FunDing to non-UK universities by the Wellcome Trust

Introduction

• With its £26.8bn endowment, the Wellcome Trust is one of the biggest foundations in the world, and the biggest in the UK. It funds a wide range of bio- and social science research. An analysis of its giving from 2009-18 shows that it has disbursed £295m to 172 non-UK universities in 55 countries over the past 10 years.

• The Wellcome Trust funding is geared to UK-based science but five percent of all its grants in the past ten years (£6.23bn) has gone to international universities.

• Our analysis shows that African institutions are the largest beneficiaries of Wellcome Trust international university funding. Funding to Africa is weighted towards infectious disease research, notably HIV and tuberculosis.

• Between 2009-18 African universities received 37% (£108.3m) of giving. European institutions are second place receiving 24% of giving (£71.6m) while Australasian universities are the third place receiving 15% (£42.9m).

• South Africa is a significant beneficiary of Wellcome Trust giving. Institutions in South Africa received 20% of all non-UK university giving (£58.8m).

• Australian institutions are the second biggest national group receiving 14% (£42.4m) while Irish universities followed with £41.1m.

• Monash University in Australia is the biggest beneficiary, receiving 11.5% of non-UK higher education funding.

• The top three university beneficiaries are Monash University (£33.8m), University of Cape Town (£24.9m), and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (£23.9m).

• The largest individual donation to a non-UK university was an award in 2018 of £13.6m to Monash University to fund its mosquito-borne disease research programme.

• University College Dublin has received the highest number of Wellcome Trust grants in the past decade - 78 awards amounting to £7.7m.

• Drexel University is the biggest US beneficiary receiving £9.4m for a study focused on social and health inequalities in Latin America. This donation made in 2017 is the third biggest single donation to a non-UK university.