糖心Vlog

Information about the study

I am a second-year Trainee Clinical Psychologist at the University of Glasgow. As part of my doctoral thesis, I’m conducting research evaluating the impact associated with Experts by Experienced sharing their expertise to Doctorate in Clinical Psychology programmes in the UK.

Eligibility/criteria for taking part

In order to take part you must be enrolled on a Doctoral Clinical Psychology programme in the UK

What the participants have to do?

If you choose to participate, you will be asked to complete an electronic survey, asking about your experiences with training on a course that utilises expert by experience involvement. You will also be asked whether you wish to opt-in to participating in phase two of the research (an hour long interview). This is completely optional.

How do participants take part and who should they contact?

To take part:

 Study 2 - Interview study

• Open to all Trainee Clinical Psychologists
• Involves an online interview (up to one hour long) over Microsoft Teams

To register (as above).

If you have any questions, please email Beatrice Hart - Lead Researcher

Ethical approval

This project has been approved by the University of Glasgow College of Medicine, Veterinary & Life Sciences Ethics Committee (Ref: 200240387).

Data collection period

August 2025 - November 2025

Information about the study

SWITCH is a three-year international research project launched in April 2025. It investigates how social wellbeing supports children鈥檚 mental health, development, and learning during the critical transitions into and during formal education.

SWITCH brings together experts from Germany, Austria, Sweden, and the UK. In the UK, research will be led by the SoNeAt Lab at the Department of Psychology, 糖心Vlog (Colchester) under the direction of Dr Pascal Vrti膷ka. The project focuses on children during their Reception year and follows them through to the end of Year 1.

The project has three core objectives:

1. To gather large-scale, cross-national data on children鈥檚 wellbeing and development.
2. To conduct in-depth studies with a smaller group of children, including lab-based assessments of relationships and social skills.
3. To generate long-term insights and policy recommendations that support successful transitions to and within school.

Eligibility/criteria for taking part

Participants must meet the following criteria:

• Children must be starting Reception in September 2025 (aged 4鈥�5).
• Families must live in Eastern England.
• Both the participating parent and child must live at the same address.
• Both the participating parent and child must speak fluent English.
• The participating parent must be the child鈥檚 biological parent.
• Parent(s)/guardian(s) must be able to give informed consent.
• Families must be willing to take part in follow-up assessments during Year 1.

What the participants have to do?

Large-scale sample (approx. 1,000 families in the UK):

• Parents and teachers will complete online questionnaires on the child鈥檚 mental health, social wellbeing, relationships, and background.
• The parent questionnaire takes approximately 40 minutes, and the teacher questionnaire around 10鈥�15 minutes.
• These questionnaires will be completed twice: once at the start of Reception and again at the end of Year 1.

In-depth subsample (approx. 80 children in the UK):

• Attend three lab-based sessions:

- One during Reception (approx. 2.5 hours) involving the participating parent and child.

- Two during Year 1:

- The first (approx. 2.5 hours) involving the participating parent, child, and a peer with their parent.

- The final session (approx. 1 hour) involving the participating parent and child.

• Children will complete structured activities to assess cognitive, social, and early academic skills.
• Participating parents and peers will take part in joint tasks to explore bio-behavioural and neural synchrony.
• Sessions will include functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) 鈥� a safe, non-invasive brain imaging method using light to monitor brain activity.

All sessions are designed to be child-friendly, engaging, and developmentally appropriate.

How do participants take part and who should they contact?

To express interest, parents can complete the following survey: https://bit.ly/3ZF81yT

For more information, or for schools wishing to take part, please email: switch@essex.ac.uk

Funding

SWITCH is jointly funded by CHANSE (Collaboration of Humanities and Social Sciences in Europe) and NORFACE (New Opportunities for Research Funding Agency Cooperation in Europe), with a total funding amount of 鈧�1.5 million over three years.

Ethical approval

Approved by the 糖心Vlog Research and Enterprise Office - Ethics application ETH2425-0370

Data collection period

The data collection period for this study is from April 2025 to March 2028.

Information about the study

The purpose of this study is to support me in completing my postgraduate study for my doctoral research project. The aim of this study is to assess the reliability of transcranial magnetic stimulation and peripheral nerve stimulation for an assessment of isometric and eccentric quadriceps muscle action. Data collected from this study will help us understand and in better way and can be a base for our future studies.

Eligibility/criteria for taking part

Inclusion criteria - you are eligible to take part if you:

• are male or female aged 18-40 years.
• participated in agility-sports training or competition that involves running, rapid changes of direction, twisting, turning, jumping etc. (e.g., football, netball, basketball) or fitness enthusiasts engaged in training programs that include the physical activities (e.g. circuit training, CrossFit).

Exclusion criteria - you are NOT eligible to take part if you:

• are male or female aged under 18 or over 40 years.
• have any diagnosed knee soft tissue injury.
• have current low back/lower limb pain or hadpast lower back/lower limb injury within six months.
• have any history of lower body fracture that required immobilisation or lower body orthopaedic surgery.

What the participants have to do?

• One familiarisation session (60 mins) and three experimental sessions lasting approximately for 90 mins, a minimum of 7 days between three sessions.
• A short questionnaire to record your physical activity levels and safety screening (1^st session only).
• Measurement of your quadriceps isometric (static) and eccentric (dynamic) strength on both legs along with brain stimulation.

How do participants take part and who should they contact?

Potential participants are requested to contact study researcher:

Manali Akre - ma23628@essex.ac.uk

This study is supervised by:

Dr Nicholas Clark - n.clark@essex.ac.uk

Dr Jamie Tallent - jamie.tallent@essex.ac.uk

Nasir Uddin - nasir.uddin@essex.ac.uk

Ethical approval

The study has been granted a favourable ethical opinion by the University Ethics Committee under the reference ETH2425-1052.

Data collection period

The data collection period for this study is until 30 July 2025.