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TRAINING PROGRAMME
A Training Programme which seeks to become the point of reference in mental health training in this coun- try and to facilitate the access of young researchers to new scientific knowledge has been operating since CIBERSAM was created . The core element of said Programme is the development of a Master’s course in Introduction to Mental Health Research that began in 2013-2014 . Along with said Master’s course, this Programme also contemplates the possibility of funding CIBERSAM member participation in other courses related to the various areas of work, preferably those courses offered by CIBERSAM itself . Furthermore, the Programme also provides funding for research internships in other CIBERSAM Units, in other CIBERs, or abroad .
The Master’s course for the Introduction to Mental Health Research is an interuniversity Master’s course which includes the participation of the Universidad Complutense, Universidad de Barcelona, Universidad
Autónoma de Barcelona, Universidad de Cádiz and Universidad de Cantabria which coordinated the study . Eleven CIBERSAM groups officially take part in teaching, and all the other groups participate in a more indirect manner . The Master’s Programme (worth 60 credits) is characterised by having a strong virtual component as well as mandatory basic and clinical internships . It addresses aspects relating to research foundations, the neurobiological basis and diagnostic, clinical and therapeutic approaches . In 2014 all the courses corresponding to the second four-month period of the first year (2013-2014), including the bulk of the part corresponding to work internships; furthermore, in the final trimester of the year the first courses of the second year were taught, one of them being a classroom course and 5 being online . The number of students registered to this first ever Master’s course offered by CIBERSAM amounted to 33 . They were from all over Spain and have different research backgrounds (medicine, psychology, biology, etc) .
As regards funding provided by the Programme, CIBERSAM has assigned two thirds of its training budget for partial funding of researcher participation in the Master’s course, either directly for CIBERSAM staff or in the form of grants for people who are not yet part of the CIBERSAM but who are closely related to it . In the first year, a total of 11 consortium groups benefited from partial registration subsidy . Five people were given the grant in the second year .
Obviously, attendance to courses linked with the Master’s course is fundamental . However, apart from the Master’s course, the Training Programme has funded 17 attendances to other courses for CIBERSAM mem- bers: 13 of them were in Spain (5 in courses organized or directed by their groups) and 4 abroad (Nether- lands, Germany) . The significant attendance to the Intensive Courses for an Introduction to Neurosciences should be pointed out .
In addition, 3 internships have been funded for CIBERSAM members, 2 in Spain and the rest in Great Britain . It should be pointed out that this number of internships does not include all of those which are done in the various CIBERSAM groups within the aforementioned Master’s course . In reference to only CIBERSAM members or students who have been given a grant by CIBERSAM, and exclusively considering those intern- ships which entailed going to another city, there were a total of 8 internships . Taking into account the part of the budget that was set aside as mentioned above, it is important to indicate that the funding objectives set forth in the Programme have for the most part been met in 2014 .
The Master’s course for the Introduction to Mental Health Research is an official interuniversity programme with partial classroom attendance . It is organized by research groups belonging to five Spanish universi- ties (Universidad de Cantabria; Universidad Complutense de Madrid; Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona; Universidad de Barcelona and Universidad de Cádiz) and which are part of a national networking research structure, known as CIBERSAM . The Master’s course is coordinated by the Universidad de Cantabria (Dr . Elsa Valdizán, G20) . Its mission is to improve clinical care relating to mental health of our society through the knowledge generated by innovation and translational research in psychiatry and neurosciences . The Master’s course targets national and international students who are interested in research in psychiatry and mental health, and it particularly targets young researchers in CIBERSAM .
32 CIBERSAM » Annual report 2014