Theme 1 – Alcohol Dependence; Topic 2 – Psychological Interventions
Shivani JoshiThis set of practice and policy recommendations is based on the second meeting of the Addiction Research and Practice Special Interest Group, held on October 20th 2025.
Fully-funded PhD in Mental Health Research for Health Professionals at KCL – apply now
Bea ShelleyApplications are now open for October 2026 entry in the King’s PhD Programme in Mental Health Research for Health Professionals! This programme is funded by Wellcome and King’s College London, and means that successful applicants will have full home (UK) fees paid for, and a salary matched to the applicant’s clinical salary for three years…
Save the Date! NMAHP Research Career Showcase
Are you a health and care professional interested in mental health research? We are excited to share this upcoming event with you, in partnership with the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration and the Mental Health Platform. Research has become increasingly important in the…
MQ Mental Health launches call for 2026 Fellowship funding
MQ Mental Health will be accepting expressions of interest for the 2026 MQ Fellowships! The MQ Fellowships are very much aimed at researchers who are looking to launch their independent research career or set up their own lab. The grants of up to £250,000 over three years are for early career researchers (3-7 years post…
Theme 1 – Alcohol Dependence; Topic 1 – Alcohol Related Brain Damage
This set of practice and policy recommendations is based on the first meeting of the Addiction Research and Practice Special Interest Group, held on August 5th 2025.
Reflecting on mixed methods in mental health research
In our recent webinar, we convened a panel to discuss how to advance mixed methods in mental health research. In this article, Dr Ola Demkowicz reflects on key themes in the original BMJ paper, the webinar discussion and suggests some calls to action for the field as a whole. Mental health and the systems around…
Advancing mixed methods in mental health research – why and how?
In today’s MHR Incubator webinar, a mixed panel of experts are gathering to discuss the importance, the challenges and ways forward to progressing mixed methods mental health research. Here Dr Ola Demkowicz, co-author of a recent paper on the topic, sets out some of the key ideas. Mental health and the systems around mental health…
RSS Fellowship application day 2025! – 17 September
Applying for a research fellowship is competitive! This free event gives you the information you need to improve the quality of their application, making sure it is focused on what NIHR and their reviewers are looking for. The Fellowship Application Day aims to prepare applicants who are intending to apply in the next year to…
Share your perspective: Searching, unpacking and naming research into subjective experiences – SUNRISE study, deadline 28 July
Can you share your perspective? The SUNRISE study team is exploring how research engages with people’s personal direct experiences of mental health problems as a source of insight and understanding. It’s clear that subjective experiences shape how researchers think, feel, and decide what questions to ask. Yet, this work remains undervalued in traditional hierarchies of…
We’re hiring! – Part-time Administration Assistant
The Mental Health Research (MHR) Incubator is hiring! We’re looking for an enthusiastic and organised individual to help us with the running of our various programmes (including events) and evaluation. The Incubator supports capacity building in applied mental health research through a number of different career development programmes for mental health researchers. These include the…
Safe Spaces, Better Outcomes: Evidence-Based LGBTQIA+ Recovery Support
Written by Shannon Murray, a Senior Research Assistant in the Substance Use Research Group (SURG) at the University of South Wales This is a blog post written by Shannon Murray, a member of the Addiction Special Interest Group (SIG). For more information about the SIG, including upcoming dates and how to join, please visit this…
Introducing the Parent Carer Research Network (PCRN)
We are very excited to announce that the Parent Carer Research Network (PCRN) is open to researchers to share their research and PPIE opportunities! The Parent Carer Research Network was set up to champion the voices of parents and carers in children and young people’s mental health research. You may already have plans to involve…
Lived Experience Network for Scholars (LENS) Online Meet-up
The UK-based network LENS (Lived Experience Network for Scholars) aims to provide a supportive space for academics in the UK with lived experience of mental health and/or addictions. This network has been funded by the NIHR Mental Health Research Incubator, and is run by two Incubator alumni from the GROW programme: Dr Ruth Naughton-Doe (University of…
Wellbeing for Researchers – free wellbeing training for researchers
Dr Cecilia Busari, a psychiatrist and mental health researcher, is offering a tailored programme aimed at research and academic colleagues who are interested in equipping themselves with wellbeing skills and tools to enable them to reduce stress, improve wellbeing and strengthen healthy performance to mitigate mental illness for better career success. Participants will be invited…
What is Peer Coaching?
PeCo is a peer coaching programme – but what is peer coaching? Bea Shelley, a trainee coach, explains… Coaching can be described as an exploratory and practical conversation that supports a ‘thinker’ to do some really good quality thinking on an issue, challenge or goal of their choosing, while the other person in the conversation…
Funded clinical research delivery training for mental health professionals
Are you working in mental health? Are you interested in improving mental health care through research? Training in clinical research delivery is a vital step for mental health professionals to create system level improvements in mental health care and services. Join the webinar on Weds 7 May to find out more about the funded Masters’…
Fully funded MSc course in Clinical Research Delivery for mental health practitioners
An exciting opportunity for mental health practitioners who want to start or advance their career in clinical research! The NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration (MH-TRC) Mental Health Mission (MHM), in partnership with King’s College London and the University of Exeter, are offering 11 fully funded MSc courses in Clinical Research Delivery. The MSc online…
Mid-week roundup 19/2/25: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Mid-week roundup 5/2/25: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
PhD and postdoc funding for addiction research
The Society for the Study of Addiction (SSA) is currently advertising funding for two PhD studentships and a postdoctoral funding scheme for addiction science research. The deadline to apply for both opportunities is 13 March 2025. Find out more about the schemes on the SSA website: https://www.addiction-ssa.org/funding/
Funding call for proposals on the effects of digital tech use on CYP mental health from Huo Family Foundation
The Huo Family Foundation (HFF) is a grant giving organisation based in London. Its latest funding scheme calls for proposals investigating the effects of digital technology use on brain development, social development and mental health in children and young people (CYP). They welcome applications for Huo early-career fellowships, junior faculty research grants and special projects…
New investigator grant from MRC – neurosciences and mental health
The MRC’s new investigator grants support individuals who have not previously led a research team or been awarded a substantial grant as fellow or project lead. As such this ongoing funding opportunity could be a really great chance for researchers looking to transition to independence and lead their first research team! (But note, it’s not…
Mid-week roundup 22/1/25: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
NIHR Three Research Schools’ Suicide Prevention Research Grant
As part of the NIHR Three Research Schools’ Mental Health Programme, the NIHR are offering a single award of (up to) £400,000 for research that evaluates interventions aimed at reducing suicide attempts and suicide. The funding call is particularly interested in research that will rapidly be able to demonstrate impact and/or inform policy. Various research…
Mid-week roundup 8/1/25: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Next round of Mental Health Research Group funding – opens March 2025
NIHR’s Mental Health Research Group (MHRG) funding is a really interesting scheme to build research capacity in areas with significant mental health support needs. The idea is for institutions with low or no mental health research capacity (and close to areas of high mental health need) to partner with HEIs with more experience and expertise…
Writing retreats for mental health researchers in 2025
We are very happy to announce that we will be running not only one but two writing retreats for mental health researchers in 2025! New for next year is our fellowship application writing retreat, which will take place from 1-3 July 2025 in Gladstone’s Library, in North Wales. And following on from great feedback, we…
Three NIHR Schools’ Seminar Series (Jan – March 2025)
The Three NIHR Schools’ Mental Health Programme has announced their upcoming seminar series, running from January 2025 to March 2025. These seminars are the perfect chance to learn about a range of topics related to mental health, including gaps in care, meaningful involvement, and access to mental health services. Making a Difference Through Your…
Mid-week roundup 11/12/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Mid-week roundup 27/11/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Mid-week roundup 13/11/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Funding for projects to improve PPIE – deadline 13 Dec 2024
New funding is announced for mental health research projects which improve patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE). This funding comes from the 3 NIHR Schools Mental Health Programme. They would like to support a number of projects to improve public and community involvement and engagement and will specifically address working with the most underrepresented…
Mid-week roundup 30/10/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Career Development Awards from 3 NIHR Schools Mental Health Programme – 15 Nov deadline
Career development funding awards from the Three NIHR Schools Mental Health Programme are open now to apply for until 15 November 2024. Proposals of up to £30,000 are invited and if successful, you’ll become a member of one of the NIHR Schools, and have a personalised training and development opportunities related to that. It’s a…
Eating disorders research grants from Medical Research Foundation
The Medical Research Foundation invites early- and mid-career researchers in the field of eating disorders to apply for grants of up to £100,000 to support their research. To find out more, please visit their website.
Funding for addiction services and research groups
Do you work in an addiction service? Or are you an academic researcher of addiction? The MHR Incubator is offering two distinct types of funded placement opportunities for addiction service providers and university research groups to host researchers. Through our placement and internship programmes, we’re seeking to enable you to ask and answer the right…
Mid-week roundup 16/10/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Inclusive research design to become an NIHR condition of funding
The NIHR has recently announced changes to its funding and application process, in order to facilitate inclusion in health and care research. In order to support the NIHR’s mission of improving the nation’s health and wealth, applicants will now be required to demonstrate how inclusion is is found in all areas of the research design….
