Supplementary grant funding

If your grant has been disrupted by the pandemic and is due to end in 2020 or 2021, you may have already received a supplement from us.

For all other grants, as well as those due to end in 2022 or later, we will only agree to provide a supplement in exceptional circumstances.

Instead, we expect you to manage your existing funds to lessen the impact of the pandemic disruption. For example, you could:

• adjust your research programme
• use your grant funds flexibly (read our policy on transferring costs between budget headings)
• ask for help from your organisation
• use the government support available, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (in the UK) if your employer determines that this is appropriate.

If your award is from our Innovations division and payments are conditional on milestones, you should discuss your needs with your Wellcome contact.

See our Coronavirus (Covid-19): information for grantholders.

We will provide supplementary funding to cover:

• the costs of paid parental leave or sick leave taken by Wellcome-funded staff
• the cost of paid jury service where it is the employer's policy to provide pay for this leave 
• additional direct research costs (such as research staff and expenses) when a Wellcome grantholder takes parental leave, sick leave or paid jury service.

For sick leave, tell us when you took sick leave and for how long, but please do not share any sensitive personal health information with us.

We may provide supplementary funding to cover:

• Increases to grantholder's salaries (where they are funded by Wellcome) resulting from:
  • promotions – within an organisation and when moving to another organisation)
  • regrading – for example, when a clinician completes their clinical training and receives an Honorary Consultant Contract (HCC).

You must include evidence with your request to show that the standard institutional process has been followed.

• Additional Programmed Activities (PAs) when a clinician with an HCC, formally renegotiates their employment contract from the standard 10 PAs a week to 11 PAs. We will not pay for a 12th PA.

• Salary support for compassionate leave. We will pay up to five full days' salary. If your employing organisation provides more than five days, we will consider a supplement to your grant for 50% of the cost incurred by your organisation for the extra days. Your organisation must pay the remaining 50%.

• Support to enable grantholders, and anyone working on a grant, including Wellcome-funded students, to complete their project if:
  • they are disabled or have a long-term health condition, and
  • the government and/or their employer doesn't cover these costs, either in full or not at all.

Read about how to ask for these costs.

• Open access publication costs if:

  • the costs are in line with our open access policy, and
  • your organisation does not receive Wellcome open access block grant funding.

• Visa, work permit, renewal and Immigration Health Surcharge costs for staff employed on your grant, their partners and dependants, where:

  • the personal costs they are entitled to exceed the costs awarded, and
  • there are insufficient grant funds to cover these costs. 

We will not supplement the cost of applying for indefinite leave to remain.

• Additional overseas allowances, where the personal costs they are entitled to exceed the costs awarded.

• Adverse currency exchange rate movements, if your grant was awarded in a currency chosen by Wellcome. Read our guidance on currency exchange rate fluctuations.

• Unexpected circumstances such as war and natural disasters that organisational insurance does not cover. 

We will consider a request for supplementary funding (and additional time if needed) under two categories:

1. For completion of original award objectives where unpredictable events have prevented the objectives of the original award being completed and there are no remaining funds left on the award. These supplements may be considered on all our funding schemes.

Examples include:

• technical failure
• access hampered, for instance due to facility shutdown or refurbishment
• patient recruitment delays

2. For unforeseen developments where a new research direction has arisen directly resulting from the original grant objectives which may enhance the original outputs, and additional funds are needed to pursue. These supplements are only available for one-off funding calls and directed activity.

Examples include:

• to expand scope and/or methodology beyond original activity that will contribute to the original outcome(s)
• to investigate further initial findings that will contribute to original outcomes 
• to provide additional and specialist resources (not previously budgeted for) to maximise opportunities created and/or enhance original objectives
• to expand clinical trials, for example, to add new sites or a new arm to the original trial (this does not cover recruitment delays nor delays to clinical trials)

No additional extensions and/or revisions to the end date will be considered, including bringing the end date earlier, unless they are related to change due to parental leave, sick leave or changes to working hours.

We will consider requests of no more than 30% of the original award value. If an extension in time is also being requested, it must not be for longer than 12 months.

We will not award a costed extension and a no-cost extension on the same award.

How to request a costed extension (supplement for research-related reasons)

You should submit your request using the online form no sooner than 12 months and no later than 3 months before the original end date. Requests will not be considered if they are received after the original grant end date.

You will need to tell us:

• the amount of funding you need
• your proposed new end date (if requesting an extension in time)
• under which of the two categories you are requesting a supplement (see above)
• the reason for requesting a supplement, with a short explanation of why
• how much funding remains on the grant
• that remaining funds are not being used from ring-fenced budget headings for other purposes.

We don't provide supplementary funding when the actual costs of employing staff are more than the salary budget we've awarded. For example, when:

• actual pay awards for staff are more than those used to calculate the salary budget
• staff are employed on a higher salary than originally budgeted for
• there is an increase in employers' National Insurance and/or USS pension contributions
• there is an increase in studentship fees and stipend rates.

You can use any of the other funds on your grant to cover the actual costs of employing staff.