Sanger Excellence Fellowship
Applications for the Sanger Excellence Fellowship are currently closed. We look forward to sharing information about future application rounds when dates are confirmed.
Following the success of our Excellence Fellowship in 2022, 2023 and 2024, we are proud of the impact the programme has had to date. Our three-year Fellowship is aimed at researchers from Black heritage backgrounds. You can Meet our three Inaugural Fellows and our 2023/24 cohort.
The Fellowship was created to enable Black early career researchers to develop their research portfolio and thrive in the field of UK genomics science. It is designed to attract research excellence and provides Fellows with training, mentorship and tailored support to help drive their careers forward and strengthen a more diverse future talent pipeline.
The programme has been developed in close collaboration with internal and external experts, including senior Black academics and Black-led community groups, who helped shape its overall approach.
About the Fellowship
This Fellowship is aimed at early career researchers and the general requirements are an Undergraduate degree and PhD awarded from institutions within the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands (the common travel area). We pride ourselves in offering a first-class and well-resourced exceptional learning environment and our Postdoctoral Fellowship Development Programme provides a comprehensive training experience designed to equip individuals with the knowledge, training and skills they require to be successful in their future careers – whatever they may do.
This particular scheme is open to people who self-identify as being from a Black heritage background, including a mixed heritage background. For example, Black African; Black Caribbean; Black Other; Mixed background (to include Black African, Black Caribbean or other Black backgrounds).
The Fellowships sits alongside our broader equity, diversity and inclusion activities that aim to ensure excellence, regardless of background, can be supported and nurtured at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.
Salary
The Fellows are part of our Postdoctoral Fellowship programme and are paid in line with this pay scale (£38,000-£41,956 per annum in 2025), dependent on skills and experience. The Sanger Excellence Fellowship also includes research consumables of up to £18,000 per annum, dependent on the nature of the project and a budget of £1,500 per annum for the Fellow to attend conferences and training.
Application process (for information only)
In previous rounds, candidates were invited to submit an Expression of Interest to outline to assess eligibility:
- This Fellowship is aimed at early career researchers and the general requirements are an Undergraduate degree and PhD awarded from institutions from within the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands (the common travel area).
- This particular scheme is only open to people who self-identify as being from a Black heritage background, including a Mixed heritage background. For example, Black African; Black Caribbean; Black Other; Mixed background (to include Black African, Black Caribbean or other Black backgrounds).
We can offer informal discussions about the application process and what support we can provide to help with the next stages of the process. If you have any queries or wish to discuss the process, please do not hesitate to contact sangerexcellence@sanger.ac.uk
For a list of our projects see: Summary of Sanger Excellence Projects 2025
In earlier rounds, eligible candidates were invited to complete a full application via a Google form, which included:
- Whether you intend to apply to a pre-defined project or co-develop a project with
- Elements of the Resume for Research and Innovation (R4RI), otherwise known as the Narrative CV. This is to give greater flexibility on telling us about your skills and contributions to research. There are further resources on Narrative CVs here.
You will also be asked to submit your project proposal if you decided to co-develop a project with a supervisor. A template will be provided and the project proposal should be a maximum of 1000 words (figures, diagrams and references are excluded from the word count), outlining the aims, background, and methodology. You will get lots of support through this part of the process, you do not need to have previous experience of writing research proposals.
- For more information about the process and help with your application, please download:
Excellence Fellowship Guidance and FAQ for Candidates – Jun 2025.pdf - For details of the pre-defined projects available please download: 2025 Excellence Fellowship Call – list of pre-defined projects
In previous cycles, applications were reviewed by Sanger supervisors and an Excellence Review Panel, with up to 8 shortlisted invited to interview.
Shortlisted candidates were invited to a candidate information day at the Wellcome Genome Campus to meet supervisors, research teams, current Excellence Fellows and the wider Sanger postdoc community. Interview preparation support was also provided.
Programme areas
Please have a look at the Institute’s research programmes below to learn more about what we do and how our research activities fit with your area of research interest.
Development and review of the Fellowship
Advisory Group
This Fellowship was created by drawing on the knowledge and experience of an Advisory Group comprising internal and external stakeholders from across the academic ecosystem. We are grateful for their guidance and support, their insights have had a lasting impact on its direction. As we move forward, we remain committed to improving our processes and widening the impact of the Fellowship.
- Dr David Adams, Senior Faculty, Wellcome Sanger Institute
- Tomi Akingbade, founder of the Black Women in Science Network
- Prof Jason Arday, Professor of Sociology, University of Glasgow
- Dr Maria Augusta Arruda, Head of Researcher Development, University of Nottingham
- Dr Diego Baptista, Head of Research and Funding Equity, Wellcome Trust
- Prof Dawn Edge, Professor Mental Health and Inclusivity, University of Manchester
- Nicholas Farmer, Race Equality Lead, MRC LMB
- Adrian Ibrahim, Founder, Mosaic TX
- Dr Matt Kaiser, Head of Careers and Discovery Research at Cancer Research UK
- Dr Esther Mukuka, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, NIHR
- Prof Rachel Oliver, Professor of Material Science, University of Cambridge and leader of The Inclusion Group for Equity in Research in STEMM (TIGERS in STEMM)
- Dame Cilla Snowball, GRL Board, Member of Wellcome Board of Governors
- Prof Nicholas Thomson, Senior Faculty, Wellcome Sanger Institute
- Dr Saher Ahmed, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Wellcome Sanger Institute
- Dr Paula Bailey, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, EPSRC
- Dr Sarah Goler Solecki, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Engagement and Change Manager, MRC
External review of the Excellence Fellowship
As we seek to continuously learn and improve on our processes and to widen the Fellowship’s impact, we commissioned Nexus evaluation to conduct an external and independent review of the Fellowship. The aim was to better understand what worked well and to identify opportunities to make improvements. The review is available below and as a downloadable PDF document.
Contact
For further information, please contact: sangerexcellence@sanger.ac.uk
Wellcome Sanger Institute
Find out about our Postdoctoral Programme
When you join us as a Postdoctoral Fellow you will benefit from a unique learning environment. We pride ourselves in offering a first-class and well-resourced exceptional learning environment to equip individuals with the knowledge and skills they will need for a successful career in science.