Mid-week roundup 2/10/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
NIHR mentoring programme
Applications for the NIHR mentoring programme are open! Are you interested in developing your career? Have you been funded by NIHR? Why not think about applying to be part of the NIHR’s mentoring scheme. Applications are open now. This scheme partners late-PhD and postdoctoral NIHR Academy Members (researchers who’ve received career development awards/fellowships of various…
Apply for the NIHR’s Impact Prizes
Have you received NIHR funding for your mental health research project? Consider applying for this! The NIHR have recently announced their first year of Impact Prizes. Up to six Impact Prizes (up to three for research teams or individuals, and up to three for early-career researchers) will be awarded to celebrate researchers and teams whose…
Funding for mid-career researchers to host an intern in your group
Are you an early-mid level career researcher? You can now apply to host up to three interns and gain valuable supervisory and grant application experience with the NIHR Undergraduate Internship Programme. The scheme provides funding for early to mid-career researchers with a PhD (or equivalent demonstrable years of experience) to host up to three interns…
Mid-week roundup 25/9/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
2024 Writing Retreat – A deep dive into the success of our first Annual Writing Retreat
by Shivani Joshi, the newest member of the Mental Health Research Incubator Team, who joined the retreat on only her second week! The retreat was ‘…hugely productive, upskilling, confidence-building and a wonderful opportunity to meet a community of like-minded researchers.’ Participant When the train pulled in at Didcot Station, the typical commuters were…
Mid-week roundup 17/9/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
NIHR HTA programme – 2 commissioned calls for mental health research
There are a couple of mental health related commissioned calls as part of the NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) funding stream at the moment! Increasing the evidence about mental health nursing and the mental health nursing workforce: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/funding/2489-research-in-mental-health-nursing-hta-programme/36407 (Deadline: Jan 2025) CBT adapted for autistic adults with a mental health problem: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/documents/cbt-adapted-for-autistic-adults-with-a-mental-health-problem/36240 (Deadline: Nov 2024)…
Mid-week roundup 21/8/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Mid-week roundup 7/8/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Wellcome funding: accelerating scalable digital mental health interventions
Have you been involved in developing a digital or online mental health intervention? Wellcome Trust’s latest mental health call is looking to fund research to evaluate and further develop scalable digital interventions to advance early intervention in depression, anxiety and psychosis. Teams must have the research expertise required to drive the proposed research, an organisation…
Mid-week roundup 24/7/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Research into mental health nursing – HDSR programme, 8 Jan 2025 deadline
The NIHR’s HDSR programme is one of the programmes part of NIHR’s current cross-programme call for research proposals into workforce mental health. HDSR funds rigorous research to inform the quality, delivery and organisation of health and social care services. It exists for providing evidence for NHS and social care decision-makers to inform the best ways…
Mental health workforce research funding – RfPB, 6 Nov deadline
RfPB invites proposals for research that improves the evidence base surrounding mental health nursing and the mental health workforce.
Mid-week roundup 10/7/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Mid-week roundup 3/7/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Mid-week roundup 26/06/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
MHR EditorWelcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Mid-week roundup 19/06/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
PeCo – Peer Coaching for Career Development
We are excited to be launching both our Peer Coaching for Career Development programme (PeCo) and new GROW programme cohort this week! Based on feedback from GROW programme participants, we know that the coaching and network aspects are both particularly valued elements to GROW. However, due to the limited number of places on the GROW…
Three NIHR Research Schools’ Mental Health Programme
The NIHR have announced new mental health research grants as part of their latest commissioned call for research – part of the phase two funding of the Three NIHR Research Schools’ Mental Health Programme. Their new commissioned call for research will focus on supporting the implementation of evidence into practice and policy in areas underrepresented…
UKRI – Predoctoral Clinical Research Training Fellowship
UKRI have announced a Fellowship funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) to undertake a PhD. The project can focus on any area of the MRC’s remit to improve human health – that includes mental health and neurosciences. To be eligible you need to: be a registered healthcare professional be at an appropriate point in…
UKRI – MRC Neurosciences and Mental Health Programme Funding
UKRI have announced that the Medical Research Council (MRC) will fund a programme of research focused on neurosciences and mental health. To be eligible applicants need to: be employed at a research organisation eligible to apply for Medical Research Council (MRC) funding have a record of securing funding and delivering research Applications are open now,…
Mid-week roundup 12/06/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Mid-week roundup 06/06/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Mid-week roundup 29/05/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
NIHR Pre-doctoral Fellowships
Are you looking to launch your research career pre-PhD? Opening in January/February annually, the NIHR pre-doctoral fellowship aims to support clinical and non-clinical professionals on their path to becoming future leading researchers. The year-long fellowship helps recipients to develop the necessary skills and experience they might need before starting a PhD. The funding is generally…
Introduction to LLMs for Researchers
This article is intended as an introduction to large language models (LLMs) and how they might be of use to mental health and addiction researchers. The use of AI is increasing in all walks of life and has been used in various ways in health research for several years now. Their use and implementation will…
Mid-week roundup 22/05/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
No Health Without Mental Health – Special Interest Group
The Society for Academic Primary Care has a number of Special Interest Groups – the Mental Health SIG (“No health without mental health”) is one of the most active. The group aims to bring together researchers working in the field of primary care mental health. During the COVID-19 pandemic virtual SIG meetings were held to…
What Works Prevention – Special Interest Group in Prevention
Are you interested in prevention with a focus on what works? This special interest group, led by Dr. Josefien Breedvelt, a Prudence Trust Research Fellow at King’s College London, aims to bring together individuals from various sectors interested in furthering the discourse on prevention of depression and anxiety in children and young people (both onset…
Weekly roundup 10/05/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Guest Blog: Learning from abroad and influencing change in the UK: a Churchill Fellowship
Our latest guest blog is by Lizzy Winstone, a senior research associate in epidemiology at The University of Bristol and one of our 2024 GROW cohort members. Lizzy writes here about her plans for her Churchill Fellowship – a non-academic grant scheme that supports UK citizens to travel abroad and bring ideas back to implement…
Weekly roundup 03/05/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Writing retreat for mental health and addiction researchers
Do you need some headspace to write? We at the Mental Health Research Incubator are announcing our first fully-funded writing retreat for mental health and addiction researchers. Specifically aimed at ECRs who have recently completed fellowships or a PhD, the retreat offers headspace, structure, and a tranquil environment in which researchers can make the most…
Weekly roundup 26/04/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Weekly roundup 19/04/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
NIHR Development and Skills Enhancement Award (DSE)
Are you an early to mid career researcher looking to boost your research skills? The NIHR Development and Skills Enhancement Award (DSE) could be the right funding for you. The DSE award is a regularly occurring opportunity, aimed at early to mid-career researchers, to help them develop skills or experience necessary for the next steps…
Weekly roundup 12/04/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Solving the crisis in mental health services: global solutions across the life span conference – 21 June 2024
‘Solving the crisis in mental health services: global solutions across the life span’ is an international mental health conference held in Glasgow. It’s a great opportunity for mental health researchers interested in global mental health issues to get together and share research. Now in its 5th year, this annual conference run by the CeDAR team…
Weekly roundup 05/04/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Special Interest Groups (SIGs) in mental health research
Mental health and addiction research are broad fields with many different research areas and foci. One of the things we hear often, particularly from early career researchers and those getting into research for the first time, is that it can sometimes feel lonely and hard to meet researchers sharing your interests and passions. Luckily there…
Weekly roundup 28/03/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Wellcome Neuroscience and Mental Health
This is some advance warning about a grant programme due to launch in mid April which will be of particular interest to clinical professionals working in mental health who want to take a neuroscience based approach to their research. The scheme has a novel matchmaking approach and is focused on tackling anxiety, depression and/or psychosis…
NIHR HTA funding for addiction support services
This one is for our new addiction research followers! The NIHR have announced a new funding scheme within the Health Technology Assessment programme titled: Facilitated access to mutual aid for adults with problem alcohol and drug use. This will be the first stage of a 2 stage application to commission a trial delivering a mutual aid…
Weekly roundup 22/03/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Wellcome Early-Career Awards
There are some funding schemes out there that can set up early career researchers and provide support for those tricky few years before research independence. The thrice yearly Wellcome Early-Career award is one of them, and therefore should be of significant interest to mental health and addiction ECRs. Even if it might seem a far…
Weekly roundup 15/03/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Application Development Award for Health and Care Professionals
Calling all registered health and care professionals! The NIHR recently launched a funding call specifically to help you prepare for a research grant application on any of NIHR’s funding streams. This is a great opportunity for anyone working on the front line of delivery who wants to develop a research component to your career by…
Launchpad Grants in Mental Health
This one is for all you mid career mental health researchers – apply for up to £100,000 to support research over a period of up to 2 years from the Medical Research Foundation’s Launchpad Grants. The applications can be from any area of mental health research, but the Medical Research Foundation is particularly encouraging applications…
Weekly roundup 08/03/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Network event: Supporting people with alcohol dependence and co-morbidities
Here is a great opportunity for those working at the intersection of mental health and addiction studies to connect with others who are working in this space: the Mental Health Implementation Network (MHIN) is holding an online event exploring how support for patients with alcohol dependence and co-occurring mental and physical illness can be improved….
Weekly roundup 01/03/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Addiction research is part of mental health research
By Professor Anne Lingford-Hughes, Chair of the Addiction Mission In May 2023, Professor Anne Lingford-Hughes took up the post of Chair of the Addiction Mission which is one of a number of Healthcare Missions (including one focused on Mental Health) being delivered by the UK Government’s Office for Life Sciences. Addiction to drugs such as…
Introducing… the Addiction Healthcare Goals
The health and wider societal costs to society in England of illegal drug use is approximately £20 billion per year, with the harms from alcohol use estimated to cost another £25 billion. These addictions are responsible for huge societal damage, lead to a range of further physical and mental health conditions and to substantial loss…
Three NIHR Research Schools’ Mental Health Programme – Postdoctoral launching research fellowship
With the addition of £4.98m in additional funding the NIHR Three Schools Mental Health Project has launched three new open funding calls, each focused on a separate career stage. This call is for early career researchers with a PhD who are seeking funding to support their career development towards research independence and establish a research…
NIHR Three Research Schools’ Mental Health – Investigator led call
NIHR’s Three Schools Mental Health programme has just announced that it has launched its second phase of funding calls with an additional £4.98m available, so we thought we would do a little overview about each offering to help you understand more as they are really great opportunities. The first of the three open calls is…
Three NIHR Research Schools’ Mental Health Programme- Masters Fellowships
The Three NIHR Research Schools have announced a further £4.98m of additional funding for phase two of their support programme for mental health research. This funding is available in the form of 3 structured open calls, at the moment, each aimed at people at different stages in their research career. This one is for 8…
Weekly roundup 23/02/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Weekly roundup 16/02/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Mental Health Research UK – PhD Scholarship Competition 2025
This is a great opportunity for mental health researchers focusing on maternal mental health who are wanting to supervise a PhD student. Just for clarity: The application is for universities in the UK to apply for funding to host the scholarships, they are not open to potential PhD candidates to apply for. Mental Health Research…
NIHR Mental Health Mission – what you need to know
The government wants to make sure that the NHS uses the latest innovations and creates a prime environment for industry to invest in the Life Sciences sector – its plans for that are summed up in a series of ‘missions’ for certain priority areas. Mental health is one of these areas, and so is addiction….
