PhD Student Morwenna Rickard receives NIHR SPARC funding for placement at NIHR Oxford Health BRC

Morwenna Rickard

Morwenna Rickard, an NIHR Maudsley BRC PhD Student, has received funding in the NIHR Short Placement Award for Research Collaboration (NIHR SPARC) to spend a three-month placement at the NIHR Oxford Health BRC.  

The NIHR SPARC scheme offers NIHR Academy members, from pre-doctoral to early career postdoctoral researchers, supported by a part of NIHR Infrastructure, a Health Protection Research Unit or an NIHR School an opportunity to spend time in other parts of the NIHR to network, train in a specific skill or collaborate with other researchers and specialists. The award covers accommodation, travel and some training course fees.  

Morwenna has recently begun her research placement, which is with the Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis (O-CAP) team, and she is being supervised by Professor Daniel Freeman, co-lead of the Oxford Health BRC Psychological Treatments theme. The placement offers experience with a group specialising in developing and testing novel interventions in psychosis, including innovations in digital health. 

Morwenna says: "This is a great opportunity to learn from experts in the field and explore new approaches to treatment, as well as expanding my skills and building new collaborations. I'm excited to get stuck in!'”

Currently focused on the role of trauma in psychosis, Morwenna will explore other key psychological factors in psychosis, such as low self-belief and disrupted sleep. Her placement will enable her to experience the lab’s digital technologies, including guided online treatments and staff-assisted automated virtual reality (VR) therapy. 

Her time at the NIHR Oxford BRC will include learning more about patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE), especially in projects co-designed with lived experience researchers. She will also attend the How to do Research on Therapeutic Interventions course, a one-week intensive module from the University of Oxford’s MSc in Experimental and Translational Therapeutics, which focuses on clinical trial design. 

The placements are designed to strengthen skills and confidence as an early career researcher and support longer-term career goals - in Morwenna's case to become a research clinical psychologist.  

 


Tags: Training & capacity development -

By NIHR Maudsley BRC at 22 Jul 2025, 09:13 AM


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