King’s PhD Programme in Mental Health Research for Health Professionals

A new PhD programme will train doctors, nurses, and psychologists to become clinical researchers in mental health, combining clinical practice with technical expertise often missing from traditional mental health PhDs. The problem is that mental health research has been held back by a lack of clinicians trained in advanced scientific methods—such as neuroscience, digital tools, and social policy—and by weak collaboration between clinical and non-clinical academics. This programme aims to close that gap by creating interdisciplinary supervisory teams and offering three research streams: translational neuroscience, digital mental health, and social science and policy. If successful, the programme will produce a generation of clinical academics who can design and deliver research that directly improves patient care. It could lead to better mental health treatments informed by brain science, more effective digital therapies, and policies grounded in rigorous evidence. The training also emphasises open science, diversity, and patient involvement, which should make future research more trustworthy and relevant to the people it aims to help. This is a workforce-building project—its impact will be felt over years, as these fellows move into leadership roles in the NHS and universities.