Weekly roundup 09/02/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Weekly roundup 02/02/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
GROW 2024 now open for applications!
We have exciting news – we at the Mental Health Research Incubator are pleased to announce that we are recruiting for the 2024 GROW programme cohort! GROW is a fully-funded programme for early career mental health and addiction researchers who have completed a PhD and who are moving towards an independent research career. GROW is…
Weekly roundup 26/01/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
NIHR Pre-Application Support Fund
This is a key one for ECRs in mental health research – the NIHR Pre-Application Support Fund! Read on for more info on why it is so useful. What is it? The fund is aimed at providing short term, 12 month, support to enable researchers to carve out time or otherwise prepare for an application…
Open Science
All mental health researchers are rightly concerned about conducting ethical, valuable and reproducible research. Open science is a movement towards making research not only totally transparent, but also accessible. This can only be a good thing for research, and particularly mental health research, right? In our latest explainer post we briefly talk about open science…
Weekly roundup 19/01/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Weekly roundup 12/01/24: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Mental Health TRC and Mental Health mission
The Mental Health Mission funding supports the existing NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration of 18 UK research centres to boost research capacity in mental health research. That means the creation of relevant training and and better systems to support industry led research and investment across the UK. Researchers – look out for more opportunities coming up this year.
Seasons Greetings and onwards to 2024!
2023 has been a great year for the Incubator, and hopefully it hasn’t been too shabby for all you mental health researchers out there either? We are taking a little festive break here at the Incubator until the new year, so we thought to wrap up this year we would share a few of our…
Weekly roundup 15/12/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
NIHR RfPB call for AHP led projects
Calling all ECR AHPs working in mental health research: the NIHR is launching its latest round of its research for patient benefit (RfPB) call this week on 13 December – this time focusing on projects which are led by allied health professionals! This is a perfect funding scheme to apply for for AHPs working in…
We are continuing!
We’re happy to confirm that the Mental Health Research Incubator will be continuing in our mission to build a vibrant and supportive cross-disciplinary community of mental health researchers across the UK – hurrah! The coming years will see more cohorts of our GROW programme for postdoctoral researchers, as well as internship and placement opportunities, writing retreats…
NIHR Doctoral Fellowship webinar
Are you wanting to take your mental health research career to the next level and thinking of applying to the NIHR Doctoral Fellowship? The current round is open until 1300hrs, 1 February 2024. However, it comes up twice a year in April and October so check out these resources and be ahead for the next…
Weekly roundup 8/12/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
NIHR Undergraduate Internship Programme
The NIHR recently launched a new grant programme which is a great opportunity for early/mid career mental health researchers to support undergraduates to experience mental health research by having them as interns. Supervisor/applicant benefits This award is for early to mid career researchers who have yet to start establishing independence. In the first round the…
Weekly roundup 1/12/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Weekly roundup 24/11/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Weekly roundup 17/11/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
NIHR blog: common characteristics of a great fellowship application
Leading public health researcher Professor Eileen Kaner chairs the NIHR Advanced Fellowship funding committee – so what better person is there to get the lowdown on the common characteristics of a great application. This is a must-read for any mental health researchers who are considering applying.
McPin 10 year celebration – 10 for 10 Resources
The McPin Foundation turned 10 this year and has been celebrating by rounding up a set of 10 excellent resources which bring together McPin’s expertise, learning and research in lived experience involvement from the last decade. These are all amazing resources for any one working in mental health research but especially anyone just starting out…
Weekly roundup 10/11/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Mental Health Research Taster Days
Are you a trainee medic thinking about getting into mental health research? This exciting Mental Health Research Taster Days opportunity presented by the NIHR Mental Health Mission [nihr.ac.uk] Capacity Development workstream is for you! Ideal if you fancy just dipping a toe in. All FY2 medical trainees with interest in mental health research are encouraged…
NIHR Shape the Future campaign
NIHR has launched a new campaign, working alongside the NHS, to encourage and support healthcare professionals and members of the NHS workforce to develop research as part of their career. These are not mental health research specific programmes, but are highly applicable to anyone in, interested in getting into, or wanting to support others to…
Weekly roundup 3/11/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Tips for planning a major application
Getting a big grant or fellowship application together takes a very long time – often much longer than you might expect – certainly longer than the active application window. Many people have told us that it took them more than a year to get their application together. These funds are usually open to people from…
Mental health definitions contract opportunity at Wellcome – EOI by 13 Nov 2023
Contract opportunity for a mental health definitions project at Wellcome Trust
Weekly roundup 27/10/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over @MHRIncubator. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Reflections on the NIHR GROW 2023 Mental Health Researcher Development Programme
Celia Hulme, a current GROW cohort member based at University of Manchester and NIHR Three Schools Research Associate, has written about her experiences so far of participating in the GROW programme over on the NIHR SPCR website. Here are a couple of great quotes from the original post by Celia, check out the full post…
Guest blog – Avenues to Impact
In our latest guest blog we have a piece by steering committee member Dr. Claire Wilson, a psychiatrist and academic at Kings College London. Claire is writing about how her range of clinical, research and policy experience are leading to impactful work in mental health. I am a psychiatrist and researcher. My area of…
Weekly roundup 20/10/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Research training for mental health workers in ARC North Thames
If you’re a mental health worker based in the North Thames region and you’re a little bit curious about how you might do more research in your role take a look at the one-day training at on developing your path in mental health research at ARC North Thames. The course was co-created by recipients of…
The great GROW Gathering 2023!
Last week we held our first meeting for all GROW programme alumni – aka: The Great GROW Gathering! The gathering focused on providing relevant sessions for all the early career researchers in mental health and plenty of time for building those interdisciplinary networks which are so crucial for research. Our current GROW cohort is the…
Local Authority Short Placement Award for Research Collaboration – deadline 23 Nov 2023
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is providing opportunities for individuals working in local authority settings to undertake short placements to enhance their careers and develop skills and capabilities to co-create research that is more meaningful and better connected with practice. The placements include funding of up to £15,000 per individual and…
PhD programme for primary care clinicians – deadline 20 Dec 2023
A PhD programme for primary care clinicians funded by the School for Primary Care (SPCR) and Wellcome Trust is now open for applications with a closing date of 20 December 2023. Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWPs) are among the mental health clinicians who should definitely take note of this fantastic opportunity! The programme is currently being…
Weekly roundup 13/10/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
NIHR Pre-Application support fund launches
The NIHR has just launched a new fund aimed at helping researchers prepare for one of their larger career development funds or fellowships. This is great news for all mental health researchers and definitely worth considering if you don’t feel quite ready for a fellowship application! The Pre-Application Support Fund launched on 19 September,…
Weekly roundup 29/09/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship – deadline 7 Dec 2023
The NIHR have just launched their third annual call for Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship applications. The submission deadline is 7 December 2023. Mental health researchers in local authority settings have benefitted from this scheme in the past – do take a look at our case studies for examples. The NIHR Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship…
Kings PhD programme in mental health research for health professionals
The next round of applications for the King’s PhD programme in mental health research for health professionals has opened! Clinicians both from within and outside disciplines traditionally involved in mental health are strongly encouraged to apply. Supervisory teams will combine clinical and non-clinical academics to ensure that PhD fellows gain expertise in technical and scientific…
Wellcome Career Development Awards – deadline 16 Nov 2023
The November 2023 round of the Wellcome Trust Career Development Awards is now open for applications from midcareer researchers in any discipline
Weekly roundup 08/09/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Postdoc Webinar Highlights
We held our postdoc webinar this week with over 125 people online watching – did you catch it? Or maybe you followed along on Twitter? If you did you will have heard all the great tips and advice our panellists gave out for developing your postdoc careers in mental health research – whatever that looks…
Weekly roundup 01/09/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Weekly roundup 25/08/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
NIHR Mental Health Research Initiative: Mental Health Research Groups
NIHR launched the application process on 22 September – sign up for the webinar on 10 October! This is amazing news for mental health research capacity and definitely something to keep a strong eye on in the coming weeks Expansion of mental health research capacity Coming in late September, the NIHR is launching a programme…
Guest Blog – 3 first steps to building a workplace culture that supports mental health research in social services
Guest blog By Rachel Murphy Having successfully completed a mental health research fellowship, social work manager Rachel Murphy is now setting up systems to make North Yorkshire Council ready for a lot more research. In the process she has generated much more interest in and support for research from across her organisation. In this blog…
Weekly roundup 18/08/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Narrative CV Explainer
Our latest Explainer should be helpful to all mental health researchers, whether early, mid or even late career – what the heck is a narrative CV?! You may have heard that funders and research adjacent organisations are driving a shift towards a resume format called a ‘narrative CV’. This shift is supported by several…
Weekly roundup 11/08/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Weekly roundup 04/08/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Webinar: Building your postdoc career in mental health research – 5 September!
Registrations for the MHR Incubator career development webinar are now open. Register for your free place here: tinyurl.com/yc8znr5w and join the discussion on Tuesday 5 September.
