Arts & Humanities Special Interest Group joint session with Wellcome

The Arts & Humanities Special Interest Group (A&H SIG) and the Wellcome held a joint webinar in October 2023 to explore how the Discovery Research programme can better engage arts and humanities researchers. Wellcome recently reached out to the A&H SIG Co-Champions to further the discussion that started in 2023, which led to a second joint webinar on 19 February 2025. Tom Bray (Senior Research Manager, Discovery Research) and Pete Kilroy (Senior Research Manager, Discovery Research) gave a presentation to the A&H SIG which set out key feedback from the October 2023 webinar and provided an update on progress and actions taken to address the feedback. Recordings of the Wellcome’s presentations from the 2023 and 2025 webinars can be found on the Arts & Humanities SIG page (login required).

In their presentation, Wellcome very clearly set out how they responded to the feedback from the 2023 A&H SIG webinar. The “You said, we did” approach gave the SIG the opportunity to provide constructive input on how these changes are working in practice and to comment on any unintended consequences. Following the presentation, Wellcome delved into more in-depth discussions with SIG members about how Wellcome can support research managers and administrators who support arts and humanities research communities. The break-out discussions were lively and engaging, providing further feedback for Wellcome to consider in relation to the Discovery Research programme.

Commenting on the recent webinar, Tom and Pete said, “Working with ARMA to facilitate this engagement is crucial to the work of Discovery Research at Wellcome. It gives us an insight into emerging challenges and opportunities in arts and humanities research, and it consolidates our view that these disciplines are a vital part of generating new knowledge and shifting our understanding of health and wellbeing. The webinar raised important questions and enabled productive discussion about how Wellcome and the research community can best work together.”