Opportunities Update

NIHR RSS Online Grant Writing WorkshopNovember

06/11/2025 10:00 am → 06/11/2025 1:00 pm NIHR RSS Any; Early career; Starts in 1 day

Online

Are you an applied health or social care researcher with a project idea and thinking about applying for National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) funding?

This exclusive event will give you expert guidance on your proposal from the NIHR Research Support Service (RSS). This is a great opportunity to connect with other researchers, share insights, and discuss your ideas in an interactive setting. The focus of the discussion will be intergrating being inclusive and involving public contributors in your planning in order to be able to implement a knowledge mobilisation plan that has impact on all those to whom your research relates to.

To help you prepare, all confirmed attendees will be sent a resource to guide you through key tasks for your proposal. Please set aside about an hour to review it beforehand so you can get the most out of the discussions.

Eligibility

This event is for anyone with an applied health or social care research idea who is has a research proposal in mind and is considering applying for National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) funding, especially early career researchers and those who are less familiar with submitting a grant proposal to NIHR.

Before registering, please check your eligibility at the NIHR website.

Please note that spaces are limited. If you are not eligible for NIHR funding, your attendance may not be confirmed. Additionally, the Research Support Service does not support researchers applying to Global Health research programs.

If you have any questions or are unsure whether you should attend, please email nihr-rss@york.ac.uk.

Mental Health Award: Transforming early intervention for anxiety, depression and psychosis in young peopleNovember

11/11/2025 3:00 pm Wellcome Trust Post-doctoral; Ends in 7 days

This funding is for projects that robustly test the real-world effectiveness and assess implementation strategies of scalable transformative early interventions for anxiety, depression and psychosis in young people £200,000 is available for the Foundation Phase.

This first phase of the funding call will provide teams with £200,000 to build their teams and develop their detailed proposal for their research study over 12 months. We expect to make around 20 awards in the highly competitive Foundation phase of this funding call.

This research proposal must be for a definitive effectiveness study and assessment of strategies for implementation and scaling of a psychological and/or a social intervention. The research must take place in the UK or a low- and middle-income country (LMIC). The proposal must capture multiple outcomes that are relevant to people with lived experience and implementing partners, including mental health outcomes, functional outcomes and full economic evaluation.

Eligibility

You cannot apply for this call if:

You intend to carry out activities which involve the transfer of funds into mainland China.
You cannot demonstrate that you can dedicate enough time and resources to the project, if funded.
You are already an applicant on two applications for this funding call:
- You can only be a lead applicant on one application and a coapplicant on another one.
- You can be a coapplicant on two applications.
- You must demonstrate that you have sufficient capacity for both projects if funded. The applications should be for different projects with no overlap of activities.
You already have applied for, or hold, the maximum number of Wellcome awards for your career stage.
Your proposed research does not fit the aims of this award. Check if your research is right for this call.

Funding: PhD in Mental Health Research for Health ProfessionalsNovember

13/11/2025 1:00 pm Kings College London Doctoral; Early career; Pre-doctoral; Ends in 9 days

Applications 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. The fellowship offers full home (UK) fees, and a salary matched to the applicant’s clinical salary for three years (full-time study, pro rata for part-time study) as well as funding for research costs, training and travel. There may be a limited number of international fee waivers available for international applicants.

Eligibility

The programme is open to a wide range of registered health professions, including but not limited to doctors, nurses, midwives, psychologists, pharmacists and professions allied to healthcare.

Funding: Career Development FellowshipNovember

19/11/2025 12:00 am The Royal Society Early career; Open - 14 days to go

The Career Development Fellowship (CDF) is a four-year, postdoctoral research fellowship that aims to support the retention in STEM of researchers from underrepresented backgrounds. Fellowships will provide funding to conduct high-quality research and a comprehensive programme of mentoring, training and networking opportunities to support award holders in establishing a successful research career in the UK.

This fellowship aims to:

Support talented early career researchers from underrepresented backgrounds in taking the first step towards establishing their research in a UK institution
Provide researchers with the opportunity to undertake high-quality curiosity-led research
Provide the most promising researchers with the mentoring, networking opportunities, training and support required to establish a successful research career in the UK
Support talented researchers from underrepresented groups to pursue a career in STEM and strengthen the UK scientific workforce

Eligibility

This scheme is for you if:

You self-identify as being from a Black heritage, including mixed Black background;
You are a UK national or you have completed a part of your education in the UK through your Undergraduate, Master’s or PhD degree studies or you hold/have held a postdoctoral researcher position in the UK;
You have a PhD, or will have one by the time the funding starts, but have less than 24 months post-doctoral experience
and
Your research is within the Royal Society’s remit of natural sciences. For a full list, please see the breakdown of subject groups and areas supported by the Royal Society.
- Experimental Psychology; Behavioral Neuroscience and Development and Control of Behaviour are all within the Royal Society’s remit.