Top tips for your next mental health research funding application
Our GROW programme participants loved Dr Rachael Kelley’s tips on putting together a great funding application for mental health research so we’re really happy to be able to share Rachael’s valuable experience and advice on putting together a great research funding application with the wider community of mental health researchers. In this 16 minute presentation,…
Weekly roundup 28/07/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Critical Care Nurse to Mental Health Researcher – Q&A
Next in our Q&A series is a member of our current 20203 GROW programme, Floraidh Rolf who transitioned from front line work to mental health research. “her experiences over time exposed her to the power of research in driving good nursing practice and really making a difference to her patients’ lives” Flora researches mental health…
NIHR Doctoral Research Training Camp – Guest blog
In our latest guest blog we hear from Jasmin Laing who is a PhD student evaluating a newly designed CBT intervention to treat PTSD and depression in health and social care workers. She recently had the opportunity to attend the NIHR doctoral training camp. Here is what she thought of it. NIHR Doctoral Research Training…
Weekly roundup 21/07/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
NIHR Team Science Programme
The Team Science Programme, run by NIHR, is an event and funding award opportunity for researchers who want to focus on an interdisciplinary approach to research which can improve the lives of people living with multiple long term conditions (MLTC). It is the first time NIHR have run this programme and is made up of…
BABCP Conference 2023: The start of the Incubator Roadshow
If you were following our Twitter feed last week, you’ll know that our coordinator Bea was out at BABCP – the annual conference of CBT practitioners. It was fantastic to see there’s a real emphasis on the importance of research in the psychological professions generally (that really made our little Incubator hearts sing!). BABCP was…
Mental Health Award: Understanding how anxiety- and trauma-related problems develop, persist and resolve
Wellcome have just launched a new mental health grant to support researchers to understand how the brain, body and environment interact in anxiety and trauma related disorders. It is a grant open globally to researchers at any level in any discipline with a value of up to £4m with duration of up to 5 years….
Weekly roundup 14/07/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Weekly roundup 07/07/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Small grants and training opportunities for ECRs
Funding is the bread and butter of research and landing a big grant can set you up for several years of support. However, not all grants offered for mental health research are multi-year ones with thousands, or hundreds of thousands if you are lucky, of pounds on offer. Does that mean they are not worth…
The NIHR RDS is evolving
Many of you will have heard of the NIHR Research Design Service – perhaps from our explainer post? – some of you might have used it. It provides help, support and advice to submit an application for research funding to the NIHR or another funder, but there the service ended. But no more! The NIHR…
AHPs in mental health research – Q&A
Following a recent article by Dr Eleanor Chatburn on engaging with research as a clinician, two allied health professionals (AHPs) working at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) have provided an overview of their own research journeys to-date. Ask an AHP! We all know allied health professionals (AHPs) play a vital role…
Psychological Therapists – we need you in research!
By Layla Mofrad and Richard Thwaites Since 2008, the creation of NHS Talking Therapies (previously known as Improving Access to Psychological Therapies – IAPT) has led to the training and development of thousands of new psychological therapists and practitioners who are now working across a wide range of physical and mental healthcare settings. These practitioners…
Weekly roundup 23/06/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Transdisciplinary grants from MQ Mental Health
If you work in the field of tech, the arts, humanities, economics or another discipline and have an idea for how you can contribute towards understanding, treating or even preventing mental illness then apply for funding of up to £50,000 via a MQ Mental Health and Wellcome Trust transdisciplinary grant. Information webinar: 5 July, 2.3pm…
Welcome to our GROW 2023 cohort
The DSE award is a post-doctoral level funding opportunity from the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) aimed at supporting early to mid-career researchers in gaining specific skills and experience to underpin the next phase of their research career. In a change from previous rounds, applicants are no longer required to be Academy members.
Weekly roundup 16/06/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
MQ Mental Health Postdoctoral Scholarship
MQ has just announced its new Postdoctoral Scholarship programme. This brand new pilot scheme aims to support newly qualified postdoctoral researchers who are within 2 years of completing their doctoral degrees transition to the next stage of their mental health research career. The scholarship will provide up to £95,000 in funding for a 12-24 month…
Funded research opportunities for anyone working in mental health roles in North Thames region
Keen to take your research to the next level? Do you have an innovative research idea that could improve mental health and social care, which you would like to develop further? Already active in research but want to take things to the next level? ARC North Thames are delighted to advertise funding opportunities from Mental…
Starting out in clinical research: a video guide series by ARC Wessex
The DSE award is a post-doctoral level funding opportunity from the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) aimed at supporting early to mid-career researchers in gaining specific skills and experience to underpin the next phase of their research career. In a change from previous rounds, applicants are no longer required to be Academy members.
Weekly roundup 02/06/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Weekly roundup 26/5/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Weekly roundup 19/5/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Development and Skills Enhancement (DSE) Award – for mid-career researchers
The DSE award is a post-doctoral level funding opportunity from the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) aimed at supporting early to mid-career researchers in gaining specific skills and experience to underpin the next phase of their research career. In a change from previous rounds, applicants are no longer required to be Academy members.
Weekly roundup 12/5/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
NIHR ARCs mental health research opportunities – Spring-Summer 2023
To mark the new NIHR ARCs national webinars: Mental health and our modern world, kicking off on Web 17 May (see #NIHRARCs or #ARCseminar on Twitter), we’ve collated all the current NIHR Applied Research Collaborations (NIHR ARCs) opportunities aimed at those looking to get into and progress their mental health research careers. Listed below are details of local opportunties per Applied Research…
Internships for mental health research at ARC Wessex
The NIHR Applied Research Collaborations (ARC) Wessex is pleased to be offering six internships specific to mental health research. These unique opportunities are open to anyone working in or with mental health or social care services across the Wessex region, including staff from NHS Trusts, universities, local government, health, social care or community care organisations,…
Harkness Fellowship – international opportunity for mid-career professionals
The Harkness Fellowship is an opportunity for mid-career professionals to spend a fully funded year in the United States conducting internationally comparative research, honing leadership skills, and building a robust network for ongoing exchange and collaboration. UK mental health researchers have won this fellowship in previous years and recommend the scheme. The Commonwealth Fund, which…
Weekly roundup 28/4/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
NIHR ARCs webinar series: mental health in our modern world
The cross-ARC series of three webinars coming up in May, June and July looks at mental health in the context of some of the most topical themes of our times. In each webinar you’ll hear from the mental health researchers themselves talking about their work and what it means. Each webinar is a fantastic opportunity…
Introducing our acronym jargon buster!
The Incubator for Mental Health Research is delighted to announce the launch of our acronym jargon buster: an essential guide to common acronyms in UK mental health research for early career researchers, mental health professionals, and the mental health research community
NIHR funding series: how can I develop my mental health research idea? Part 3 – Research Design Service
In Part 3 of our NIHR funding series, we outline how the Research Design Service can help mental health researchers develop great research ideas into strong funding proposals.
Weekly roundup 14/4/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Launching in June: Creating Opportunities Evaluation Development Fund – UKRI
MHR AdminFunding will support smaller-scale evaluation activity with awards lasting up to 12 months ranging between £100k-£250k at full economic cost. The aim is to: generate causal evidence on what works to spread opportunities and reduce spatial disparities in outcomes for people and places across the UK under one or more of the thematic areas of:…
Launching in June: Creating Opportunities Trial Accelerator Fund – UKRI
ESRC funding will be provided to test and rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of interventions aimed at spreading opportunities and reducing disparities in economic, health and social outcomes for people and places across the UK. This fund will support projects lasting between 13 and 48 months. The full economic cost of projects can be between £1…
Weekly roundup 7/4/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
NIHR funding series: which funding is right for my mental health research? Part 2 – NIHR Research Programmes
In Part 2 of our NIHR funding series, we’re looking at the different NIHR Research Programmes and what they can offer to mental health research projects.
Advanced Local Authority Fellowship scheme – deadline 24 May
The Advanced Local Authority Fellowship (ALAF) Scheme supports doctorate holders employed within local authority settings to develop careers that combine research and research training with continued professional practice and development. These fully funded fellowships enable awardees to retain some professional responsibilities whilst concurrently undertaking post-doctoral research and pursuing bespoke programmes of professional and academic development,…
Weekly roundup 31/3/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
NIHR funding series: which funding is right for my mental health research? Part 1 – the Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) programme
In Part 1 of our new NIHR funding series, we’re breaking down one of the most flexible and accessible funding programmes for early career mental health researchers: the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) programme.
Weekly roundup 17/3/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
I’m a mental health researcher outside academia, is the GROW Programme right for me? – Eva Schoenwald
DID YOU KNOW: you don’t have to be a university researcher to apply to the GROW Programme! GROW 2022 alumnus Eva Schoenwald wasn’t sure what to expect when joining the programme as a senior quantitative researcher at the government-funded research centre What Works for Children’s Social Care. In this blog, Eva shares how she found…
Weekly roundup 8/3/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Welcome to your weekly roundup of funding, events, and webinars we’ve shared with our followers over on the Mental Health Research Incubator Twitter. Here’s what’s coming up on the horizon for mental health research.
Maintaining momentum event from RDS South-Central
Nurses, midwives and allied health professionals (NMAHPs) with doctorates often find themselves back in full-time clinical practice following their degree with no dedicated time for research. This free event from the Research Design Service (RDS South-Central) provides advice and help for NMAHPs and their managers on managing the transition from doctoral to post-doctoral research. What…
Oxford academic paper writing retreat for nurses and AHPs
Are you a nurse or AHP researcher working on writing up a paper to submit to an academic journal? The 3-day Oxford Academic Paper Writing Retreat is currently open to researchers in the Oxford area. This Academic Paper Writing Retreat is sponsored by the Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre , Oxford cognitive health Clinical Research…
Weekly roundup 24/2/23: events, funding, & opportunities in mental health research
Webinars 28 February: The Council of Deans is holding free webinars being held throughout February for Allied Health Professionals interested/involved in research. The next webinar will be International Research Priorities, in conversation with Prof Karen Strickland at 10am on 28 February. 7 March: NIHR Research Professorships presentation webinar with Richard McManus, chair of the selection…
Joining the GROW Programme as a post-doctoral fellow – Dr Beth Bareham
Dr Beth Bareham, recipient of an NIHR Mental Health Fellowship and a post-doctoral researcher in health psychology at Newcastle University, reflects on her experience of the 2022 GROW Researcher Development Programme.
