16 Aug 2024
Applications are now open for the first Discovery and Impact grants to be offered through the RCVS Mind Matters Initiative.
Allister Webb
Job Title
Image © Berit Kessler / Adobe Stock
A new grants programme to support veterinary mental health research has been launched through the RCVS Mind Matters Initiative (MMI).
Applications are now open for the first set of Discovery and Impact grants, with a second round of support expected to follow next spring.
The new awards succeed the Sarah Brown Mental Health Research Grant programme, which was named in memory of the former RCVS council member who died in 2017.
Officials say £120,000 of funding was awarded through the scheme, which was launched five years ago, and MMI chai- Louise Allum paid tribute to Miss Brown’s family for their support of its work.
She said: “While the new programme will no longer be known as the Sarah Brown Mental Health Research Grant, funding two grants per year will help us make progress and tangible change for all members of the veterinary professions.”
The new grants are worth £5,000 and £15,000 each, with the Discovery stream primarily intended for postgraduate or early career researchers looking to proceed with small-scale studies.
Meanwhile, the Impact grant is being aimed at more senior researchers who are pursuing larger projects.
A recently published Disability and Chronic Illness survey, jointly commissioned by the RCVS and British Veterinary Chronic Illness support, found that nearly two-thirds (65.7%) of participants that identified as having a mental health condition said it affected their lives on a daily basis.
MMI lead Rapinder Newton said: “While this statistic only provides a small snapshot of the current situation, it is evident that more research is needed in the veterinary mental health research space so that we can find new demonstrable ways of supporting people as much as possible.
“We are looking for high-quality research proposals that display relevance and originality; appropriateness, rigour and inclusiveness; feasibility; and potential for impact with clear outputs.”
Applications for the new grants are expected to reflect at least one of the MMI programme’s current strategic areas of focus – veterinary suicide, occupational stressors, trauma and burnout, mental health in veterinary education, workplace leadership and mental health, and mental health and inclusion.
Completed application forms, as well as questions about the process, should be emailed to [email protected]
Applications will close at 11:59pm on 7 October.
