UK-based scientists from black, Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage have been invited to apply for a share of £20 million under a Wellcome Trust scheme to help underrepresented groups progress in science.
The new awards will provide grants of up to £200,000 over two years to researchers engaged in the fields of mental health, infectious diseases and climate-related health and are open to those working or resident in the UK who identify as coming from a black, Bangladeshi or Pakistani background.
The funding will be open to researchers at any stage of their career from postdoctoral level onwards, up to but not including professorships, said the biomedical research charity as it announced the bespoke funding stream on 25 January.
The initiative, which is thought to be the UK’s first significant competitive funding stream to which only ethnic minority candidates can apply, is part of the charity’s efforts to become a more inclusive funder, explained Shomari Lewis-Wilson, senior manager (research culture and communities) at Wellcome.
