What we do and don’t fund in mental health
Learn more about what we do and don't fund
Mental health research funding opportunities
Find out what mental health research we are funding – now and in the future.
We want to create transformative change in mental health by finding better ways to intervene early in depression, anxiety, and psychosis.
To achieve this, we design specific funding calls that we believe will best advance our understanding of these conditions and catalyse the creation of equitable new interventions and treatments.
We want our funding calls to:
- generate the maximum range of new ideas and approaches
- include a diverse field of researchers from around the world
- target existing bottlenecks
- build on promise for breakthrough
- draw on the priorities and expertise of people with lived experience.
What funding calls have we launched?
- Mental Health Award: applying neuroscience to understand symptoms in anxiety, depression and psychosis
- Mental Health Award: Understanding how anxiety- and trauma-related problems develop, persist and resolve
- Mental Health Award: Finding the right treatment, for the right people, at the right time for anxiety and depression
- Mental Health Award: Integrating sleep and circadian science into our understanding and treatment of anxiety, depression and psychosis
- Mental Health Award: improving cognitive and functional outcomes in people experiencing, or at risk of, psychosis
- Mental Health Award: looking backwards, moving forward – understanding how interventions for anxiety, depression, and psychosis work
We plan to spend £16 billion by 2032 to advance scientific discovery and take on the world’s most urgent health issues.
Find out more about the broader grant funding we offer researchers via the button below.
You can also apply for one of three Discovery Research awards with a Mental Health research proposal regardless of current specific Mental Health funding calls.
To keep up to date with our funding call launches, follow @WellcomeTrust on Twitter, and sign up for our funding newsletter below.
What funding calls can we expect in the future?
To support researchers applying for our schemes, we’re sharing a broad outline of funding calls that are scheduled to launch in the next two years.
- Spring 2024: Leveraging neuroscience to help illuminate and resolve anxiety, depression, and psychosis
- Summer 2024: Research new and improved digital technology to aid early intervention in anxiety, depression, and psychosis.
These calls are still under development, and we have not yet agreed the specific scope, assessment criteria, or timing. As such, they are subject to change.
Got ideas for other calls that with advance our strategy? Let us know about them via our suggestions form.
