The Wellcome Trust has announced that it is increasing its spending on scientific research, Nature News reports. Over the course of the next five years, the charity plans to spend £5 billion (US $7.7 billion) — an increase from its £6 billion that it spend during the past 10 years.
Jeremy Farrar, the director of the Wellcome Trust, tells Nature News that this increase is due to the performance of the trust's £18 billion endowment. He says that its assets grew by more than 10 percent between 2013 and 2014 and by some 13 percent the previous year.
"At a time of relative austerity and challenges, the fact that the Wellcome Trust is in a position to increase its funding and investment in science is really very, very important," Farrar adds.
The charity didn't elaborate on how it planned to distribute the extra funds, though Farrar says it "will do more of what [it's] already doing," while also looking for other areas to focus on.