**THIS OPPORTUNITY IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR APPLICATIONS*
Does mental health research matter to you? We’re recruiting people with a passion for research to join and help shape an exciting conversation about research and mental health in autumn 2022. You’ll use your personal or professional experience and expertise to let key audiences know why mental health research matters.
We’d like to hear from you if you have been involved in any of the eight UKRI-funded mental health research networks. This could be as a researcher or someone with lived experience of mental health difficulties. We’re looking for a number of representatives from each of the eight networks to get involved.
About the Mental Health Research Matters team
In 2018, UKRI funded eight mental health research networks. The networks research a broad range of topics in mental health, from young people’s mental health, violence and abuse to loneliness and social isolation. The Mental Health Research Matters team help amplify and bring together the networks.
Why mental health research matters
In autumn 2022, we are launching a national conversation about why mental health research matters.
We’ll create blogs, webinars, video content and podcasts to highlight the importance of mental health research. We’ll celebrate the research that has already made a difference. We’ll also shine a light on how research can change so more people living with mental health problems get the right support at the right time.
The campaign will share a message of hope for the future of mental health, and the important role research has to play in this.
By joining the steering group you’ll use your professional or personal expertise and experience to help shape the campaign, give feedback and play your part in making the case for mental health research.
The steering group
The steering group will meet via Zoom 2-4 times during the run-up to the campaign (October to November 2022). We’ll form smaller “to do” groups, including a slack channel or Facebook group – depending on what works best for everyone involved.
We would like to create a steering group of researchers and people with lived experience of mental health difficulties who are also willing to contribute content to the campaign from each UKRI network. Ideally, we’re looking for 3-4 people per network to join the steering group.
We do not anticipate this being too onerous, but the group will play a vital role in this campaign!
Duties include:
- Help shape messaging in Why Mental Health Research Matters
- Give feedback and share ideas for webinars, the flagship video, and other content
- Sharing a story or piece of key content. This could be a personal story about your own mental health and how research could help others like you, your hopes for the future, or talking about research that has made a difference.
For people who are volunteering their time and not joining as part of their paid work role, we will pay £20 per hour.
Zoom meetings: From May-October 2022
The benefits of joining the steering group:
- Use your expertise and experience to influence a high-profile conversation about mental health research
- Get career-boosting experience
- Make your voice heard – the opportunity to talk about what matters to you!
- Get to know other steering group members and create more connections within the mental health research space
How to join the steering group
This is now closed
More on Why Mental Health Research Matters
Our aim is to:
● Inspire researchers to deliver more cross-disciplinary mental health research, involve lived experience, use creative methods to deliver and communicate research, link more with policymakers, deliver inclusive and anti-racist studies
● Motivate early-career researchers to consider a career in mental health research while recognising the challenges
● Encourage people working in mental health to take an interest in and get involved in mental health research
● Thank mental health service users and carers for getting involved in research and taking part in studies. Encourage service users and carers to be curious about research and use knowledge from research in conversations with clinicians
● Improve understanding of the importance of mental health research and why research is essential to improving people’s mental health. We’ll aim this at policymakers and public audiences who are already interested in mental health.
Express your interest by filling in this form. We can’t wait to hear from you and your ideas to help make this conversation make a splash!