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TOUCH CoFund

A doctoral training programme of excellence in mental health and wellbeing that recruits and trains 24 pre-doctoral researchers in an international, cross-sectoral and transdisciplinary environment.

Impulsant la nova generació d’investigadors en salut mental

TOUCH (‘Towards the next generation of excellent young doctoral researchers on mental health by developing an intersectoral & transdisciplinary approach’) is an MSCA-COFUND programme led by the Autonomous University of Barcelona that aims to train the next generation of researchers in mental health and well-being.

The programme will take on 24 doctoral candidates who will work in four main areas of research in mental health and well-being:

  1. Promoting mental health and wellbeing across the lifespan.
  2. Determinants of mental health and wellbeing from a transdisciplinary perspective.
  3. Multi-level strategies for the assessment and intervention in mental health and wellbeing: from genomics to ‘personomics’.
  4. Governance in mental health systems: participation, education and community

TOUCH is framed within the strategic area of mental health and well-being at UAB and is implemented under the principles of open science and the highest standards of research quality.

Participants

The TOUCH programme is coordinated and led by the UAB and involves various actors from the UAB sphere in the field of mental health and well-being.

Coordinator

Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) – scientific and management coordination of the programme, in close collaboration with the CORE in Mental Health.

Implementing partners (hosting institutions for doctoral students)

  • Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)
  • Centre for Demographic Studies (CED)
  • Mathematical Research Centre (CRM)
  • Computer Vision Centre (CVC)
  • Health and Ageing Foundation (FSIE)
  • Parc Taulí Research and Innovation Institute (I3PT)
  • Research Institute of Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (IR Sant Pau)
  • Vall d'Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR)

In addition, the programme includes several associated entities from academic, clinical, business and social sectors that reinforce the international and cross-sectoral dimension of the training.

Role of the PRUAB

The UAB Research Park supports the TOUCH programme as a key space for training and transfer:

  • Hosting training activities: the first TOUCH workshop for doctoral candidates was held in the Multipurpose Room of the Eureka building at the UAB Research Park.
  • Training PhD students in scientific communication and outreach: the PRUAB communications team has led the programme's first scientific communication workshop, with practical sessions on explaining research to non-specialist audiences, producing short videos and designing content for social media.

Through these initiatives, the PRUAB helps the TOUCH doctoral candidates become active ambassadors for their research and strengthens the programme's connection with the UAB's innovation and transfer ecosystem.

Period

  • Project start date: 1 February 2024
  • Project end date: 31 January 2029
  • Total duration: 60 months

This period covers the full implementation of the MSCA-COFUND programme, including the two recruitment calls and the development of the doctoral projects.

Funding

TOUCH is a doctoral training programme co-funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe:

  • Call: HORIZON-MSCA-2022-COFUND
  • Grant: COFUND programme for pre-doctoral contracts (fellowships).

More information

TOUCH programme website: (https://webs.uab.cat/touch)

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