De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) will lead a project to explore the mental health of internal migrants in India after being awarded a grant of nearly £200,000.

The project is funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF).

DMU Professor of Mental Health Raghu Raghavan will lead the project as principal investigator and will be supported by other DMU academics as well as partners from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bengaluru, the Institute of Health Management in Pachod and Pune’s Swatantra theatre group.

Over two years, investigators will work with internal migrants living in Pune’s slum communities to examine their mental resilience in the face of adversity.

This is the first time that DMU has been awarded a grant by the prestigious Global Challenges Research Fund, which supports cutting-edge research that addresses the challenges faced by developing countries.