TPO Nepal is inviting applications for a fellowship on mental health research – required number ONE 

Background

Transcultural Psychosocial Organization Nepal (TPO Nepal) is one of Nepal’s leading organizations in the psychosocial and mental health field. It was established in 2005 with the aim of promoting psychosocial well-being and mental health of people in conflict affected and other vulnerable communities through the development of sustainable, culturally-appropriate, and community-based psychosocial support systems.

TPO Nepal is a partner in ESSENCE (Enabling translation of Science to Service to ENhance Depression CarE) which aims to bridge the ‘science to service’ gap and strengthen an existing collaborative network of institutions in South Asia by generating knowledge on cost-effective implementation approaches for scaling up of evidence-based interventions for mental disorders, and building capacity in a range of key stakeholders to enhance the conduct of implementation research, the dissemination of its findings, and the uptake of this evidence in policy and programs, ultimately resulting in reduction of treatment gap for mental disorders.

The partner countries for this initiative are India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

The capacity building component in the ESSENCE aims to develop and offer fellowships and online courses tailored for South Asia for building the capacity of early career global health researchers, media professionals, policy makers and program managers, and service user representatives to disseminate mental health research and to enhance the uptake of research findings.

ESSENCE is led by Sangath, in Goa, India. The capacity building component of ESSENCE is being implemented in India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

For more information about ESSENCE please visit http://www.sangath.in/essence/

Aims of the fellowship

This fellowship aims to build implementation research capacity by creating opportunities for early and mid-career global health researchers to:

1. Conduct implementation research and develop case studies which focus on increased uptake of evidence-based interventions for mental disorders in low and middle-income countries (LMICs);
2. Initiate the design and writing of implementation research proposals and successfully compete for research grants after successful completion of the fellowship; and
3. Publish implementation science-driven research papers in high-impact regional and international journals that offer new evidence and empirically based recommendations with the potential to impact policy and programmes.

Successful completion of this fellowship will equip a fellow to:

• Have the skills to critically appraise evidence-based interventions in the field of global mental health;
• Have an overview of the implementation science (IS)/research domain literature, with a specific focus on low and middle-income countries and in global mental health;
• Be able to develop and describe a scientifically sound plan for development, evaluation, and scale-up of an implementation programme; and
• Be able to develop implementation research proposals and successfully compete for research grants.

Components of fellowship

The fellowship is of two years duration and will require about 20% of a fellow’s time, i.e., 8 hours each week. The fellowship has the following components:

1. A three-month online course on implementation science, which will require 5-8 hours/week over the course duration. Sangath will issue a certificate at the successful completion of this course;
   1. Monthly reading assignments, (requiring approximately 3-4 hours each week), and a reflection of these readings in the form of a written summary of the readings posted on Sangath’s online platform for peer-to-peer learning;
   1. Online assignments based on the readings once each month (requiring 15-16 hours each month);
   1. Developing case studies and/or new research project proposals in line with the ESSENCE project goals and contributing to implementing these in ESSENCE partner countries (ongoing);
   1. In alignment with ESSENCE overall goals, conduct implementation research studies in consultation with their mentors, with a priority given to the TPO Nepal implementation districts (110-120 hours total); and
   1. Prepare at least one (implementation science in mental health) case study as per specified format, and a full manuscript with the goal of submitting for publication to a peer-reviewed academic journal (this written product should be completed by the end of the fellowship, though successful submission/acceptance for publication will not be required but will be strongly encouraged) where possible, to enhance dissemination.

Once the fellow is selected with a fellowship start date of mid-May 2019, a virtual, approximately hour-long introductory session on implementation science will be conducted by Prof Rohit Ramaswamy, followed by a three month online IS course. Towards the online IS course completion in July-August, an in-person/virtual workshop will be held where the fellow will be assigned mentors, and he/she will develop a detailed fellowship work plan in consultation with their mentor. This will be followed by another touch point around the 12^th month of the fellowship, which will focus on an interim fellowship review, progress update and way forward. The final workshop will be organized in the last month of the fellowship where the fellow will be required to present his/her work, be part of scientific discussions, and critique each other’s work through a peer-review mechanism and submit his/her final fellowship reports and outputs. The fellows will be required to submit quarterly reports of their work in a given format.

In the second year of the fellowship, the existing fellow could have the opportunity to serve as mentor to the new cohort of incoming fellowship recipients.

Sangath will provide a certificate of fellowship completion after evaluating the performance of a fellow in the online courses, engagement in reading and assessment, development of case studies and dissemination of their work through the preparation of their final report.

Eligibility criterial for application

Applicants must:

• Be national of Nepal
• Have completed Master’s degree in healthcare, public health, behavioural and/or psychological sciences or a related field, including social work, with strong relevance to public health and with an interest in working in implementation science at a recognised institution of higher education;
• Should have at least one year of work experience in public health programmes (preferably a research programme) or have been involved in public health implementation;
• Exposure to work in mental health would be welcome but is not a requirement;
• Show commitment for two years;
• Proof of current employment status (i.e., employed), letter of support, and with 2 years of employment commitment from the employer; and
• Employer’s commitment to release for 20% time for research work/implementation science course.

Fellowship tenure and finance

The fellowship will be granted for implementation science training and research (as per fellowship terms) conducted in TPO Nepal implementation district. It covers a fellowship period of a maximum of 24 months, depending on the research project being implemented, and the applicant’s work schedule. The fellowship is non-renewable.

The fellowship will be based at TPO Nepal head office in Baluwatar Kathmandu OR in its field offices in the selected districts.  

The fellowship will be to cover 20% salary of the fellow, implementation of research and/or developing case studies for two years. The research cost includes printing/photocopy, participants’ compensation, travel, food and lodging. 

Mentorship

The lead course instructor is Prof Rohit Ramaswamy from the University of North Carolina, the USA who will provide oversight of the program and be involved in mentoring the fellow. Along with Prof Ramaswamy, senior global mental health researchers from Sangath, TPO Nepal and other partner organizations will also mentor the fellow.  

Interested candidates are requested to submit their CV and cover letter at hrtponepal@tponepal.org.np by May 3, 2019, no later than 5 pm.