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 for mental health researchers, and an additional focus on boosting addiction research.
GROW programme
Our professional development programme for postdocs in mental health will be expanded, running for another three years. The programme has received very positive feedback from the first 60 participants who comment on the value of the supportive network they form as well as the chance to focus on individual challenges in the 1:1 coaching.
Addiction researchers
Addiction is an area that is closely related to mental health – and we know that there’s not enough research in this really important area. Look out for a special focus on addiction in our work next year. There will be ring-fenced spaces in our GROW programme for addiction researchers and we’re keen to profile addiction researchers in our case studies. So if you are focusing on an aspect of addiction in your research (or know a colleague who is), please do get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.
Business as usual!
We’ll continue to promote researchers who are leading mental health research in their fields via case studies and our blog. And we’ll continue to support mental health researchers at all career stages with relevant career advice, and collaborative opportunities through our working groups, and Mental Health Research Community Map. We’ll be led by our steering group of mental health researchers from a range of professional backgrounds to understand where the barriers in pursuing careers in mental health research are and working with them to identify the best way to tackle these. Take a look at how you can get involved in our work, gain career building experience and grow your own networks.
The new Mental Health and Social Care Incubator
Earlier this month the NIHR launched a number of new incubators to build research capacity key areas, including Clinical Education, Community Rehabilitation and Applied Health and Care Research Methodology. Of particular interest to social care professionals and researchers working in mental health settings will be the Mental Health Social Care Incubator led by Professor Catherine Robinson at the University of Manchester. Please contact us at mhresearch@psych.ox.ac.uk if you’d like to be put in touch with this new incubator. Watch this space for more information about this exciting new incubator.
Thinking about how you might like to get involved and connect with more mental health researchers? Take a look at the ways you can get involved with the MHR Incubator.