Some UK research funders are opting to give larger and longer-term grants to fewer awardees than before. The government-funded Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council in Swindon is restructuring its grants on the basis of research showing that larger, longer grants result in a higher publication and citation rate, says spokeswoman Victoria McGuire. And the Science and Technology Facilities Council, also in Swindon, has merged two of its grant mechanisms into a single scheme to provide better long-term support, says spokeswoman Julia Maddock. The Wellcome Trust, a charitable foundation based in London, has created two types of larger grants of up to £425,000 (US$661,000) a year for up to seven years, which will have fewer recipients than its traditional schemes.