GROWing further: where the GROW Programme alumni are taking their research careers
Since our pilot programme in 2022, 37 mental health researchers have participatned in the GROW Researcher Development Programme , building their professional skills and networks. We caught up with a few of the researchers from Cohorts I and II to share what they’ve been working on since their time with GROW. Dr Hazel Marzetti and…
GROW Researcher Development Programme 2023 call for applicants
The NIHR Incubator for Mental Health Research is pleased to open applications to the GROW Researcher Development Programme for 2023. Applications are sought from early career researchers in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland working in a research role following a PhD or with equivalent research experience. We welcome applications from researchers in any discipline…
Cultural competence and inclusivity in research – Dr Suman Prinjha
In this guest blog, Dr Suman Prinjha from the NIHR Research Design Service discusses the importance of cultural competence and inclusivity in the research process and offers tips on how researchers can design programmes with sensitivity, empathy, and reflexivity from conception to dissemination.
Growing interdisciplinary collaborations in mental health research – Dr Michael Tan
Why is there a growing appreciation and a need for interdisciplinary collaboration in mental health? Where do we begin? What can facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration? Can we get better at collaboration? GROW 2022 cohort member and researcher at Lab4Living, Dr Michael Tan, reflects on how you set up collaborative research projects in mental health – why…
A personal perspective on the GROW programme – Dr Ruth Naughton-Doe
Dr Ruth Naughton-Doe had been lacking in confidence and knowledge to turn her research ideas into funded projects. Now with her first postdoctoral fellowship funding to her name, a network of supportive peers and greater understanding of the mental health research funding landscape, she feels more confident in her next steps. She credits three great…
Engaging with research as a clinician
Dr Eleanor Chatburn’s advice for psychologists applies to other non-medical clinical professionals too. She considers the challenges and opportunities of engaging with research as an early career psychologist. This article was first published in The Psychologist magazine on 3 January 2023. Are you an early career practitioner clinician with a keen interest in research? Want…
I never realised I benefitted from academic sponsorship until I read about the concept
Have you had a sponsor who’s given you a helping hand? Academic sponsorship is different from mentorship and Dr Pete Lawrence thinks that this is important because a sponsor can help you in ways beyond mentorship.
Pre-Doc Fellowship schemes now open for applications
The NIHR Pre-doctoral Local Authority Fellowship (PLAF) scheme supports individuals based within local authorities and supporting services to undertake a bespoke programme of relevant Masters level training and to prepare an application for a subsequent PhD, all on their existing employment contracts and salaries. When taken full-time, standard fellowships have a duration of 12 months,…
How can GROW help me develop my career in mental health research?
Find out what members of our previous cohorts have to say about their experiences of the GROW Researcher Development Programme. Applications for the 2024 cohort are now open. Head to the GROW page to find out more and apply now!
BPS article on engaging with research as a clinician
Dr Eleanor Chatburn considers the challenges and opportunities of engaging with research as an early career practitioner psychologist. Filled with plenty of practical advice for taking those first steps. This piece was published in The Psychologist in January 2023.
Webinar: Cultural competence and inclusivity in research – 4 April, 11am-12pm
Developing cultural competence is an ongoing process, says Dr Suman Prinjha, Senior Research Advisor in Qualitative Research Methods and Ethnical Health Research in her her recent NIHR Research Design Service blog. It’s an area that’s extremely relevant for mental health research so do take advantage of this free online webinar, run by Dr Suman Prinjha,…
Upcoming event: ARC East of England Fellows’ Showcase 2023
Calling all researchers in the East of England – find out what kind of research you could do in your community with a Fellowship from the East of England Applied Research Collaboration (ARC). The ARC East of England Fellowship Programme is showcasing the projects of current fellows at the 2023 Fellows’ Showcase on Thursday 2nd…
ARC East of England Mental Health Research fellowships relaunching in Oct 2023
Applications for the ARC East of England mental health research fellowship programme will open again in October of this year – and fellows always emphasise the importance of preparing your application early! In this video interview you can hear from previous ARC mental health fellow, clinical psychologist, Dr Loveday Newman. This ARC fellowship is for…
NIHR announces research funding for nurses and midwives
NIHR has issued a call specification to recruit more nurses and midwives to the Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) funding stream. Launching on 25th January, the funding call aims to build capacity by requiring all applications to be led or joint-led by an early career researcher with a background in nursing or midwifery. Funding of…
Pre-Doc Fellowships – our 3 top tips if you’re seriously considering applying
Two important NIHR schemes which should make aspiring mental health researchers sit up and take notice are launching soon. The NIHR Pre-doctoral Fellowship and the NIHR Pre-Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship both launch around end of January and beginning of February. They are fantastic schemes for professionals from both clinical and non-clinical backgrounds to take a…
Introducing: the Mental Health Research Community Map
We’re delighted to kick off the new year by announcing the relaunch of the Mental Health Research Community Map: an interactive map for mental health researchers to find collaborators and connect mental health research in the UK. The goal of the Mental Health Research Community Map is to build a collaborative, multidisciplinary directory of mental…
What is an ARC? (and other questions you wanted to ask)
Dr Lin Lin Ginzberg, national communications manager across the 15 NIHR ARCs explains what the ARCs can offer mental health researchers and professionals who are interested in research. ARC stands for Applied Research Collaboration and there are 15 of them across England. They are part of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)….
Funding opportunity: children’s and young people’s mental health
NIHR has opened applications for funding in four research programmes for children’s and young people’s mental health. This is an excellent opportunity with a broad scope for researchers looking to evaluate mental health interventions for children and young people. Applications are open to anyone who feels they can carry out high-quality research. Health and Social…
Funding opportunity: Wellcome Trust Mental Health Award
The Wellcome Trust has issued a call for applicants to the Mental Health Award. The award will fund research into the field of stratification in anxiety and/or depression. This opportunity is suitable for a multidisciplinary team with postgraduate research experience. Studies funded through the Mental Health Award will further validate biological, psychosocial, social, and digital…
ARC North Thames: exciting career development and funding opportunities for mental health staff and researchers
The NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North Thames has several opportunities for career development and funding for mental health researchers and professionals working within the North Thames region. There are two awards currently open through the Mental Health for All scheme. These would be suitable for mental health and care professionals with some research experience…
Opportunity for students: host a podcast on student mental health with the SMaRteN Network
The Student Mental Health Research Network (SMaRteN), led by Kings College London, is collaborating with All Things Mental Health to produce a second series of their successful podcast Keeping Students in Mind: Understanding Student Mental Health Research. They are looking for students interested in mental health research to host podcast episodes, with training and support…
#MentalHealthResearchMatters webinar: From academia to action
The final #MentalHealthResearchMatters webinar is happening today. We’ll look at how we can take the findings of mental health research and put them into action through policy – one of the key concerns for multidisciplinary mental health researchers. Thursday 1st December 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm Reserve your free space on Eventbrite To round up…
Research fellowships and internships for clinical practitioners – NIHR ARC Wessex
NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Wessex is pleased to announce three research awards, now open to applications. This funding is designed to boost the next generation of health and care researchers, particularly those working in healthcare in Wessex. The awards will fund the time, training, mentorship, and support to conduct a project that contributes to one…
Closing Wednesday 30/11: ARC East of England Mental Health Fellowship 2023
The closing deadline for applications to the 2023 NIHR Applied Research Collaboration East of England Mental Health Fellowship is Wednesday 30th November. Who is the fellowship for? This fellowship is for people based in the East of England who work in an area of mental health, including mental health practitioners, clinicians, NHS managers, health and…
Free webinar 29/11: Thematic Analysis with Professor Virginia Braun & Dr Victoria Clarke
Hosted by the qualitative analysis software producer Nvivo, join leading researchers Professor Virginia Braun (University of Auckland, New Zealand) and Dr Victoria Clarke (University of the West of England, UK) in this free webinar on conducting thematic analysis. Tuesday 29th November, 6:30pm Register for free through Zoom Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke, creators of the…
Conference: Careers in mental health research and practice with NIHR ARC Wessex Mental Health Hub
NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) Wessex is holding a 1-day conference for workers in mental-health-related fields to learn about embedding research in practice and improving patient care. When: 10am – 4pm, Monday 5th December Where: In person at the Axis Conference Centre, Southampton Hybrid: No Tickets: Free – reserve your space on Eventbrite The day…
Should I attend a research conference?
Not sure whether a research conference is for you? Master’s students and Emerging Minds Network interns Rowan and Felicity reflect on their experience of getting involved with the recent Emerging Minds Summit on children and young people’s mental health research, the range of different people they encountered there, and how other early career researchers can…
Careers sessions #MQscience festival
The careers sessions at the #MQscience festival demonstrated the extraordinarily diverse field of mental health research and different career options available to researchers. Missed it? Don’t worry you can catch the careers session on the MQ YouTube channel.
Cultivating a career in mental health research – Professor Peter Fonagy
Professor Peter Fonagy is Director of the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Chief Executive of the Anna Freud Centre for children and families, and senior clinical advisor to NHS England on children and young people’s mental health policy. Speaking to our GROW programme participants, Peter shared insights about his richly rewarding career in mental…
November webinars: multidisciplinary research, experts by experience, and partnership working
The #MentalHealthResearchMatters campaign is hosting three webinars this month, covering the question: what does good mental health research look like? Multidisciplinary research Lived experience in research Wednesday 16th November 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm Reserve your space on Eventbrite Mental health research is only useful if it is meaningful to the populations it serves….
Internships, springboard grants, fellowships – ARC North Thames
Research internships (deadline 9am 5th December 2022), career development fellowships and springboard grants (deadline for both 9am 12th December 2022) from ARC North Thames.
Twitter takeover: Domna Salonen
Occupational Therapist, Domna Salonen took over on #WorldMentalHealth day and #AHPsDay 2022 in her week @MHRincubator! Catch up on the great many insights she offers on what a joint clinical and academic career can be like.
Conducting research in clinical psychology practice: Barriers, facilitators, and recommendations
The combination of clinical psychologists’ therapeutic expertise and research training means that they are in an ideal position to be conducting high-quality research projects. However, despite these skills and the documented benefits of research to services and service users, research activity in practice remains low. This article aims to give an overview of the advantages of, and difficulties in conducting research in clinical practice.
