Commissioned by Wellcome, the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) is delivering a unique program aimed at enhancing neuroscience research related to mental health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). This program primarily focuses on promoting LMIC research capacity through training and collaboration opportunities, thus accelerating the potential for impactful research programs. We aim to leverage neuroscience that can have a greater impact on basic and translational research in relation to anxiety, depression and psychosis, broadly defined*.

The program at a glance :

Aims:

• enhance capacity for leading neuroscience research collaborations at a formative stage in LMICs
• fund projects that either
  -further the understanding of anxiety, depression, or psychosis*, or
  -find new opportunities for early interventions in those conditions
• support the collaborators in their preparation of subsequent successful project proposals

Example activities could be aimed at:

• widening networks beyond the usual circles, including with partners from different areas and with complementing expertise
• exchanging and developing projects and ideas
• developing plans to collaborate with LE experts
• generating pilot data, etc.

Level of funding:

up to £50,000 per 6-9 month project

*We take anxiety, depression, and psychosis as broadly defined categorizations to include all types of anxiety and depressive disorders (including obsessive compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder) and all forms of psychotic disorders (including schizophrenia, postpartum psychosis, and bipolar disorder).

Who is eligible to apply?

• Researchers or clinicians with pre-existing collaborations or those seeking new opportunities to expand their research or research trajectory with a small group of partners, i.e. typically 2-3 collaborating partners in total.
• The lead applicant must either be based in or affiliated with an institution in a LMIC and have the experience necessary to drive and lead a collaborative research project, or the necessary support structures in placee to enable this ; hold independent investigator status. It is not required that the co-applicant(s) be based in or affiliated with a LMIC or hold independent investigator status.
• Collaborations can be international, or collaborators may be based in the same country
• Applicants can be employed by higher education institutions, research institutes, non-academic healthcare organisations, or not-for-profit organisations.

Project proposals should:

• be for a duration of 6-9 months.
• focus on advancing knowledge generation in neuroscience with relevance to furthering our understanding of the development and/or resolution of anxiety, depression and psychosis as broadly defined categorisations, or finding new opportunities for early interventions in these conditions.
• show a potential for long-term scientific collaboration, highlighting plans for the development of research proposals, when relevant
• address ethical implications in both study design and uptake (if applicable)

Apply HERE by 24 october 2023.

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