Researcher Hub – Use our services

Welcome and thank you for your interest in collaborating with the National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH).  

By working with us you will have the opportunity to access participant data and biological samples to answer your research questions, increase your recruitment through the NCMH Research Community and NCMH communications channels, and other communication support.

We can also support with sample collection, advice on ethics applications, Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement, and survey design and implementation. 

Three people, a brown haired bearded man and two young women, one blonde and one brunette, stand speaking in front of NCMH banners.

NCMH aims to advance our understanding of the triggers and causes of mental health problems, and to help improve prevention, early detection, support and treatment for the millions of people affected by mental ill-health. To read more about our aims see Appendix A.

[see Appendix A for the list of aims to be made available to readers. NB not to be included when this document is uploaded as a webpage.] 

To achieve our aims, the NCMH Research Community was established in 2011 as an ethically approved research study to recruit individuals with a history of mental ill-health, developmental disorders or a learning disability and create an infrastructure platform to support further research.

With consent, data and samples can be shared with approved collaborative projects, and members of the NCMH Research Community can be invited to participate in future research opportunities. Collaborative projects can be set up with researchers both within Cardiff University and in external organisations, including commercial companies and those outside the UK.   

The majority of NCMH participants consent to being contacted about future research opportunities and sharing their data and samples with related, ethically approved research studies.

Since its inception, NCMH has recruited more than 36,000 participants to the NCMH Research Community, undertaken over 70 different studies, and collected 60,000+ variables across our different studies. 

Ways of collaborating 

Here is a list of the common types of collaboration, please click on the headings for more information.

If you would like to explore anything that isn’t listed, please contact us: ncmhdata@cardiff.ac.uk. 

Recruitment

NCMH can support your recruitment by: 

  • Sending research invitations and Expression of Interest (EOI) forms to the NCMH Research Community. An EOI template can be found here. A Privacy Notice must accompany all EOIs. 
  • NHS recruitment – in some cases we may be able to support recruitment via NHS services. 
  • Promoting your study via NCMH media and social media channels.  

Promotion can be targeted based on eligibility criteria or as general recruitment. 

Communications support 

We have a dedicated communications team to support promotion of research and events.

  • Webpage development. 
  • Event coordination – in-person or online. 
  • Designing printed and digital materials. 
  • News and blog posts. 
  • Email mailouts.
  • Use of our social media for promotion of your study. 
Accessing NCMH data and samples

Where consent has been provided, we may be able to share the following in an anonymised format. Contact us for more information on exactly what might be available for your project or if anything isn’t covered here:  

  • Phenotypic data (e.g. surveys, assessments, demographics, standardised scales). 
  • Genotypic data (e.g. imputed or sequenced genetic data on a proportion of the participants). 
  • DNA samples: Some participant DNA samples and a small number of RNA samples are available. Please contact us to discuss. 

    Please see the NCMH data dictionary on our website for the phenotypic variables collected to date.
Support with collecting biological samples  
  • Collection of samples. 
  • Potential storage and curation of biological samples. 
  • Co-ordinate DNA extraction, genotyping, sequencing.  
  • DNA genotyping (off-site). 
  • Guidance on HTA compliance, ethics, and consenting. 
  • Guidance on best practice and processes. 
Designing and implementing a new survey

NCMH can support with: 

  • Developing survey content (e.g. survey questions, storyboards). 
  • Designing, creating and hosting surveys on a survey platform, namely REDCap.  
  • Long-term support such as processing data, follow up surveys and modifications to existing survey questions. 
Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) support

NCMH has a strong history of working with patients, carers, those with lived experience and the wider public to shape all aspects of our research. Our public advisory groups include Partnership in Research (PÂR), a Youth Advisory Group (YAG), and the Traumatic Stress Advisory Group. We also have a team of Research Champions who are passionate about sharing their stories. For more information, click here.

NCMH can offer: 

  • Co-creation of a survey with PPIE Members.  
  • PPIE Member review of documents, e.g., a survey, participant facing documents or project plans. 
  • Helping to formulate PPIE plans. 
  • Refine research questions. 
  • Recruitment of PPIE Members from the NCMH Research Community. 
  • Organise a public engagement event with PPIE Members. 
Research Ethics Support 

The NCMH Ethics Lead can provide specialist guidance and support on the following: 

  • Advising on ethical requirements of your study. 
  • Advising on participant facing information. 
  • Preparing and submitting Modifications to Research Ethics Committee for approval. 
  • Liaising with NHS R&D teams to set up NHS recruitment. 

Cost recovery model 

The NCMH is a infrastructure centre funded by Welsh Government through Health Care and Research Wales. It works on a cost-recovery model to factor in NCMH infrastructure staff time, resources, and operational costs to support collaborations. 

