biomedical or medical research.” Grants are awarded in the amount of $60,000 disbursed over three years. Applications for this program are usually due in January of each year.

  • Interfaces in Science runs BWF’s Career Awards at the Scientific Interface program. These awards support “the early career development of researchers who are transitioning from training environments in the physical, mathematical, computational sciences and/or engineering into postdoctoral work in the biological sciences.” Grants of $560,000 are disbursed over five years covering “advanced postdoctoral training and the first three years of faculty service.” Letters of intent for this program are usually due in early September each year.

  • Finally, in Science Education, BWF runs three awards programs in North Carolina.

    • The Promoting Innovation in Science and Mathematics award program is limited to North Carolina, where it supports K-12 public school teachers “in their efforts to provide quality hands-on, inquiry-based activities for their students.” Grants of up to $3,000 may be used to pay for equipment and supplies, and teachers may apply for an additional $1,500 for professional development related to funded projects or learning units. Applications for these grants are accepted with a due date in late September each year.

    • Career Awards for STEM Teachers recognize “outstanding STEM teachers in the North Carolina public primary and secondary schools.” Awards of $175,000 are accompanied by opportunities for professional development and collaboration. This program does not accept applications.

    • The Student STEM Enrichment Program support K-12 programs in North Carolina that “enable primary and secondary students to participate in creative, hands-on STEM activities for K-12 students and pursue inquiry-based exploration.” Grants support in- and out-of-school programs with grants of up to $60,000 a year for 3 years. Applications are generally due in June.

Important Grant Details:

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund’s grant, fellowships and awards are generally made in amounts set by each program.

  • This funder accepts applications for many of its programs and links instructions, materials deadlines and lists of past grantees to each of its program pages.

  • Some of this funder’s programs are limited to the state of North Carolina, while others serve researchers and teams anywhere in the U.S. or Canada. Citizenship is not a requirement for BWF’s awards.

  • Grantseekers should review program guidelines carefully, as requirements and deadlines will vary.

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