Twelve career development fellowships available

The NIHR Schools for Primary Care Research (SPCR), Public Health Research (SPHR) and Social Care Research (SSCR) (“three Schools”) have joined together in a unique collaboration between leading academic centres in England to collaborate on a programme of work funded through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR):

Improving mental health and wellbeing in underserved populations through collaborative research

The programme will support proposals addressing a range of conditions within the HRCS mental health category, including depression, schizophrenia, psychosis and personality disorders, addiction, suicide, anxiety, eating disorders, learning disabilities, bipolar disorder, autistic spectrum disorders and studies of normal psychology, cognitive function and behaviour. It will also include a focus on the wider determinants and prevention of poor mental health, and reduction of mental health inequalities and subsequent outcomes.

A key aspect of the programme is building research capacity. To develop a critical mass of mental health research in underserved communities it is essential to build strong capacity with the expertise and local knowledge needed to make an impact.

We aim to do this by establishing:

• Bespoke fellowship scheme to develop new research capacity in key topic areas and localities in need of capacity development
• Masters/post-graduate training to increase research capability (watch this space for further details)
• Dedicated service user, carer patient and public involvement and engagement expertise
• Early career research forum

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, nursing, midwifery, pharmacy, public health practitioners, housing providers, care home managers, paramedics) and methodologists (including social scientists, statisticians, economists and evidence synthesis experts) wishing to develop research careers in the area spanned by this programme.

There are 12 career development fellowships available: six with a starting salary of around £37,000 pa and six senior awards with starting salary of around £47,000. The award duration is between 24 and 30 months depending on the availability of the fellow. Part time fellowships will be considered (0.6FTE minimum). Fellows will be based across the three Schools’ Departments to ensure they receive the academic support needed to develop a strong research career within the remit of this programme. Cross-institutional supervision and exchange placements will be encouraged.

Applications are due by 7 October 2021.

For further information view details at https://www.spcr.nihr.ac.uk/news/nihr-three-research-schools-mental-health-research-fellowship-programme.