How to manage your grant budget

If you’re a Wellcome grantholder, you and your administering organisation are responsible for managing grant finances appropriately. You should monitor your spending so that research costs can be met by your grant budget.

Unless there are specific restrictions in your award letter, you can move costs between budget headings. This gives you the flexibility to spend funds to benefit your research.

Small-scale transfers between budget headings don’t need our approval. But you must discuss the following significant transfers with us:

• underspend because a fellow or student is employed for less time than expected
• underspend because of major changes to research staffing levels
• major changes in animal use and equipment purchases
• staff spend less time working overseas than anticipated and no longer need overseas allowances
• a need to spend funding for overheads or research management support on other activities
• a need to spend funding for public engagement on other activities.

In exceptional circumstances, we may specify in the award letter that certain costs may not be used for any other purpose. Examples of costs where this may happen include:

• overseas allowances
• the International Recruitment Supplement
• overheads
• grants awarded in partnership with other funders.

Read about the type of costs you can claim on the grant.

We may not pay for costs that we haven’t approved and which are significantly different to those in your original award.

We do not provide supplementary funding except in specific circumstances.