The  Medical Humanities research strand  is generously funded by the Wellcome Trust as part of the University’s ISSF 3 funding, administered by the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research. The strand operates from the Centre for Health, Humanities and Science.

The Medical Humanities Research Strand works to grow arts and humanities research by promoting intra- and inter- faculty interdisciplinarity, opening the door to arts-and-science collaborations, translational work and applied work. The strand seeks to promote excellent inter- and multidisciplinary research on health, illness and medicine.

We now welcome funding applications for projects which will support the development of a research idea into mature proposals suitable for a large external bid. The research should be humanities-led and lead applicants should be based at the University of Bristol.

The strand has £10,000 available, and encourages individual applications for up to £3000. The awarded funds need to be committed by 31^stJuly 2020 and spent by July 2021.

We will closely examine each application and the corresponding funding request, with the following criteria:

1. Potential for developing an external bid
2. Good value for money
3. Contribution to medical humanities research at UoB
4. Contribution to developing interdisciplinary links within and beyond UoB.

   There is also a smaller funding pot available to provide individuals with support for incidental transactions such as train fares to meet with collaborators or room hire.

   Should you wish to apply for either of the funding opportunities above, please email cw1658@bristol.ac.uk by 30 January 2020. Your application should be no longer than 2,000 words.

   Best wishes,
   Havi Carel, Victoria Bates, Ulrika Maude and John Lee
   (Medical Humanities Strand co-leads)

Professor Havi Carel hosted two mentoring lunches in 2019, with a third planned for early 2020. These lunches brought together graduate students and early-career researchers with experienced researchers and faculty for varied discussion and friendly advice. Attendees were encouraged to meet with colleagues, share insight and raise discussion-points over refreshments. There was such a high-response rate that we capped numbers at 25 per event.

Dr Victoria Bates has hosted two PGR workshops in 2019, and one more is planned for 2020. The details of these workshops can be found below.

‘Connecting’ PGR workshop – 05/06/19

Victoria Bates hosted the first of three PGR training workshops on the theme of ‘Connecting’, in conjunction with the DTP. There were 11 PGR students in attendance and talks were given by Nate Eisenstadt (senior research associate in policy studies), Jen Grove (engaged research fellow) and Alexia Macdonald + Lindsay Pike (PolicyBristol Associates).

Attendees spent the morning discussing their experiences and goals, with talks, tips and activities delivered by Nate, Jen, Alexia and Lindsay. During the afternoon attendees joined a CHHS + Senses cluster event with the Science Museum. Following this, there was a drinks reception which provided opportunity for the PGR students to put into practice their ‘connecting’ skills.

We invited all those working in medical humanities, bioethics, anti-microbial resistance, health and law, and anyone else interested to join us at a networking lunch. These included (but were not limited to) members of the Centre for Health, Humanities and Science (CHHS), AMR Strand, B3 Strand, The Centre for Ethics in Medicine, The Centre for Health, Law, and Society. We also had a rep from the NIHR attend who shared with students and staff what help and resources they can offer to those carrying out clinical studies and trials. The cluster leads each introduced themselves and John Lee spoke about the iBAMH. Members of the public, healthcare workers, university staff and PGR students were all in attendance.

This event provided an opportunity to meet with those working or interested in finding out more about Medical Humanities, in order to nurture cross-faculty collaborations and to encourage interdisciplinary team creation.

An interdisciplinary research event where attendees were warmly invited to present their work, meet other medical humanities scholars, and learn more about the strand. This event provided an opportunity for those working in med hums to discuss their work, hear about cognate research and develop cluster ideas.

Potential research cluster themes included, but were not limited to:

– Alcohol and addiction

– The Chronic condition

– Language, emotion and narrative in health care

– Grief

– Stigma and disability

Immediately following this event a call for 800-word research cluster funding applications was circulated (deadline 15/10/18).

The following research applications were successful in securing funding:

· Chronic Conditions and their Narratives (Co-leads: Dr Genevieve Liveley, Department of Classics and Ancient History, and Dr Maria Vaccarella, Department of English)

· Grief (Lead: Dr Jimmy Hay, Department of Film and Television)

· Illness and Health in Colonial Film Archives (Lead: Dr Jacqueline Maingard, Department of Film and Television)

· Senses (Lead: Dr Cleo Hanaway-Oakley, Department of English)