The Mental Health Platform (MHP) recently celebrated its first Early Career Researchers (ECR) Connect Day event in Oxford.
Bringing together researchers across a broad range of areas in mental health, the MHP fosters scientific collaboration with the aim of addressing the complex challenges faced by people with severe mental illness (SMI).
It’s challenge-led research programmes span themes such as brain and genomics, metabolic psychiatry, complex emotions, social health, immunoMIND as well as DATAMIND, creating a unique opportunity for knowledge exchange and research acceleration.
The one-day workshop provided mental health researchers with the opportunity to connect with peers, exchange ideas and explore the complexities involved in writing successful grant applications.
Attendees heard talks from University of Edinburgh’s Professor Andrew Mcintosh, International Advisory Board member for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC): Oxford Health and Kings College London’s Professor Cathryn Lewis on the art of grant writing and how to be successful in fellowship applications.
From developing a strong research question and making a compelling case for a project, to effective communication with potential mentors, the grant-writing session offered practical insights into navigating the funding application process. Alongside this, participants were also encouraged to approach this work from the reviewer’s perspective and consider what makes an application informative and easy to engage with. The exercise served as a useful reminder that, beyond presenting research, it is always important to consider how one’s work may be received and subsequently evaluated.
BRC: Oxford Health researcher and attendee at the event Emily Bowman said: “Attending this event was not only an opportunity to learn about the art of grant writing, it also provided valuable insight into the MHP and its wonderful offerings. Moving forward in my fellowship applications, I feel more confident in telling my research story to busy reviewers. In addition, I now have an expanded network in the MHP, consisting of ECR peers I can reach out to for support, as well as senior academics from whom I can seek mentorship”.
University of Oxford’s Department of Psychiatry Research Assistant Emil Horozov told us: “As an early-career researcher, I found the workshop particularly useful as it provided me with an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the key grant-writing skills and communication approaches that will become increasingly relevant as my career progresses. In particular, I left the event with a greater appreciation of the importance of developing a coherent research story, planning ahead and seeking feedback from potential mentors, which extends far beyond the funding application itself. As demonstrated throughout the workshop, these skills are highly transferable, making them valuable even at this early stage of my research career”.
Ultimately, the participation of the BRC: Oxford Health’s attendees in the MHP ECR Connect event provided an opportunity to strengthen connections with the wider Mental Health Platform community, while giving researchers at different stages of their careers the chance to learn, exchange ideas and develop new collaborative connections.
The MHP’s programme of events continues with the MHP Research Summit 2026, taking place on Thursday, 8 October in Sheffield, followed by an ECR Workshop hosted by MQ and DATAMIND on Friday, 9 October.
The event promises to bring together researchers, clinicians, ECRs, people with lived experience of SMI and external partners, providing attendees the opportunity to share the latest developments in mental health research and identify new opportunities for collaboration.
You can find out more about the MHP on their website: https://www.mentalhealthplatform.ac.uk
You can email the MHP co-ordinating team: [email protected].
