About

General Info 

The main goal of Riseup-PPD COST Action is to establish a Pan-European multidisciplinary network of researchers dedicated to the understanding of Peripartum Depression Disorder (PPD), from its prevention and assessment to its treatment and global impact. 

What are Training Schools?  

Since COST’s priority is enhancing research collaboration where ideas and people can grow without borders, Training Schools aim to facilitate capacity building on a topic relevant to the theme of the respective COST Action through the delivery of intensive training on a new or emerging subject.

Training Schools Grants provide support for intensive training on a new or emerging subject of PhD students and Young Researchers from participating Inclusiveness Target Countries¹ (ITC).

Training Schools aim to facilitate capacity building on a topic relevant to the theme of the respective COST Action through the delivery of intensive training on a new or emerging subject.

Participants will be expected to attend and participate at the Training School during the three days and will be given the opportunity to present and discuss their work, and network with other Young Researchers, the TS trainers and the members of the Riseup-PPD Cost Action. The Training School will occur in-person in Malta (online attendance will not be possible).

Training School Dates: 30th May-1st June 2022

Host institutions: University of Malta (Valletta, Malta)

Materials: Not applicable

Eligibility 

 

Participants 

Training Schools Grants are open to all participants, but priority will be given for PhD students and Young Researchers with a primary affiliation in an institution located in an ITC.

How to participate

Send an application with a letter of motivation explaining how this training will benefit your research project and your scientific career (max. 3500 characters with spaces) as well as your CV by 22 April, 2022. Applications will be forwarded to the Training School Committee, which will evaluate all submitted applications in the context of their compatibility and relevance with the topic of the Action.

 

Evaluation Criteria  

1. Being a PhD Student (10 points);

2. Being a Young Researcher (10 points);

3. Being affiliated to an Inclusiveness Target Country¹ (ITC) (10 points);

4. Being an active member of Riseup-PPD² (3 points) and being currently conducting research/work within the Action topics (7 points);

5. Relevance of the candidates' research and background assessed considering the following (max. 10+10 points)³:

 

Support for Selected Trainees 

The candidates will be ranked according to the evaluation criteria. The top 10 non-local candidates (i.e., the primary affiliation is not located in Malta) will be selected to be reimbursed for their expenses according to the COST rules (pp. 84-90). Five additional candidates may attend in-person without reimbursement of expenses.

For this training school, the amount to be reimbursed to each eligible trainee must respect the following considerations:

1. Each trainee must register online for an e-COST profile and must provide there their bank details;

To be eligible for reimbursement, trainees must be a researcher or innovator affiliated with:

1. A legal entity in a COST Full Members / COST Cooperating Members;
2. A legal entity in a Near-Neighbour Country (NNC);
3. European RTD Organisations. 

Trainees from the following will not be reimbursed:

1. COST Partner Members;

2. IPC Institutions;

3. IO, EU Commission, Bodies, Offices and Agencies;

4. Other trainees not specifically mentioned as being eligible.

Important Dates 

Opening date for applications is April 08, 2022.

The deadline for applications is April 22, 2022.

You will be informed of the outcome of the application by April 29, 2022. 

If accepted, you will be expected to attend the training school in its entirety.

Location  

University of Malta, Valletta Campus, Old University Building, St Paul’s Street , Valletta, Malta, VLT 1216. Coordinates: 35°53′54″N 14°30′56″E 

The Training School encompasses the following topics: 1) Start from scratch: What is evidence- based research and practice; 2) Implementation of the structured method for psychosocial assessment implemented in Vastmanland; 3) An overview about the most commonly used screening tools for perinatal depression and other mental health disorders; 4) Protocols and care pathways after screening is performed; 5) Overview of the development of Clinical Practice Guidelines. The final programme will be made available later. 

 

Edith Agius, Malta Mental Health Services, Mount Carmel Hospital (Malta) Contact

Claire Zerafa, Mater Dei Hospital (Malta) Contact 

Ilaria Lega, Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Italy) Contact 

Alkistis Skalkidou, Uppsala University (Sweden) Contact 

Francisco Gude, University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) Contact 

 

Additional Notes 

1.COST Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITCs) are: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, The Republic of North Macedonia, Republic of Serbia, and Turkey. Researchers from Outermost regions are now also considered ITC: French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Reunion Island and Saint-Martin (France), Azores and Madeira (Portugal), Canary Islands (Spain).

2. An active member is defined as a Riseup-PPD member (regardless of their status as MC member, leader, etc.) that has demonstrated significant contributions to the Action by participating in its activities and engaging with members including, but not limited to, Slack, group meetings, general meetings, etc.

3. Points to be attributed for each type of publication will be given in proportion to the total Q points of those publications against the highest scored participant. Publications will be given the following points: in Q1 4 points, in Q2 3 points, in Q3 2 points, and in Q4 1 point. In other words, we will sum the Q of all publications for each type (relevant/outside the scope), and attribute 10 points to the participant with the highest Q sum. Other participants will be given points by considering their sums in proportion to the highest score (e.g., if the highest score for relevant publications was 20 and the highest score for publications outside the scope was 15 and a given participant scored 10 on the first type and 3.75 on the second type, his/her score would be 5 + 2.5 for a total of 7.5 total points.