The Mind Matters Initiative has extended the deadlines for its Sarah Brown Mental Health Research Grants, as well as its call abstracts for the upcoming Mind Matters Mental Health Research Symposium.

The deadline for the £20,000 research grants, launched in 2019 in memory of elected RCVS Council member Sarah Brown who passed away in 2017, has been extended to Friday 21 May to give researchers further time to put their proposals together. The grant is awarded to fund research focusing on prevention, diagnosis, intervention and treatment in relation to the mental health and wellbeing of the veterinary professions.

The call for abstracts is asking researchers from the UK and beyond who are working in mental health and well-being in the veterinary professions to submit their research papers for the upcoming Mind Matters Mental Health Research Symposium. The event, titled ‘Understanding and supporting veterinary mental health’, takes place online on Wednesday 24 November 2021, and research abstracts are also now due for submission by Friday 21 May.

Those who wish to apply for the 2021 Sarah Brown Mental Health Research Grant, should send their research proposal to Lisa Quigley, Mind Matters Manager, on quigley@rcvs.org.uk.

Applicants must be affiliated with a university and ethical approval must be in place before any award will be paid. Proposals should be no more than 3,000 words and include aims, methods, ethical considerations, proposed timelines, project costings, and a bibliography. Proposals will be judged on their relevance to the veterinary professions, the originality of the proposed research and value for money.

The Symposium abstracts should be submitted to Rosie Allister on rosie.allister@gmail.com  Abstracts should be no longer than 250 words and include: background; clear and explicit aims and objectives, hypotheses or research questions; methods; results; discussion; and conclusion.