Wellcome Prize for Mental Health: Transform Lives with New Interventions

Organization: WELLCOME

Application deadline: September 18th, 2026

ABOUT

The Wellcome Prize for Mental Health Science with Nature champions new interventions that can transform the lives of people affected by anxiety, depression and psychosis. One winning team will receive US$1  million, with three finalists awarded US$250,000 each to accelerate adoption.

Benefits:

An expenses-paid invitation to attend and speak at a mental health science symposium and the prize gala ceremony in London in June 2027.
A tailored development programme offering practical support to help advance interventions towards adoption and policy integration.
Opportunities to engage with influential leaders, including policymakers, clinicians, healthcare providers, people with lived experience of mental health conditions and media.
Beyond financial backing, the prize will provide visibility, connections and practical support to help winning interventions progress towards adoption and policy integration.

Prizes

One overall Prize winner will receive US$1 million.
Three runners-up will be awarded US$250,000 each.

Eligibility criteria

Should be in the areas of anxiety, depression and psychosis and have the potential to transform people’s lives.
Can be pharmacological, psychological, social or digital. Standalone tools are not eligible.
Must be novel, in concept or application, going considerably beyond established knowledge or routine practice.
Be grounded in a strong scientific and theoretical rationale.
Demonstrated improvement on clinically relevant endpoints such as symptoms and functioning, or secondary endpoints such as quality of life.
Be supported by evidence from an appropriately powered randomised controlled trial, or an equivalent rigorous study design.
The most recent clinical data must be published in a peer-reviewed journal or verifiable through a recognised repository and dated within the past five years.
Should be at an early stage of implementation and not yet be adopted as standard of care in more than two countries.
Should show meaningful involvement of people with lived experience throughout the intervention’s lifecycle, supported by clear evidence.

Who can Apply

Any team based at a university, research institute or hospital, government or not‑for‑profit organisation or small and medium‑sized enterprise (SME).
Any team located in any country, excluding those on our restricted list.
Should have a core member of the research group to act as the lead applicant.
Must be the research group that discovered or invented the intervention.

Evaluation criteria

Novel

The intervention has developed a new approach to treating a mental health challenge that promises to improve on existing treatments in terms of effectiveness, side effect profile or precision.

Credible

The intervention has been informed by robust research and lived experience participation.

Effective

The intervention is effective at treating the mental health challenge it targets and at demonstrating improvement on clinically relevant endpoints, supported by a high standard of evidence.

Adoptable

The intervention demonstrates a viable route to integration and sustained delivery within relevant clinical or care systems, with the capacity to reach the intended population.