GROW programme
Funding for the 2023 GROW programme is now confirmed. The application window opens in February 2023.
#MentalHealthResearchMatters
Mental Health Research Matters is a national campaign on why mental health research matters, what good mental health research looks like and how we can all play our part in making a difference. The four key campaign themes – centering lived experience, inclusive research that tackles inequalities, multidisciplinary research and partnership working – are central…
Development Skills and Enhancement (DSE) Award – deadline, 30 Nov
Post-doctoral opportunities for mental health researchers at NIHR: the DSE award provides a maximum of 1 year of funding for post-doctoral NIHR Academy Members to gain skills and experience for the next phase of their research career. Find out more on NIHR webpage.
How do I find a mentor?
Two early career mental health researchers, Domna Salonen and Dr Emma Černis, offer their perspectives on how to set up the mentoring relationships that support and challenge you to pursue what’s fulfilling in your career. There is no prescriptive answer to ‘How to find a mentor?’. The key ingredients in finding mentors for us have…
Spark grant scheme from What Works for Children’s Social Care – deadline, 19 Oct
WWCSC is particularly interested in applications in the area of children and young people’s mental health.
Grants for eating disorders research – deadline, 16 Nov
The Medical Research Foundation is co-funding mental health research to enhance our understanding of the biological, psychological and social causes of eating disorders, to help improve treatments and prevention strategies. Mandatory expressions of interest by 6 October. https://www.medicalresearchfoundation.org.uk/grants/new-collaborations-to-support-eating-disorders-research
KCL PhD in Mental Health Research for Health Professionals accepting applications – deadline 1 Dec
The PhD Programme in Mental Health Research for Health Professionals, based at King’s College London and funded by the Wellcome Trust is now open for applications. The closing date is 1 December 2022. Watch Professors Matthew Hotopf, Sandrine Thuret and Alan Simpson from King’s College London talk about the Programme in this video by The…
Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship – deadline 15 Nov
The NIHR Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship (DLAF) scheme supports individuals based within local authorities and supporting services to undertake fully funded PhDs. It’s a fantastic opportunity for social workers and others based in local authorities to build on their existing experience make a difference through research. These fully funded doctoral fellowships allow awardees to retain…
Local Authority Short Placement Award for Research Collaboration – deadline 24 Nov, 1pm
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is providing opportunities for individuals working in local authority settings to undertake short placements to enhance their careers and develop skills and capabilities to co-create research that is more meaningful and better connected with practice. The placements include funding of up to £15,000 per individual and…
Speech, language, and communication needs funding call – deadline 16 Nov
New NIHR funding call for research into improving access and use of services for people with speech, language, and communication needs recognises a really important area for mental health research to engage in. Funding call webpage
Pre-doc fellowship scheme and an exciting change in my social work career!
How can local authority staff be supported to implement evidence-based practices for mental health? – by supporting the existing staff to become research-active themselves! Rachel Murphy joined one of the first cohorts of practitioner researchers on the Pre-Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship last year. Here she explains the amazing professional development she has gained from the…
Wellcome Trust funding – what’s coming up
Here’s a broad outline of Wellcome Trust funding calls that are scheduled to launch in the next two years. Winter 2022: Focus on proposals that will enable stratification in relation to anxiety, depression, or psychosis Summer 2023: Consider developmental pathways to anxiety, depression, and psychosis Winter 2023: Focus on unlocking the potential of neuroscience to…
Talking about….. equality, diversity and inclusion in mental health research
The inequalities we see in the mental health of different communities also play out in the experiences of researchers trying to investigate these. In the latest conversation in the Talking About series, Dr Dawn Edge and Dr Elizabeth Camacho share experiences of the challenges of pursuing their research interests which have been historically underfunded. They…
AHP secondment opportunity at NIHR
The NIHR is looking to appoint a registered Allied Health Professional (AHP) to support the delivery of an Allied Health Professions Research Summit commissioned by Health Education England (HEE). NIHR would aim to hold the summit in November 2022 and will pay the pro-rated amount of the individual’s salary to their employer for the duration…
Local Authority Short Placement Awards scheme – launching Sept 2022
The Local Authority Short Placement Award for Research Collaboration (LA SPARC) offers awards of up to £15,000 per individual and provides opportunities for both individuals working in Local Authority settings and NIHR Academy members to undertake placements and move between NIHR and LAs in either direction. The aim of the award is to provide opportunities…
NIHR grants for developing public partnerships – call launch on 27 July
NIHR Programme Development Grants for developing innovative, inclusive and diverse public partnerships will launch on 27 July 2022. This is a great opportunity for mental health researchers looking to further work with community & charity partners. The NIHR recently recorded a webinar about the call which you can watch here:
Toolkit for managers to support Early Career Researchers
ECRs – are you getting the support you need from your managers?
Announcing our 2022 GROW programme participants
We are delighted to announce the first cohort of the GROW Researcher Development Programme. Our 18 early career researchers are deliberately a very diverse group – with interests varying from perinatal to older adults; from individuals, to families and carers, to public health and service development. Addressing intrenched inequalities in mental health has emerged as…
Smarten final showcase – 31 Oct-Fri 4 Nov 2022
Save the date – it’s the SMaRteN final showcase! The week commencing Monday 31 October 2022, the Student Mental Health Research Network – SMaRteN will have a week long schedule of activity as a final project showcase. SMaRteN focuses on Student Mental Health in Higher Education. Working with researchers with a range of expertise and…
Mental health research fellowships – NIHR 3 Schools
The NIHR 3 Schools programme is inviting applications for its next round of fellowship funding. The closing date is 12 noon on Thursday 28 July 2022. Applications are invited from health and care professionals working in mental health but without a strong track record of mental health research (including but not limited to social work,…
NIHR Doctoral Training Camp – join intro session free online
NIHR Doctoral Training Camp virtual sessions will be held via Zoom on Tuesday 5 July 2022, 12.30 – 17.30 and this virtual element of the camp is open to all.
Being a peer researcher in the UKRI Loneliness and social isolation in mental health network
Listen to two peer researchers in mental health talk about their experience working on studies through the UCL loneliness and social isolation network. We’re delighted to share in celebrating the successes of the UKRI UCL loneliness network. Their great work and achievements over the last few years owes a great deal to meaningful collaborations with lived experience experts.
MARCH network’s legacy website
The many achievements, resources and connections created by the fantastic MARCH network are available for mental health researchers who have interests in the role of social, cultural and community assets. The MARCH network set out to transform our understanding of how social, cultural and community assets support mental health. Their legacy website is a go-to…
Academic psychiatry careers webinar 2022
Many clinical academics have followed a non-standard path in their academic work. Dr Vivienne Curtis, Dr Kate Saunders, Dr Shruti Garg and Dr Oli Sparasci shared advice and tips on all the options available to psychiatry trainees. Do check out the presentation slides, Q&A questions and links to a useful whatsapp group on the Royal…
Advice clinic: Implementation science
Are you a health or social care professional or a researcher planning a quality improvement or implementation science project? Would you like advice on how to evaluate your project or on how implementation science methods can improve the chance of your project being successful? Do consider checking out the advice clinic service offered by quality…
#MHRawards – what our judges had to say
The patient and public members of our judging panels were so impressed by the standard of entries for the MHR Incubator Awards. Here we’re delighted to share some of their comments on our award winners.
Announcing the winners of the MHR Incubator Awards
Judges awarded the top MHR Awards to seven researchers whose projects represent some of the most exciting new developments in mental health research today. Eight other researchers were runners up. Awards went to early career researchers whose work is already influencing clinical practice, projects that reflect outstanding collaboration with patients and public, and to innovative…
Collaborative involvement prize: Dr Dean Connolly and Rethinking Education SIRG
Judges awarded top prizes to Dr Dean Connolly and the ‘Rethinking Education: lessons from lockdown’ Special Interest Research Group for the Collaborative Involvement of patients and public prize. In a competitive field, judges made five other runner up awards to projects which also had outstanding PPI. The winning projects – all demonstrating exemplary PPI in…
Building research in underserved areas: Dr Rebecca Anthony
The award-winning work focuses attention on the experiences of people whose particular circumstances and needs are less well captured in the mainstream of mental health research. The neglected yet important areas our winners are addressing includes mental health in adoptive families, people with severe intellectual impairments, experiences in racialised groups.
Innovation prize: Dr Lucy Livingston and Dr Ben Perry
Judges awarded the Innovation prize to two researchers who are tackling two very different areas of mental health research in new and original ways. Dr Lucy Livingston researches the understudied phenomenon of ‘compensation’ in autism, and Dr Ben Perry’s work focuses on physical health risks in people diagnosed with schizophrenia. There was a clear consensus…
Early impact prize: Dr Kimberley Kendall and the ‘Bold’ project
Congratulations go to Dr Kimberley Kendall for her work in understanding depression and schizophrenia, and the ‘Bold’ project team, whose work is positively impacting the wellbeing of people who are living with dementia.
NIHR webinar: How to apply public involvement effectively to your research application
This 75-minute webinar is aimed at researchers applying for NIHR Fellowship Awards and staff accountable for public involvement. The webinar will cover: • NIHR’s definition of public involvement • UK Standards for Public Involvement in Research • Guidance on co-producing a research project • The support Research Design Service (RDS) provides for researchers in regards…
GROW: Researcher Development Programme
The application window for the summer 2022 cohort of the GROW programme has now closed. Applicants will be contacted about the outcome of their application in the coming weeks. GROW is the professional development programme designed for early career researchers in mental health. Through the programme, participants will build a cross-disciplinary professional network to inspire…
Wellcome funding for mental health – May and early June deadlines
Wellcome has released new mental health research funding opportunities. They are funding a broad range of research to understand how anxiety, depression and psychosis develop and how they resolve.