Both UK and non-UK domiciled researchers who wish to conduct their research in the UK are eligible. Applicants can be of any nationality and those requiring a visa are eligible to apply for a Global Talent Visa under the fast-track process of endorsement.

Funding: Wellcome Career Development AwardsNovember

20/11/2025 3:00 pm Wellcome Trust Post-doctoral; Open - 16 days to go

This scheme provides funding for mid-career researchers from any discipline who have the potential to be international research leaders. They will develop their research capabilities, drive innovative programmes of work and deliver significant shifts in understanding related to human life, health and wellbeing.

As a mid-career researcher, you will be in the early stages of your independent research career. You will usually have completed one or two substantial periods of research after your PhD (or equivalent research training). You may have directed, or closely guided, the work of others. You may recently have been appointed to your first independent academic position.

You must be ready to lead a substantial and innovative research programme. You must aim to make a key contribution to your field by:

generating significant shifts in understanding and/or
developing methodologies, conceptual frameworks, tools or techniques that could benefit health-related research.

During the award, we expect you to:

develop your research capabilities and leadership skills
support others to undertake research responsibly and promote a positive and inclusive culture
start training the next generation of researchers and develop their research skills and careers.

Eligibility

You are not eligible to apply if:

you hold, have held, or have accepted an offer for an equivalent award at this career stage (an exception to this is that our current Wellcome grantholders at an equivalent stage can apply to this scheme)
you have made an application to this scheme and you are waiting for a decision.

You cannot apply to carry out activities that involve the transfer of grant funds into mainland China.

Funding call: What are the social and mental wellbeing benefits of intergenerational practices in care homes and schools?November

27/11/2025 1:00 pm NIHR Post-doctoral; Open - 23 days to go

The NIHR’s Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme invites applications for the following research question: What are the social and mental wellbeing benefits of intergenerational practices in care homes and schools?

Target group: Residents in care homes and children in primary education (applicants are invited to specify and justify age brackets used for each group; applicants should specify whether or not exclusion criteria will include residents with dementia)

Intervention: Intergenerational Practice, bringing the care home residents and primary school students together for group activities (applicants are invited to specify and justify the design of the intergenerational programme used, ensuring there is PPI input in the development, and should include a relevant plan for safeguarding in their application)

Comparators: Care homes and/or schools running the same activities with no intergenerational links

Important outcomes:

children – happiness with a measure of feeling of isolation, confidence to engage with others of a different or same generation, attitudes towards older people
care home residents – quality of life, happiness with a measure of feeling of isolation, confidence to engage with others of a different or same generation, attitudes towards younger people
care providers – mental health, attitudes towards both target groups

Other outcomes:

children – adverse events resulting from the intervention
care home residents – adverse events resulting from the intervention
care providers – financial implications of the intervention, job satisfaction/retention

Funded PhD: Conversational AI for Global Adolescent Mental Health – Evidence and Co-design with Young PeopleDecember

02/12/2025 12:00 pm University of Oxford Doctoral; Open - 28 days to go

Adolescence is a formative stage of life and a critical window for mental health. Half of all lifetime mental health conditions begin before 18, yet access to effective care is grossly unequal. Globally, most young people live in low- and middle-income countries where specialist services are scarce. Addressing this gap is a priority for improving health, reducing inequalities, and preventing lifelong disadvantage. Digital technologies offer a potential way to extend access to mental health support. AI-driven conversational agents (text- or voice-based digital companions) are emerging as scalable and cost-effective interventions. However, evidence on their effectiveness and safety, especially in underrepresented and low-resource settings, remains limited. This doctoral project will generate urgently needed insight into how conversational AI can be designed, implemented, and evaluated to support adolescent mental health in diverse contexts.

Eligibility

To apply to this PhD, you must apply through the following course: DPhil in Psychiatry

NIHR RSS New & Developing Researcher Workshop Series – Workshop 2December

02/12/2025 9:00 am → 02/12/2025 1:15 pm NIHR Research Support Service Any; Doctoral; Early career; Post-doctoral; Pre-doctoral; Starts in 27 days

Online

This series of three half-day workshops is hosted by the NIHR Research Support Service (RSS). The workshops will look at the foundations of a research career and what you need to have in place for a fellowship or placement and, for predoctoral awards and the PASF, they key elements required to develop a good research idea. It will also help you communicate well when writing your funding application.