The funding received from Health and Care Research Wales allows us to maintain an operational model to underpin research infrastructure excellence, build critical mass in key areas and remain competitive at a UK and international level.

To implement cost-recovery models we will work closely with our collaborators to cost in NCMH infrastructure staff (a proportion of their time) to help with collaboration projects. 

Costings will be discussed with you following an application to NCMH. 

Eligibility and requirements for collaboration with NCMH 

Researchers who are developing a collaborative project using the NCMH Research Community are required to complete a brief application outlining the planned project.  

We need to record information on every project using the NCMH Research Community to: 

  • Ensure we are undertaking work that meets our aims outlined in our ethics application. 
  • Ensure we are following the procedures outlined in our ethics application. 
  • Ensure we are not repeating research. 
  • Ensure we are appropriately managing the workload asked of our participants. 
  • Ensure the work is adequately costed. 
  • Record activity for reporting to our funder (Health and Care Research Wales). 

Researchers will need to demonstrate in their application how the proposed project aligns with one, or more, of the NCMH aims [pop up for aims wording, see Appendix A. NB Appendix not to be included on webpage] and whether the proposed project fits within the remit of the current ethics approval.  

The proposed project must have the relevant ethical and regulatory approvals; these can be in progress at the time of the application. We will ask for a copy of approval letter(s) before the start of the project. 

Please contact the NCMH Data Team ncmhdata@cardiff.ac.uk if you have any questions about any of the above. 

Expression of Interest Form 

For projects planning to advertise to the NCMH Research Community, NCMH will email an Expression of Interest (EOI) form to members of the community based on your inclusion and exclusion criteria. We can send up to two reminders.  

EOI Privacy Notice   

A Privacy Notice must accompany all EOIs. We have a Privacy Notice template with instructions on how to amend this for your study. For projects outside Cardiff University, you may use your own template. 

The Privacy Notice should be stored as an accessible webpage with a link included on the EOI. 

Please contact us if you have any questions about the Privacy Notice or any issues with hosting it on a webpage.   

Agreements 

Depending on the nature of the collaboration, various agreements, contracts, and policies may need to be completed and signed e.g. Data Transfer Agreement, Material Transfer Agreement, NCMH Dissemination Policy, Collaboration Agreement. These will be discussed after the initial application. 

Reporting 

In line with our Health and Care Research Wales funding, we need to report on all NCMH related activity. As such we would ask for the following information, as appropriate: 

  • Significant achievements and highlights from the collaboration.  
  • Grant submissions and awards from use of NCMH data or infrastructure support.  
  • Number of publications that used NCMH data or samples.  
  • Knowledge mobilisation and policy engagement.  
  • Blog posts, podcasts, videos produced or contributed to.  
  • Engagement events hosted or contributed to. 
  • Public involvement activities.  

Next steps 

Please complete the NCMH Collaborative Projects Application form and we will contact you within three weeks to discuss further.

All templates and guidance documents can be found on the links below: 

  • Data Dictionary 
  • EOI Template and EOI Guidance 
  • NCMH Collaborative Projects: Dissemination Policy 
  • NCMH Protocol  

Thank you very much for your interest in collaborating with NCMH. If you have any questions or need further information, please contact:
NCMH Data Team  ncmhdata@cardiff.ac.uk. 

National Centre for Mental Health  
Cardiff University  
Hadyn Ellis Building  
Maindy Road  
Cardiff  
CF24 4HQ 

Appendix A 

NCMH Aims 

There are three over-arching aims:  

  • To advance mental health (MH) and learning disability (LD) research in Wales – supporting existing areas and developing new areas of research excellence.  
  • To engage with patients, their families, the wider public and third sector organisations in Wales and beyond to increase understanding of MH and LD and the need for research.  
  • To change the research culture of the NHS in Wales, with the ultimate goal of MH services that see research as core activity and all individuals accessing care being invited to participate in research.  

Specific Aims: 

  1. To better understand the causes, triggers and course modifiers of mental disorders. 
  1. To explore the overlap of risk factors across traditional diagnostic boundaries.  
  1. To explore predictors of outcome.  
  1. To explore the developmental course of mental disorders over the life course.  
  1. To explore the co-morbidity of mental and physical illness.  
  1. To understand the interaction between sleep and circadian rhythm disruption (SCRD) and mental health over time.  
  1. To understand the relationship between cognitive function and mental health.  
  1. To better understand individuals’ knowledge, perceptions, and experience of mental health services and research. This can contribute to service development and improvement, to patient-centred services and research, and to more meaningful and inclusive engagement strategies.