MQ Fellows Award 2022 – 29 April deadline
Applications are now open. Who can apply: Early-career researchers Funding period: 3 years Funding amount: up to £225,000 Research area: Premature mortality, namely suicide and comorbidities Application deadline: 29th April. This MQ Fellows Award will have the theme “Gone too Soon”. People affected by mental illness and mental distress die too soon; their lives are scandalously short. Suicide is one contributing factor. However, a major reason is the close link between…
Newsletter – spring 2022
View the spring 2022 MHR Incubator news online. You can sign up to the newsletter via the link in the orange box at the top right corner of our homepage.
NIHR SPHR Public Mental Health Network
The NIHR SPHR Public Mental Health Network aims to bring together researchers, public health professionals and members of the public to share research findings and provide opportunities to work together on mental health initiatives. It’s based in the NIHR School of Public Health Research (SPHR) but it is open to anyone interested to join, including:…
Roles at Mental Health Implementation Network
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) ARC Mental Health Implementation Network (MHIN) is a collaboration of service users, local communities, health and care providers, commissioners and a range of regional and national stakeholders, including charities and local government.
Twitter takeover: Joy Llewellyn-Beardesley
In her week at the helm of the MHR Incubator account, Joy championed mental health researchers like her who are open about their lived experience. She offers some really great insight about what it’s like to be part of a research team and shares some really useful tips too. Read more about her lively week!
Internship opportunities at ARC Oxford and Thames Valley – 29 April deadline
Curious about research and the difference it could make to the people you work with? Up to £20,000 is available to help as part of an NIHR ARC OxTV research internship. Our funded internships offer an introduction to all aspects and roles across clinical / social academic research, from trial design, data management and analysis…
Get involvement opportunities straight to your inbox!
The McPin Involvement Bulletin is packed full of exciting opportunities to get involved and participate in mental health research. With a focus on lived experience, the (roughly) monthly round-up includes everything we’re involved in or have been sent, from lived experience advisory groups to higher education courses and lots more. For example, February’s bulletin promoted…
Presentations viewable online – NIHR Academy Doctoral Academy Training Camp
Presentations from last September’s NIHR Academy Doctoral Training Camp have now been made more widely available, sharing useful tips for all those preparing research funding applications. Sessions include: • Lessons learned when applying for postdoctoral funding • The art of framing your research question • Get value and benefit from Patient and Public Involvement •…
McPin Foundation
We are a mental health research charity that believes research is done best when it involves people with relevant personal experience that relates to the research being carried out. We call this expertise from experience and integrate this into our work by: Delivering high-quality, collaborative mental health research and evaluations Helping shape the research of…
DATAMIND survey on training for mental health datascience
DATAMIND works to make the best use of the UK’s rich health records and datasets for mental health research. As part of this work, we are providing training and career development opportunities for early career researchers in the interdisciplinary area of mental health data science. We would like to know what career development opportunities would…
Social media training from The Mental Elf
Practical training in digital public engagement & research dissemination skills for anyone interested in communicating mental health science. This is an online social media training day with The Mental Elf founder, André Tomlin. The cost is £75. The workshops are very interactive and problem-based. They help participants to: 1. Become familiar with the range of…
Webinar – 10 Feb from Oxford AHSN
Free webinar from Oxford Academic Health Science Network exploring how patients and health/care professionals can best work together. Hear from patients, relatives and professionals with experience of children & young people’s mental health services. Sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inclusion-for-all-mental-health-children-young-people-tickets-228836936437
Funding for child and adolescent mental health from Kavli Trust
The Norwegian Kavli Trust Programme on Health Research will be awarding a total of NOK 20 million (£1.6million) to collaborative research projects addressing selected evidence gaps in child and adolescent mental health in 2022. The pre-proposal form is now open to applicants from Norway, Sweden, Finland or the United Kingdom. Find out more: https://kavlifondet.no/en/2021/12/call-for-proposals-kavli-trust-programme-on-health-research-2022/
Chief Nursing Officer for England’s strategic plan for research
The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for England’s strategic plan for research is for all
nurses working in health and social care, whether they are already or thinking about
getting involved in research, colleagues in academia and the third sector and all those
who support research. It has been developed in partnership with stakeholders across
the health and care system including the Innovation, Research and Life Sciences Group
within NHS England and NHS Improvement specifically to ensure alignment across the
organisation.
PhD programme in mental health research for health professionals
Applications are now open for a new PhD Programme in Mental Health Research for Health Professionals. The programme will be based at King’s College London and funded by the Wellcome Trust. How to apply: https://kclmentalhealthphd.co.uk/apply Listen to a Mental Elf podcast on the programme.
Charity funders of mental health research
Where can I find out about potential charity funding for my study? If you aren’t a well-established researcher, it can be very difficult to know where to start. Even if you are, mental health remains an underfunded area with far fewer charities with either open or themed calls compared to other health conditions. But there are starting points.
Academic opportunities for Foundation Year doctors – application deadline 19 Jan 2022
The NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration (MH-TRC) is offering a series of funded research taster days at a range of leading academic centres in the UK. Awards will be made to year 2 Foundation trainees who wish to explore mental health research opportunities. The aim of this scheme is to widen access to research…
Public Involvement Funds from the Research Design Service
It is considered good practice to involve members of the public and people with lived experience as early as possible in the research design process. Funding public involvement at the application stage can be challenging. The Research Design Service (RDS) ‘Public Involvement Funds’ aim to bridge that gap. Funds are available to help facilitate public…
500 researchers on the #MHRmap – and counting!
There are now over 500 researchers on our map of mental health research, including research-active clinicians, lived experience experts, and mental health academics. It’s great to see broad-based support for this resource which promotes cross-disciplinary collaborations in mental health research. The map of mental health research now has over 500 researchers listed from 20 different…
ARC Mental Health Fellowship programme – 28 Jan deadline
The Applied Research Collaboration for East of England announces the launch of its Mental Health Fellowship programme for people who work in mental health to undertake an 18 month supervised mental health research and implementation project. Find out more here: https://bit.ly/3xrKWjS
ARC online course: Introduction to evaluation – apply by 16 Jan 2022
The Introduction to Evaluation online short course is aimed at staff in frontline services in the NHS, local government and social care organisations who are aiming to conduct evaluations of services or interventions and covers key guidance from the planning stages through to sharing your findings. This course is suitable for staff from NHS Trusts,…
Social care research funding – deadline 24 Nov
NIHR Programme Development Grants (PDG) invites proposals to address the challenges within adult social care and aim to improve the evidence base for adult social care. We are particularly interested in applications that include users of social care, focus on populations and communities with high support/care needs, or have historically been under-served by research activity, and…
NIHR Programme Development Grants – next deadline 24 Nov 2021
The Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR) Competition 37 is now open for applications for research proposals to develop individual programmes of applied health research. The application deadline is 24 November 2021. Find out more: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/funding/programme-grants-for-applied-research-competition-37/28718 NIHR Programme Development Grants (PDG) allow researchers to pull together a community to develop a grant application over a…
UKRI funding for adolescent mental health and wellbeing research – 1 Dec deadline
Fantastic UKRI funding opportunity for mental health researchers at any career stage: Apply for funding to help improve research in the field of ‘adolescence, mental health and the developing mind’ through: methodological innovation capability building. You can be researcher at any career stage who is: within the remit of AHRC, ESRC or MRC based in…
Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) grants from NIHR
Research for Patient Benefit grants are great options for early and mid-career researchers who are looking for smaller pots of funding to consider. A real strength of the programme is the option to have co- principal investigators where an earlier career PI can be supported by a more experienced PI. RfPB is researcher-led and does not…
ECR hub brings together resources from UKRI mental health networks
The Mental Health Research Matters team has launched a new section of their website dedicated to supporting Early Career Researchers. The new ECR hub brings together resources which have been developed by the UKRI mental health research networks. The new pages bring together videos, content, reflections and learnings from their series of fantastic ECR-focused events…
Newsletter – autumn 2021
View the summer 2021 MHR Incubator news online. You can sign up to the newsletter via the link in the orange box at the top right corner of our homepage.
What is the Research Design Service?