The NIHR Research Support Service is offering a series of workshops to help you develop an application to:

the NIHR Predoctoral Award Programme
the NIHR Pre-Application Support Fund
the NIHR SPARC or LA-SPARC schemes

These schemes are being examined together as they all have things in common. The workshops will help you pick a good research area, choose the right supervisory team, design a career development programme and communicate well when writing your funding application.

View the draft programme: https://www.nihr-rss-public-health-soton.org/new-researcher-2025-programme

Content will be delivered through a mixture of presentations, exercises, Q&A and (optional) accompanying activities to be done between sessions. The series is formed of three half-day workshops. The content is different on each day.

Funding: NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) Product Development Award (PDA) Researcher LedDecember

08/10/2025 1:00 pm → 03/12/2025 1:00 pm NIHR Post-doctoral; Underway

The NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) programme is inviting outline applications to its Product Development Awards (PDA) funding opportunity. This is a two-stage funding opportunity. To apply for the first stage you should submit an outline application. If invited to the second stage, you will then need to complete a full application.

The i4i programme funds collaborative research and development projects of medical devices, in vitro diagnostic devices and high-impact patient-focused digital health technologies for use in the NHS or social care systems. As a minimum, applicants must have demonstrated proof-of-concept, which is generally described as TRL3, and supporting evidence should be provided in the application.

Applicants are expected to have generated experimental data and/or to provide evidence from a robust review of existing literature to support the case for further development and illustrate technical feasibility.

Funding: Greenspace and natural environmentsDecember

09/12/2025 1:00 pm NIHR Early career; Post-doctoral; Open - 35 days to go

The NIHR Public Health Research (PHR) Programme is looking to fund research which evaluates the health impacts of the interventions which change access to green and blue space. This is a 2-stage funding opportunity. To apply for the first stage you should submit an outline application. If invited to the second stage, you will then need to complete a full application.

Research question: What are the health impacts of the interventions which change access to green and blue space?

NIHR RSS New & Developing Researcher Workshop Series – Workshop 3January

14/01/2026 9:00 am → 14/01/2026 1:15 pm NIHR Research Support Service Any; Doctoral; Early career; Post-doctoral; Pre-doctoral; Starts in 70 days

Online

The NIHR Research Support Service is offering a series of workshops to help you develop an application to:

the NIHR Predoctoral Award Programme
the NIHR Pre-Application Support Fund
the NIHR SPARC or LA-SPARC schemes

View the draft programme: https://www.nihr-rss-public-health-soton.org/new-researcher-2025-programme

Funding: Arts, Health and Wellbeing Lottery FundingJanuary

19/11/2025 12:00 am → 21/01/2026 1:00 pm Arts Council of Wales Post-doctoral; Starts in 14 days

The aim of this programme is to support partnerships from across the arts, health, social care and third sectors to provide high-quality creative projects that deliver health and wellbeing benefits for the people of Wales.

The Arts Health and Wellbeing Fund is open to partnership bids from across the arts, health, social care, nature, environmental and third sectors. Between £500 to £50,000 is available for funding but over £50,000 is available in rare and exceptional cases. Projects that address one or more of the following health challenges and priorities are eligible to apply:

Nature – projects that aim to improve people’s health and wellbeing by increasing their connection with nature through the arts;
Mental health – including tackling loneliness, social isolation and social prescribing schemes that aim to build resilience and support better mental health;
Health inequalities – Arts projects designed to address health inequalities by bringing health and wellbeing benefits to people from more diverse and under-represented backgrounds;
Physical health and wellbeing – arts projects that support improved physical health or keep people physically active ;
Staff wellbeing – within the healthcare and/or arts workforce.

Eligibility

Applications should be developed by a partnership/consortium of organisations and artists and must include both a health and arts partner (as well as a nature partner if your project focuses on Arts, Health & Nature). One of the partners will need to assume the lead, submitting the application and acting as the accountable body.

Funding: Application Development Award for Health and Care ProfessionalsFebruary

04/02/2026 1:00 pm NIHR Early career; Open - 92 days to go

The NIHR are commissioning up to 10 Application Development Awards (ADAs) to carry out development work prior to research applications, with a requirement for applicant teams to involve a specific group of Health and Care Professionals (HCP).

This opportunity helps HCPs to develop as highly skilled researchers and research leaders, and to move towards a more multi-professional approach to addressing the health and care challenges of today and the future. These ADAs are intended to support future applications for funding from NIHR research programmes, however, they are not programme-specific in nature.

This is a 1-stage funding opportunity.

