THE University of Bradford has been given a £31,500 grant to support the mental health and wellbeing of its postgraduate research students.

The funding, which the university will match, has been awarded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England for a new mental health project.

The new funding will support a range of activities, including developing a healthy postgraduate community to “last beyond their time at Bradford, extending the Bradford ethos globally” It will also help develop a Peer Support network.

Students will be involved in the project, called PGR Connect, to make sure that their needs are being met.

The programme will be one of the first examples of the Office for Students and Research England working together to provide additional activities and benefits for students, universities and colleges.

Nikki Pierce, Academic Registrar (Director of Student and Academic Services) at the University of Bradford, said: “We are delighted to have been successful in receiving this funding. Our project takes a strategic approach by developing a preventative, peer-led process to PGR support, creating a pro-active, preventative environment which can reach all PGR students. This will build on the University’s successful track record in peer-assisted learning and peer support networks and extends it to pastoral support and to the development of student-led support communities.”