Before our first Emerging Minds funding call in February 2020, we brought together a team of young people who are experts by experience, as well as parents and carers of children & young people who have experienced mental health problems.
Our Emerging Minds Reviewers and members of our Advisory Group were joined by members of the Institute for Mental Health’s Youth Advisory Group at several of our proposal development workshops.
We asked our Reviewers to look at the three selection criteria we would be using during our funding calls:
Potential for Impact
Research excellence, planning and management
Collaboration and involvement
They shared their feedback with us around what they would look for in applications, including common pitfalls to avoid and their recommendations for best practice.
Here is a flavour of the top recommendations from our Reviewers and Advisors.
Inclusion
- Who is involved? Have the stakeholders been included?
- Does the team include non-academic partners?
- Are the research participants valued as individuals?
- Is there meaningful involvement at all stages?
- Has the research been carefully considered in how it can be supportive of young people’s involvement?
- Is young people’s contribution recognised and incentivised?
Unmet Needs
- Will the project have findings which are applicable for marginalised groups of young people?
- Does it address more stigmatised illnesses?
New Ideas
Well-Planned
Sustainable
Accessible
Holistic
Practical
Prevention
At Scale/ Targetted
Importance of Attitudes & Context
For more information on how best to put together a proposal involving interdisciplinary research, why not check out our podcast on engaging with the voluntary and community sector?