International Engagement Awards, Wellcome Trust

The Wellcome Trust International Engagement Awards provide funding for innovative public or community engagement projects that explore biomedical research or health in Africa and Asia.

We believe that understanding the social, political and historical contexts of biomedical science helps to deliver its full potential for health improvement and builds a society in which both research and the next generation of scientists can flourish.

The public engagement activities we fund bridge the gap between the research community and the general public, and provide channels for these groups to understand one another. Engagement should encourage a critical awareness of the personal, ethical and cultural impacts of health research and should stimulate an insightful sharing of views that has benefits for all involved.

The value of the projects we fund does not lie in public education but in true public engagement, which is why our International Engagement Awards do not support health promotion or basic health information provision, but projects that involve the community and facilitate discussion. Competitive projects could come in many forms, such as community-led digital storytelling, collaborative theatre projects or café-style debates. Our aim is to ensure science can be enjoyed and experienced as part of culture, entertainment and everyday life.

How do I apply?

International Engagement Awards provide grants of up to £30,000 for up to three years.

Projects should:

• stimulate dialogue about biomedical research and health and its impact on the public
• promote innovative partnerships between community organisations, the cultural sector, and scientists/researchers
• strengthen capacity to conduct future public or community engagement with biomedical research and health.

Projects that are not eligible for the scheme include health promotion or public health campaign projects, research projects, or projects that do not deal with biomedical sciences, health or the history of medicine.

The scheme is open to a range of potential applicants, including scientists and health researchers, NGOs, educators, artists, theatre practitioners, and cultural and community organisations.

We encourage partnerships in all projects and suggest that scientist-led projects be planned in collaboration with partners in civil society or the creative industries.

Projects must either be led by, or in collaboration with, biomedical scientists or health researchers.

The audience for the project, and the engagement activity, must be in a low- or middle-income country within Sub-Saharan Africa, South-east Asia or South Asia that is also eligible for our Investigator Awards within the broader remit of the Trust (but also including India). These are the countries marked with an asterisk on our LMIC country eligibility page.

To apply, you must first submit an expression of interest for the International Engagement Awards and email it to us. If your project is suitable for the scheme, we will ask you to complete a full application form.

We encourage you to contact us as early as possible before the deadline so we are able to provide feedback and there is sufficient time for you to complete the full application form.

All eligible projects will be assessed individually on merit and need by a funding committee. Final decisions will be made approximately 10 weeks after the full application deadline.

This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:

http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/funding/public-engagement/Funding-schemes/InternationalEngagementAwards/index.htm