BACKGROUND AND AIMS

During our time as part of the GROW 2024 cohort, we identified a shared research interest in chronic physical pain and mental health. We proposed an in-person meeting to bring us together to exchange knowledge on potential working ideas and develop an interdisciplinary grant proposal in this area. We planned to employ structured collaboration methods, such as the td-net toolbox, to formalise our project development process and collaborative approach.

The td-net toolbox includes a Give and Take Matrix which will help us systematically map our contributions and identify synergies across our research backgrounds. In addition to this, we will also use reflective tools from the SHAPE-ID toolkit to maintain a collaborative environment and co-develop a project that leverages our diverse perspectives. These formal approaches will ensure we define clear roles and contributions, and systematically identify areas of complementary expertise in a timely manner.

By coming together from diverse Higher Education institutions and geographical locations, we will be creating an opportunity for meaningful cross-institutional South-North collaboration. This collaboration will help foster new professional relationships, and a collaborative development of a grant application will provide us with valuable experience in planning interdisciplinary research. Utilising formal methods of collaboration will build our skills for future collaborative research endeavours. While our primary focus will be on the development of the grant application, we will simultaneously be contributing to our career development and enhancing our collaborative skills.

Held a collaborative partnership building session in London and attended a meeting of the Pain Research network.

Carried out an online PPIE event with the aim of supporting future grant applications.

Engaged a Lived Experience peer reviewer and developed a grant application to the Chief Scientist Office.

The MHR Incubator has been instrumental in allowing us small seed funding not normally available ahead of a grant, to carry out PPI work and Lived Experience Peer Reviewing, therefore strengthening our application.