ARE YOU READY TO:
- Work on your professional goals?
- Be part of a network of early career mental health researchers who can support each other in 2024 and beyond?
- Be supported to achieve your goals in a fully funded programme?
- Develop your professional networks, skills and experience to work across sectors and disciplines and make a difference through mental health and addictions research?
TIMELINE:
Applications open: 30 January 2024
Deadline for applications: 5 March 2024
Programme duration: June - December 2024. See schedule for exact dates
What can I expect from the GROW Programme?
- Five 1 to 1 coaching sessions to identify and work on your own professional development goals
- Peer networking and support
- Opportunities to meet and connect with senior researchers/PIs
- Participation in the GROW Gathering, a one day meeting with other GROW alumni in attendance. Sessions will be run by alumni and coaches.
- Monthly virtual workshops on topics such as:
- working across disciplines and sectors
- making an impact – working with policy and practice
- securing funding
- collaborating with patients and the public in research
- looking to the future of mental health research.
Most programme activities will be held virtually, but we also bring our researchers together for two face-to-face workshops in June and October, held in London.
Who can apply to join the GROW Programme?
Essential criteria
- Working in a research role in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, or Wales
- Early career researcher in any discipline or sector
- Have completed a PhD (or in exceptional circumstances gained equivalent research experience) so we can bring together a group of researchers at a similar career stage
- Passionate about applied mental health or addiction research that has the potential to improve lives
- Curious about working across disciplines and sectors
- Interested to meet peers, form new collaborations and support each other
- Able to dedicate the equivalent of 1.5 days per month between June and December 2024 to participate in GROW activities
- Be ready to reflect on your professional development and identify and work towards new professional goals.
Desirable criteria
We particularly welcome applications from researchers whose backgrounds, disciplines, and regions are currently under-represented in mental health and addictions research.
Workshop dates and times
Thursday 20 June: workshop 1
- Time: 10.00am-4.00pm
- Location: face-to-face (London)
Monday 15 July: workshop 2
- Time: 10.30am-2.00pm
- Location: online
Tuesday 20 August: workshop 3
- Time: 10.30am-12.00pm
- Location: online
Friday 13 September: workshop 4
- Time: 10.30am-2.00pm
- Location: online
Wednesday 9 October: workshop 5
- Time: 10.00am-4.00pm
- Location: face-to-face (London)
Monday 11 November: workshop 6
- Time: 10.30am-2.00pm
- Location: online
Wednesday 4 December: workshop 7
- Time: 10.30am-2.00pm
- Location: online
Frequently Asked Questions
In most cases, no.
We are particularly interested in applications from those who have completed a PhD and will, in very exceptional circumstances, consider applications from individuals who have equivalent research experience in any setting.
One of the aims of GROW is to build a network of peers who are all at the same stage of their career so they can learn and develop together. The sessions will be pitched at providing the most use to this group and will have less impact for all those involved if the focus is split among different career stages. We have had feedback from previous cohorts who have highlighted the importance of this for their experience of the programme and in order to get the most out of their participation.
All applicants can use the questions we ask in the application form to set out what they will bring to the programme and how they meet the criteria.
The Mental Health Research Incubator and our partners have lots of activities planned in the year ahead for researchers at all levels and backgrounds so it is worth subscribing to our newsletter to keep in touch with events and opportunities if you are not quite at the career stage for the GROW programme yet.
No. If you are working in a research role and based in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland you can apply. For example, you might be working in a research role in a local authority, in a clinical setting, or for a charity or third-sector organisation. We would love to have participants from a range of sectors participating in the programme.
No – in fact we are keen to have participants join the GROW Programme from a broad range of disciplines and professional backgrounds. Previous cohorts have included researchers from pharmacy, nursing, social work, psychiatry, economics, and art.
This year we are expanding our focus to include early career researchers who focus on addiction. Addiction is an area which often overlaps with mental health research, but is under-funded and understudied by NIHR applicants. We therefore particularly welcome applications from addiction researchers this year.
The programme is completely free to attend. While the majority of our sessions will be online, we will be able to support participants with the cost of travel to the two face-to-face sessions if needed.
We often get asked why we hold all our in person events in London rather than in other areas of the country. Each year when we do our planning we reevaluate this and look into other locations which would be as accessible and enable all GROW participants to attend easily with as little time commitment and upheaval to life as possible. However, given the geographic dispersal of participants and transport links around the UK, London is the only hub that would enable people from all areas of the country to access with the minimal amount of transport hassle. Many considered locations are tricky to access from one side of the country or the other, leading to journey times that are often as long and require changes on a train, as opposed to long or similar length, more straight forward journeys.
You can email the Mental Health Research Incubator team at mhresearch@psych.ox.ac.uk or DM us on Twitter.
Applications are assessed by a group of senior mental health researchers with significant experience in research and academia. Applications are assigned to reviewers randomly and any conflict of interests are avoided (such as knowing the applicant/coming from the same institution).
Applications will not be assessed until after the closing date on 5 March, not on a first come first served basis.
The GROW Programme is free to attend. The GROW Programme is funded under the NIHR's Mental Health Research Initiative via NIHR Research Infrastructure.