Eligibility

To be eligible for this funding opportunity as an early-mid career researcher HCP, you must be a registered professional within 1 of the following eligible HCP groups:

nurses (including nurses that work in social care)
midwives
pharmacists
healthcare scientists
allied health professions (as specified by NHS England)

In addition to this, you must have:

recently been, or are about to be awarded a PhD, or have equivalent demonstrable years of research knowledge and experience
not yet been the chief investigator for a substantial research award of £100,000+

Funding: The CMHP-PRUK Research AwardMarch

24/11/2025 12:00 am → 25/03/2026 1:00 pm Pharmacy Research UK Any; Starts in 19 days

Pharmacy Research UK (PRUK) and the College of Mental Health Pharmacy (CMHP) are working together to offer full or associate members of the CMHP the opportunity to receive a Research Award for projects which aim to benefit patients with mental illness, and which contribute to enhancing the quality of care with psychiatric medicines through improving pharmaceutical services or ensuring safe and effective use of medicines.

The CMHP and PRUK specifically wish to support projects in the following areas:

Cross sector communication and interface working,
Medicines safety/optimisation for those with mental illness by community, general practice or general hospital pharmacy teams,
Relapse prevention and keeping well (including maintaining adherence),
Mental health services in community and primary care, or equivalent areas, and/or
Managing public health issues in mental health (e.g. physical health).

This partnership offers up to £20,000 for CMHP members to pursue research in line with the areas highlighted above, with a focus on future patient benefit. This year, they are able to fund two proposals. The research must not exceed 20 months duration and successful award holders will be expected to present their research at a future CMHP conference. Applications with a focus on substance misuse may be accepted provided the project aims to benefit patients with co-morbid mental illness.

Eligibility

To be considered eligible for submission the project must:

Align to the CMHP-PRUK Research Award scope criteria described above
Have a lead applicant who is registered with a professional regulatory body for pharmacy in their home nation (e.g. the General Pharmaceutical Council), and who is also a full or associate member of CMHP at the time of applying and will remain member for the duration of the proposed research
Be completed between 12 to 20 months (unless under exceptional circumstances)
Be based in the UK. Organisations outside of the UK are welcome to collaborate on projects, however the lead institution must be UK-based and the project must have relevance for the UK, and
Request no more than £20,000. The judging panel may decide to award the total amount to one or two projects or to one or more smaller projects.

Funding Call: Veterans’ healthApril

21/04/2026 1:00 pm NIHR Post-doctoral; Open - 168 days to go

The NIHR’s Public Health Research (PHR) Programme is looking to fund research which evaluates the effects of interventions on the mental, physical, or both aspects of Veterans’ health. This is a 2-stage funding opportunity. To apply for the first stage you should submit an outline application. If invited to the second stage, you will then need to complete a full application.

You must demonstrate a strong grasp of the existing evidence base, highlight critical research gaps, and articulate how your study will address these deficiencies. Additionally, where relevant, you should integrate diverse sources of existing evidence to ensure a comprehensive approach.

Research Question: What are the effects of interventions on the mental, physical, or both aspects of Veterans’ health?

Funding: Men’s Mental HealthApril

21/04/2026 1:00 pm NIHR Early career; Post-doctoral; Open - 168 days to go

The NIHR Public Health Research (PHR) Programme is looking to fund research which evaluates the health and health inequality impacts of interventions aimed at promoting good mental health or preventing poor mental health among men. This is a 2-stage funding opportunity. To apply for the first stage you should submit an outline application. If invited to the second stage, you will then need to complete a full application

Research question: What are the health and health inequality impacts of interventions aimed at promoting good mental health or preventing poor mental health among men?

Eligibility

The PHR programme focuses on funding health-related research into services that:

are not provided or funded by the NHS
can be rolled out on a large scale
have potential to create sustainable, population-level changes

It is particularly interested in studies that focus on the wider determinants of health and will generally ask for health-related outcome measures.

It does not fund:

studies of specific disease or condition
treatments research where primary outcomes are social care outcomes – see our Research programme for Social Care
the development of new websites, apps, or software

Webinar: NIHR RSS Overview of NIHR Doctoral & Postdoctoral Fellowships (Mental Health and Neuroscience)October

23/10/2025 10:00 am → 23/10/2026 11:30 am NIHR Research Support Service Doctoral; Early career; Pre-doctoral; Underway

Online

Are you thinking about applying for an NIHR Doctoral or Postdoctoral Fellowship on a Mental Health or Neuroscience topic?

Attend our interactive webinar to hear more about applying for NIHR Fellowships, hear our tips on refining your research programme and methodology, and develop a stronger, more competitive Doctoral or Postdoctoral Fellowship applications!