What is the Research Design Service (RDS)? We asked that question to Louise Halbert, Business Manager at the NIHR Research Design Service (or RDS for short 🙂 ) She said… “The Research Design Service (RDS) supports researchers to develop applications to the National Institute for Health Research and other national funders of applied health and…
Interview: Dept of Health and Social Care CSO on mental health research in the UK
In a wide-ranging discussion, Professors Lucy Chappell and Cathy Creswell discuss the rationale behind the launch of a number of new NIHR funding schemes for mental health research that have been announced, including region-specific schemes. They go on to discuss the importance of research into co-occurring physical and mental health conditions, capacity issues in certain…
CATCH – the Clinical Academic Careers Training Hub
A new website promoting the value clinical academic careers is a useful resource for clinicians with interests in mental health research CATCH, the Clinical Academic Training & Careers Hub, aims to be a one stop shop for information on academic careers. The website promotes the role of clinical academics and supports health professionals beginning their…
New video series on PPI in mental health research – thanks to Incubator Advisory Group members
Members of the Mental Health Research Incubator Advisory Group were behind the brand-new video series in which researchers and experienced public contributors discuss patient and public involvement (PPI) in mental health research. Dr Emma Černis and Dr Simon Hackett highlighted that support and direction with PPI was an area that mental health researchers would welcome…
SBRI Healthcare – Mental Health Inequalities in Children and Young People, 13 Oct deadline
Funded by NHS England and NHS Improvement in collaboration with the AHSN Network, SBRI Healthcare announces a Phase 3 funding competition open to innovations in an advanced stage of development. The aim is to accelerate these innovations into relevant health or social settings, and to facilitate the generation of evidence in Real World settings required by commissioners…
Mental Health Practice Evaluation Scheme – EOI deadline 8 October 2021
The NIHR Schools for Primary Care Research (SPCR), Public Health Research (SPHR) and Social Care Research (SSCR) have launched a new programme to address the challenges faced by front line health and care professionals. The Mental Health Practice Evaluation Scheme aims to support the three NIHR Schools work in partnership with professionals across a range…
Sign up for funding, training and career development tips
The Mental Health Research Incubator is a broad-based community of mental health researchers at all career stages, mental health professionals, lived experience experts and public contributors to mental health research. We are committed to building mental health research capacity. Sign up to our newsletter on the homepage (big orange square, top right) to keep up…
Improving healthcare through clinical research
Free online course This free open access course explains simply how medical treatments are discovered, tested and evaluated. If you’re curious about research, this might be a great place to start: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/clinical-research
Your path in research campaign – useful links
‘Your path in research’ is a new NIHR campaign which is championing the careers of research-active health professionals. Although the content is mainly aimed at clinical professionals – or people who work with patients in clinical contexts, there are lots of useful resources we want to shout about for researchers who work in non-clinical contexts…
NIHR fellowship application day – 6 October
An all-day masterclass on how to improve your chances of success when applying for an NIHR Fellowship. This online event is open to any researcher, clinician and/or academic from across the South Central region (Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Oxfordshire) who is considering an NIHR Fellowship application. Find out more and register via…
Webinar: Develop a competitive Pre-doctoral Clinical Academic Fellowship application – 6 October
Online webinar from NIHR for those wishing to pursue an PCAF application. Webinar topic: Find out how to develop a competitive PCAF application The HEE/NIHR ICA Pre-doctoral Clinical Academic Fellowship (PCAF) supports health and social care practitioners (excluding doctors and dentists) to develop a competitive doctoral fellowship application. The award funds a bespoke training and…
Beneficial Changes Network – submissions of innovations before 22 Oct
The Beneficial Changes Network is now open for a second round of transformation, innovation or improvement submissions from the frontline. This is a fantastic opportunity for mental health researchers and professionals with relevant experience. This round of submissions is not specific to changes which occurred during the pandemic, rather a general invitation for submissions in…
Twitter takeover: Dr Rachael Kelley
Nurse and senior research fellow at Leeds Beckett University, Dr Rachael Kelley, got some great chat going in her twitter week with us – good food for thought! Thanks Rachael. Here’s her twitter week to catch up on if you missed it! https://wakelet.com/wake/psxVd-_rrAhLjx2oIw3nA
Twitter takeover: Dr Emma Černis
Psychologist and researcher Dr Emma Černis highlighted her career inspirations did some research career myth-busting in her takeover week with us. Here’s her week to catch up on if you missed it! https://wakelet.com/wake/eb54uyRzTFn6VBvktRCwn
£30 million NIHR investment offers wide range of funding opportunities for mental health research
A huge new investment in mental health research offers significantly more funding opportunities for mental health researchers in the year ahead. The broad range of programmes will offer opportunities for both early and mid/late career researchers. They specifically target key geographical regions with the most need and include opportunities for researchers in fields not traditionally…
Research for Social Care in North of England – 19 Oct deadline
Mental health in the North of England Research for Social Care is running an additional call focusing on important social care questions around mental health in Northern England. This additional call is an important part of the Department of Health and Social Care’s ongoing interest in strengthening mental health research in less well supported areas….
Medical Research Foundation grants for mental health, 27 Sept deadline
Apply now for Launchpad Grants for mental health research from the Medical Research Foundation. The closing date is 27 September. The Medical Research Foundation’s Launchpad Grants will support early and mid-career researchers and clinical academics, whose research will increase understanding of mental health, and improve diagnosis, treatment and recovery. The funding should be used to…
NIHR Fellowship application day – 6 October
This online workshop organised by the South Central Research Design Service is for researchers who are applying for a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Fellowship. The workshop covers the following NIHR schemes: • Doctoral Research Fellowship • Advanced Fellowship • Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship • Clinical Lecturer • Senior Clinical Lecturer There will be…
Starting research workshop – 15 September
This workshop organised by the South-Central Research Design Service is for those who are interested in research but don’t know how to get going. It may be of particular interest to those applying for a research-related internship or pre-doctoral fellowship to start a clinical academic career. This workshop will cover: • What makes a good…
Peer and community research methods – free online training course from CSMH
The Centre for Society and Mental Health (CSMH) has launched their new course in ‘Research methods: a practical guide to peer and community research’. In the 10-week practical course hosted on FutureLearn, participants will identify how to conduct their own research and develop their own ethical research project. It is designed to introduce research methods…
Programme development grants – mental health call, 4 August 2021 deadline
The NIHR Programme Development Grants (PDGs) programme has launched a funding call inviting proposals for research to address the challenge of mental health. Deadline: 4 August 2021 Find out more on the NIHR website: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/funding/programme-development-grants-mental-health-call/27995
Newsletter – summer 2021
View the summer 2021 MHR Incubator news online. You can sign up to the newsletter via the link in the top right corner of our homepage.
Wellcome Trust funding schemes
The Wellcome Trust have launched three new discovery research funding schemes which can support mental health research projects. The three schemes – early career awards, discovery awards and career development awards – will open in late summer 2021. Find out more about the schemes on the Wellcome Trust website.
Competition launch webinar – NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) programme
The NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) Programme will launch the 5th round of its Connect Awards on the 17th of August 2021. There will be two funding streams in this round: 1) Connect awards, and 2) Children and Young People’s Mental Health (CYPMH) awards. The NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) Programme is a translational funding…
Online doctoral thesis site for mental health nurses
Aspiring nurse researchers can now access a selection of doctoral level theses, all of which have been completed by mental health nurses. The new resource is intended to be a guide to research at a doctoral level. It has been developed by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in collaboration with the RCN Mental Health…
Why GPs need to be involved in mental health research
“The number of people presenting with mental health problems to general practice is a worrying growing trend, however, the involvement of GPs in mental health research is an area for hope. Being a practising GP and an active researcher are not as incompatible as one may think – a growing number of GPs are conducting…
Twitter takeover: Dr Vishal Bhasavar
Consultant psychiatrist and mental health researcher at the section for women’s mental health at King’s College London took the reins of the @MHRincubator twitter account for one week in June. Here’s what happened on our second #MHRtakeover!
Preparatory research training – Maudsley BRC
Mental Health Biomedical Research Preparatory Clinician Fellowships offer healthcare professionals an opportunity to obtain the necessary research track record, skills and support to compete for externally funded three year Clinician Training Fellowships with NIHR, MRC, Wellcome or other funder. The scheme is available to medical trainees in psychiatry or neurology and to other health professionals…
Shared goals for mental health research: what, why and when for 2020s
A new paper by Dame Til Wykes and other leading figures in mental health research describes the Department of Health and Social Care’s mental health research goals and the process that was taken to codevelop them. The paper is published in the Journal of Mental Health and features commentaries from many different people and organisations,…
Looking back to move forward: Reflections on the strengths and challenges of the COVID-19 UK mental health research response
A must read for anyone interested in the research priorities in COVID-19. This article is an open access publication accessible to readers anywhere in the world. Read the article in full here.
Mental health research UK
MentalHealthResearchUk announces a competition for two PhD Scholarships beginning September 2022.
What is bioscience’s role in mental health research?
by Professor Adrian Harwood and Professor Louise Dye Once the territory of psychology and psychiatry alone, it is now widely accepted that much more holistic approaches are required to understand the nature of mental health and its associated problems. Biology underpins the functioning of the human body and, whilst often overlooked, is also an integral part…
Archaeology and Mental Health – what’s the connection? A MARCH network interview
Exploring interdisciplinary stories and novel approaches – from both inside and outside of the networks – is central to what the #MentalHealthResearchMatters team is doing. So when I heard about a MARCH network Plus Fund project looking at archaeology and mental health, my interest was piqued – what is the connection between archaeology and mental health? A…
Open Science resources document
Open science is a topic for all researchers, but can have a particular impact for mental health researchers. It can seem like a bit of a buzz word that is increasingly used. But what does it mean and what practices should you follow as a mental health researcher? When it comes to the mental health…
Mathematics and mental health – what is the connection? A podcast episode
What role can mathematics play in better understanding mental health? We spoke to Professor Terry Lyons, a mathematician whose area of expertise has application in understanding complex data real-world data from multiple sources. He is the principal investigator at DataSig, and part of their work uses mathematics to better understand mental health. This is a transcript…
How can AI help us manage mental health conditions? – Podcast transcript
How can sensors in our home help us better understand physical and mental health conditions? As part of our Mental Health Research Matters Interdisciplinary research series, we were joined by Dr Amid Ayobi and Dr Aisling Ann O’Kane from the EPSRC-funded SPHERE project, to find out more about human-computer interaction. They are just two of around…
10 tips on collaborative research with community partners
For this blog, Dr Jess Bone spoke with researchers Rosie Dow, Dr Alex Burton, and Dr Karen Mak from the MARCH Network to get their top tips on collaborative research with community partners. If you’re a mental health researcher looking to make the most of community partnerships, then you won’t want to miss this. The MARCH Network (2018-2021) explored…
Mental health research is a team sport
Dr Sarah Knowles, Knowledge Mobilisation Research Fellow at the University of York, and Gordon Johnston, peer researcher and Closing the Gap steering committee member, and Mental Health Research Matters steering group member write about the many benefits of multidisciplinary approaches to mental health research “Working across disciplinary and professional boundaries encourages researchers to think bigger about their projects –…
Mental wellbeing doesn’t exist in isolation and mental health research shouldn’t either
Promoting a collaborative approach to research is at the heart of the Mental Health Research Matters campaign, with the eight research networks bringing together people from the technology, health, medicine, humanities and environmental science fields. We spoke to Masuma Mishu, who is a researcher and lecturer in public health and previously worked as a clinical dentist, about…
Interdisciplinary Research: An interview with Professor Kamaldeep Bhui
Professor Kamaldeep Bhui, from the University of Oxford, is one of the leads of the MARCH network’s Special Interest Research Group (SIRG) Interdisciplinary Research Methods. His research priorities include multimorbidity, ethnicity, health inequalities, complex interventions. I had a chat with Professor Bhui to pick his brain about the merits of interdisciplinary research, the challenges that…
9 ways for mental health clinicians to keep up to date with the latest research
If you work as a mental health clinician, keeping up to date with the latest research can improve your practice, for better mental health outcomes for the people you support. However, with so much information out there, it can feel hard to stay on top of things. Elizabeth James is a clinician who supports NHS…