The Prize aims to support multidisciplinary teams to analyze existing datasets to generate data-driven insights and to produce tangible and scalable digital tools/outputs that support mental health research and are tailored to the needs and priorities of the African region.

We aim to have around 5 to 10 awards given out to groups, the total prize is up to 200,000 Pounds per award/team. The team will use this fund for 12 months to undertake their project.

We are looking to have 3 main areas of work from the teams that is:

i. Providing data insight on how things work eg. How body, brain, and environment interact and affect the mental health and well-being of an individual or groups of people

ii. Development of digital tools that can support mental health research and matrices.

iii. Provide Implementation Research, these are insights that can guide us to understand cost-effective interventions, how to improve research uptake, scaling up, and generalizability of evidence.

Individuals at any career stage is advised to apply, early- and mid-career investigators are highly encouraged to apply.

Indeed, you can form teams with individuals across the globe. But:

The Lead be based in Africa (including academic institutions, non-profit organizations working on mental health, government agencies and research institutions, start-ups, and private companies)

Also 80% of the funding should go to the African based institutions

This project aims to have multidisciplinary teams on board, we highly encourage all professionals to be part of the program.

Team members must have a permanent, open-ended, or long-term rolling contract with their institutions, or the guarantee of one for the full duration of the award (12 months).

Applicants can be in more than one team but should only be LEAD APPLICANTS IN ONLY ONE team or none.

The Mental Health Data Prize Africa not only offers the chance to compete for prestigious awards valued at £200,000 each but also provides access to a comprehensive capacity-building program that will enhance your skills in data science, advanced statistical analysis, and machine learning algorithms tailored for mental health applications.

As part of the program, you will have the opportunity to collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, establish valuable connections, and gain access to identified data sources.

We have ongoing courses on mental health and data science. We encourage you to check out our training platforms and our YouTube channel.

We encourage you to use existing datasets. Kindly note that we will not be correcting primary data in this project. There are two options to access the data.

1. Search existing datasets: APHRC will provide information on potential data sources, but the team should get permission to access the data from the primary data owners/holders. Use this link to access the MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH REPOSITORY

https://mentalhealthdataprizeafrica.aphrc.org/repository/

2. Use own data sources/datasets: It should focus on Anxiety, Depression and Psychosis

Kindly note that being part of the capacity building program is not mandatory or a prequalification to participate in the prize, you can also include individuals who are not part of the prize. We will arrange matchmaking exercises starting in mid-March. Will we have a platform where we can communicate amongst participants?

The platform is available on the website at collab space, we also have a Slack and WhatsApp group.

(For more information kindly check out our application guidelines. )

Most frequently asked questions

What is the goal of this prize?

What is the award prize?

What are the Thematic areas & scope of work?

What career stage is eligible for the application of the prize?

Is Intercontinental collaboration accepted by the Prize?

Is the project limited to health professionals?

How many teams can I be part of?

Why should you join the Prize?

Accessing capacity building program.

Where can we get the dataset in Mental Health to access existing datasets? Can we have data collection activities?

Is the team formation limited to those under the capacity building or can we form teams with people who have not signed up to participate in this program?