This session provides an overview on the NIHR Doctoral & Postdoctoral Fellowships.

Webinar: NIHR RSS NIHR Doctoral & Postdoctoral Fellowships (Mental Health and Neuroscience) – MasterclassNovember

13/11/2025 10:00 am → 13/11/2026 11:30 am NIHR Research Support Service Doctoral; Early career; Pre-doctoral; Starts in 8 days

Online

Are you thinking about applying for an NIHR Doctoral or Postdoctoral Fellowship on a Mental Health or Neuroscience topic?

This session is a masterclass on NIHR Doctoral & Postdoctoral Fellowships.

Parent Carer Research Network
MHID and the Charlie Waller Trust Any; Open-ended
The Parent Carer Research Network (PCRN) was set up to champion the voices of parents and carers in children and young people’s mental health research. It connects researchers with interested parents and carers who have lived experience with children and young people’s mental health and would like to become involved in research.

If you are a mental health or addiction researcher, you are able to send any opportunities to be reviewed and featured in the PCRN’s next newsletter. The network has been founded by parents with lived experience, the Charlie Waller Trust, and research teams at the Universities of Birmingham and Oxford.

The PCRN is a useful way to establish collaborative relationships, incorporate lived experience to your research and develop safe, inclusive and accessible research. Working with the PCRN provides support in developing your project and exploring funding sources, support with your application to work with the network and resources on good practice e.g. advice around facilitation and communication with parents and carers.

📧 You can also email the team at parentcarerresearchnetwork@psych.ox.ac.uk if you’d like to have a chat or discuss a potential opportunity

Eligibility

The opportunities (research or PPI) must be targeted to parents or carers, and there are a few steps you’ll need to carry out. They have also created a Guide for Researchers, containing important points to consider and a checklist summary of key reminders.

Funding call: Courses and conferences for early career researchers
NIHR MH-TRC Mission Doctoral; Early career; Pre-doctoral; Open-ended
The NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration Mission (MH-TRC Mission) Capacity Development workstream presents an exciting opportunity for early career researchers linked to the MH-TRC Mission. To support your training and development we are launching a rolling funding call for fees and travel expenses to enable attendance at relevant courses and conferences. Applications are also welcome from PhD candidates seeking co-funding for PhD tuition fees. You can apply for funding covering up to 50% of PhD tuition fees (up to £15,000) provided you have already secured the rest of the funding.

We ask you to complete an application form below with details of the funding you require and how the PhD/course/conference relates to the objectives of the MH-TRC Mission.

Successful applicants must use the best value for money method of travel. Accommodation and subsistence (meals, beverages and limited incidental costs) should be in line with value for money principles, and claimants should not benefit.

All applications will be reviewed and applicants notified of the outcome on a monthly basis. We intend to have this rolling funding call open until 31 October 2027.

Eligibility

Funding requests must be well aligned with Mission objectives.

Reviewer Development Scheme
NIHR Early career; Open-ended
An opportunity to hone your skills in peer reviewing and to review current research. Participants will receive constructive feedback on their reviews as well as receiving insights into how other experienced reviewers have approached pieces.

Membership of the scheme lasts for 5 years, or until participants have completed 5 reviews in the scheme/have been recruited as a Committee Member Development Scheme participant – whichever comes first. You may leave the scheme at any time or transfer to the NIHR’s community of reviewers as a peer reviewer once you feel ready.

Eligibility

You must be close to completing your PhD or within 10 years of completing your PhD, and have not yet held a grant as Lead Applicant (excluding fellowships) of over £100,000.

The Scheme is also open to all UK Speciality Registrars, Advanced Clinical Practitioners and Nurses and Midwives on Band 6 or above.

Associate Principal Investigator (PI) Scheme
NIHR Early career; Open-ended
The Associate Principal Investigator Scheme aims to develop health and care professionals to become the Principal Investigators (PIs) of the future.

It is a six month in-work training opportunity, providing practical experience for health and care professionals starting their research career. People who would not normally have the opportunity to take part in clinical research in their day-to-day role have the chance to experience what it means to work on and deliver an NIHR portfolio trial under the mentorship of an enthusiastic Local Principal Investigator (PI). A Principal Investigator is an individual responsible for the conduct of a research study at a site.

Associate Principal Investigators receive formal recognition of engagement in NIHR Portfolio research studies through the certification of Associate PI status, endorsed by the NIHR and Royal Colleges.

Eligibility

The scheme is open to any health and care professional willing to make a significant contribution to the conduct and delivery of a study at a local level over a period of six months.

All of the latest and upcoming funding and career development opportunities for mental health and addiction researchers.

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