Dr Louise Maaryat is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the School of Mathematics and Statistics and the Department of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Louise obtained a place on the British Council Researcher Links workshop on Public Health research in Iran in February and said the following about her visit:

“In February I was lucky enough to win a place on the British Council Researcher Links workshop on Public Health research in Iran. Out of 150 applicants, 12 UK and 12 Iranian early career researchers from a range of backgrounds, including statistics, epidemiology, medicine and global public health, were brought together on Kish Island to the South of Iran for a 3-day workshop, with the aim of increasing research collaborations between the two countries. With the lifting of sanctions in Iran the week before, this workshop was particularly timely.

The workshop included a range of lectures from senior academics, funders and journal editors on the sustainable development goals, international funding opportunities and how to get published in the Lancet, among others. These were interspersed with an academic speed-dating session to get to know our Iranian counter-parts and then concept development workshops and presentations in our self-selected teams. My team put forward a proposal to study area-level associations with adult mental health in Iran, using national survey data available.

Following the workshop, all teams must now produce an outline proposal to the British Council, some of which will be directly given seed funding, with others supported towards a full proposal with a number of funders including MRC and Wellcome trust.

It was an amazing experience and I learnt a huge amount about Iran and Iranians, as well as being really impressed by the quality of national data available in Iran and the publications being produced. In both public health and medical statistics, this is definitely a country to watch!”

First published: 30 March 2016

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