Deadline: 01-Jun-2020
The Adolescence, Mental Health and the Developing Mind programme are inviting proposals to support rapid knowledge mobilisation of current needs in adolescent wellbeing and mental health in light of the impact of COVID-19.
This call for funding will be jointly delivered by the Medical Research Council, the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council under the Adolescence, Mental Health and the Developing Mind programme, funded through UKRI’s Strategic Priorities Fund.
This call invites proposals to utilise the existing knowledge and research base to address the mental health needs of adolescents and young people (up to the age of 24). That is, draw from the extant literature on wellbeing promotion, mental health prevention and intervention to inform a creative and accessible set of resources / messaging to address current needs and vulnerabilities in this group. Outputs must be:
- Able to address the actual needs and concerns of young people, rather than what adults imagine these concerns to be. This requires the portfolio contents to be informed by evidence, that may include empirical (qualitative or quantitative) data. For example, priorities for the focus of the portfolio could leverage survey data currently being collected in response to COVID-19 by a number of groups in the UK and elsewhere. Substantive new data collection or surveys is not the primary focus of this call; such a component will only be eligible where a clear case can be made that the evidence is not available through existing routes or collaboration, and where it forms a minority component of the proposal. In addition, outputs may also be informed through a process of knowledge synthesis drawing on potentially transferrable knowledge from previous contexts (e.g. disaster response etc).
- Evidence-based. Outputs should be based on established empirical findings in relation to wellbeing promotion, and mental health prevention and intervention with a particular focus where possible on research with adolescent / young adult populations.
- Accessible and engaging for an adolescent / young adult audience. This will require a focus on creating material that can be effectively disseminated. Particular consideration should be given (for example) to dissemination via social media platforms (including short video / visually based materials) as well as via school-based settings.
- Trustworthy. Adolescents are traditionally not enthusiastic about engaging with mental health services and offers of help from well-meaning adults and professionals. There is a need for resources to be co-produced by other adolescents and/or figures adolescents trust and respect.
Funding Information
It is expected that one award of up to 18 months in length will be made under this call and up to £200k UKRI contribution is available.
Eligibility Criteria
- The Principal Investigator(s) must be an eligible UK-based applicant from a Je-S registered institution eligible to receive UKRI funding.
- This call does not form part of the UKRI COVID-19 rolling call or the UKRI/DHSC COVID-19 rapid response call. Therefore, it does not qualify as the one application that Principal Investigators may have submitted and under review to those calls at any one time. However applicants, whether as Principal or Co-Investigator, may not submit the same or similar application to the UKRI rolling call or UKRI/DHSC rapid response call.
For more information, visit https://mrc.ukri.org/funding/browse/amhdm-covid-19/mrc-ahrc-esrc-adolescence-mental-health-and-the-developing-mind-covid-19-rapid-knowledge-mobilisation/