Funding call for Mental Health Research Groups
Summary
We are establishing up to 10 NIHR Mental Health Research Groups (MHRGs) in England in “target areas” with:
- high burden of mental health conditions
- limited local mental health research capacity
- low recruitment into mental health research studies
The MHRGs will be collaborations between higher education institutions (HEIs) in these target areas, and HEIs with more experience and expertise in mental health research, who have a shared ambition to address local applied mental health research needs.
The MHRG call will run annually for at least 3 years, starting in September 2023. The Research Brief and applications forms will be available in mid-September.
Aims of the Mental Health Research Groups
The MHRGs will each deliver a five year applied mental health research programme, with the overarching aims of:
- building research capability and capacity in target areas
- developing a balanced portfolio of substantive, at scale applied health research, relevant to local mental health needs.
Research delivered by the MHRGs should prioritise:
- specific needs of local areas
- engagement with the local health, public health and social care systems
- engagement with local communities with lived experience of mental health conditions
Awards available
Mental Health Research Group Award
The Mental Health Research Group Award is aimed at HEIs based in England with no/limited mental health research capacity, who are keen to establish or expand into applied mental health research, with support from a more ‘established’ partner HEI. This collaboration aims to support the development of the lead HEI to become a self-sustaining group, and deliver a co-developed research programme focused on local applied mental health research needs.
The award is up to £2.2m per year, for a period of up to 5 years (maximum £11m in total).
Mental Health Research Leaders Award
The Mental Health Research Leaders Award is designed to support HEIs with a strategic interest in undertaking targeted and applied mental health research that will be directly beneficial for the local communities and health and care system, who currently lack the institutional capacity to do so. Successful applicant HEIs would be responsible for recruitment of a Leader and associated mental health research team, with appropriate safeguards and oversight from the NIHR Academy. Leaders will be encouraged to co-develop a credible MHRG proposal within 12-24 months.
This award is up to £2.5m over 5 years.
Mental Health Research Development Award
The Mental Health Research Development Award is designed to support a HEI to carry out targeted preparatory work to develop a competitive MHRG application. Development awards are aimed at HEIs that have some pre-existing mental health research capacity but are not currently in a position to apply for a MHRG in Round 1.
This award is up to £150K over 12 months.
Scope for funding - eligible proposals
The scope of eligible mental health research activity is limited to diagnosable mental health conditions within the HCRS mental health category. Research addressing other neurological conditions, including dementia, is out of scope for this call. We support funding in these areas through other funding calls and initiatives.
How much are the awards?
The funding limits for each type of award are as follows:
- Mental Health Research Group Award - £11m over 5 years
- Mental Health Research Leaders Award - £2.5m over 5 years
- Mental Health Development Award - £150K over 12 months
When is funding available?
The MHRG call will run annually for at least 3 years, starting in 2023.
Timelines for Round 1
|
Award Type |
Launch |
Applications Close |
Outcomes |
Contract Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mental Health Research Leaders Awards |
20 September 2023 |
16 January 2024 |
April 2024 |
Autumn 2024 |
|
Mental Health Research Development Awards |
20 September 2023 |
6 December 2023 |
January 2024 |
1 April 2024 |
|
Mental Health Research Group Awards |
20 September 2023 |
16 January 2024 |
April 2024 |
Autumn 2024 |
How do I apply?
The MHRG funding call has a one stage application process. Full applicant guidance will be available in mid-September.
While all universities in England are eligible to apply, the MHRG programme is aimed at HEIs with limited mental health research capacity wishing to expand, and those with no existing MH research capacity, situated within, or within easy reach of target areas.
Types of project we fund
While remaining flexible, we aim to support applications that:
- Include research partnerships with a clear, shared ambition to address the challenges faced by people in areas historically under-served by mental health research
- Include and incorporate plans to build interdisciplinary applied research teams with relevant experience, to ensure research has potential to transfer into benefits for local communities
- Propose and then develop an at-scale applied health research programme that can be rolled out within the local NHS, public health or social care sector
- Explore and use diverse and traditional applied health research methods
- Address issues of inclusivity around sex, gender, age, social barriers to health and economic impact when formulating research questions and delivering research plans
- Propose a coherent plan for engagement with the local community and people with lived mental health experience
- Include relevant engagement with policy makers, communities, patients and the public, civil society organisations and charities over the lifetime of the award
- Include tailored plans for implementation, knowledge mobilisation and dissemination to relevant stakeholders in the target area
- Demonstrate a strong collaborative approach to programme leadership, decision-making, capacity strengthening, governance, appropriate distribution of funds, ethics processes, data ownership, and dissemination of findings
- Support and embed bi-directional learning between partner institutions and collaborating organisations within the target geographical area
- Propose a coherent and sustainable plan for capacity and capability strengthening at individual and institutional level and include a plan to develop future leaders within mental health research within the target areas
- Demonstrate the strength of institutional commitment to the research partnership and to sustained research capacity strengthening beyond the lifetime of the award
Who reviews and approves applications?
A national committee will review all applications and make funding recommendations based on the quality of applications. Committee members include:
- mental health experts
- applied health research methodologists
- public and practitioner members
The committee recommends awards for funding to the Department of Health and Social Care, which approves which projects should be funded.
Committee members
We will publish a full list of committee members once they have been agreed.
Interested in joining one of our committees? View our committee vacancies.
Registry of interests for committee members
Members of NIHR committees are required to declare any interests which conflict, or may be considered to conflict, with NIHR business, or may be perceived as influencing decisions made in the course of their work within NIHR programmes. All members are asked to complete the Register of Interest form (annually), which is intended to capture long term predictable interests that could be perceived to lead to conflicts of interest. These and other interests are judged on a case by case basis at individual meetings.
Contact us
We offer a wide variety of assistance during all stages of the research process. If in doubt, please get in touch.
Tel: 020 8843 8056
Email: MHRG@nihr.ac.uk
Our operating hours are 9am to 5pm.