Genomics in Context Awards 2026 – Transdisciplinary Discovery Research (Global)

The Genomics in Context Awards 2026 support transdisciplinary research teams working at the intersection of genomics, humanities, social sciences and bioethics. These awards are designed to catalyse bold, discovery-led research agendas that integrate diverse disciplinary expertise and wider societal stakeholders from the earliest stages of research design.

The programme responds to a long-standing challenge in genomics: humanities, social sciences, bioethics and community perspectives are often engaged too late in the research lifecycle. This call aims to shift that model by embedding interdisciplinary collaboration at the point of research ideation, partnership building and agenda setting.

Funded teams will receive the time, resources and institutional support to:

• Develop ambitious new discovery research agendas
• Test innovative, equitable models of collaboration and co-leadership
• Explore how genomics research can be reshaped through earlier and broader integration of diverse perspectives
• Generate proof-of-concept work and future large-scale research proposals

This scheme is focused on Discovery Research; co-developing novel research questions, methods and conceptual approaches rather than delivering large-scale research programmes.

Funding Value and Duration

• Funding amount: Up to £500,000 per award
• Duration: 12–24 months
• Frequency: One-off call

Funding is intended to support collaborative agenda development, pilot activities, stakeholder engagement, and innovative research design activities. It is not designed to fund full-scale research programmes.

Geographic Scope

• Country-specific: Open globally
• Exclusion: Organisations based in mainland China are not eligible
• Province/State-specific: No internal regional restrictions within eligible countries

The administering organisation (lead applicant’s institution) may be based anywhere in the world except mainland China and must be able to sign up to Wellcome’s grant conditions.

Who Can Apply

Lead Applicant

The lead applicant must:

• Be a researcher in genomics-related life sciences or humanities, social sciences, or bioethics
• Hold a PhD or have at least four years’ equivalent research experience
• Have demonstrated leadership and research management capability
• Hold (or be guaranteed) a permanent, open-ended, or long-term contract for the duration of the award
• Be based at an eligible organisation

Lead applicants may be at any career stage (early-career, mid-career, established).

Team Composition (Mandatory Structure)

Each application must include:

• 1 Lead Applicant
• 1–4 Coapplicants

Teams must include at least:

1. One researcher from a genomics-related life sciences field
2. One researcher from humanities, social sciences, or bioethics
3. One wider key stakeholder (e.g., community representative, civil society actor, policymaker, industry partner, lived experience expert)

Stakeholders may participate as coapplicants, collaborators, or consultants.

Coapplicants

Coapplicants:

• Must play an essential role in delivering the project
• Can be based anywhere in the world (excluding mainland China)
• Can be at any career stage
• Do not need permanent contracts but must have institutional support

Collaborators and Consultants

• Collaborators may provide access to facilities, data, expertise or networks but do not lead project components and cannot receive salary.
• Consultants may receive appropriate remuneration for expertise, travel, workshops and stakeholder engagement activities.

Research Focus Areas

Projects must demonstrate ambition, novelty and feasibility in shaping new discovery-led agendas. Indicative areas include:

1. Emerging Areas in Genomics

• AI and large-scale genomic data integration
• Synthetic genomics and interdisciplinary expansion
• Precision medicine innovations
• Biomolecular humanities

2. Reframing Existing Genomics Domains

• Anthropology and genomics
• Paleogenomics and history
• Sociology and genomic surveillance
• Health inequalities and genomics
• Integration of genomic and longitudinal social datasets

3. Transforming Research Practice

• Indigenous-led genomics
• Community-driven genomics research
• New co-leadership and governance models
• Economic and policy implications of genomics
• Addressing historical power imbalances in genomic data diversity

The call remains open to other areas that demonstrate strong transdisciplinary discovery potential linked to human life, health and wellbeing.

Activities and Outputs

Proposals must clearly outline:

• Team-building and transdisciplinary engagement strategies
• Co-leadership and equitable collaboration models
• Workshops, exchanges, placements or collaborative pilots
• Stakeholder integration from the conceptual stage

All funded teams must deliver:

• A final report outlining research area, new questions, methods and partnerships
• Findings from pilot or proof-of-concept work
• A forward-looking discovery research agenda
• Reflections on collaborative process and learning

Additional outputs may include toolkits, draft grant applications, peer-reviewed publications, networks, and capacity-building initiatives.

Assessment Criteria

Applications are assessed on:

1. Team (35%)
   • Novelty and integration of disciplines and stakeholders
   • Feasibility and equity of collaboration plan
   • Co-leadership model and power-sharing approach
2. Research Agenda (35%)
   • Ambition and creativity
   • Potential for new knowledge and field development
   • Feasibility
3. Activities and Outputs (30%)
   • Innovation of proposed activities
   • Clear beneficiary pathways
   • Alignment with award objectives

A portfolio and cohort approach will be used to ensure disciplinary and geographic diversity.

Who Cannot Apply

You cannot apply if:

• The project involves transfer of funds into mainland China
• You are part of more than one application to this call
• You exceed Wellcome’s limits on simultaneous awards
• Your administering organisation is a commercial entity

Commercial organisations may participate only as coapplicants or collaborators.

Application Timeline

• Application Deadline: 16 March 2026

Click HERE to visit the official website.