Today (Monday 25 November 2024) the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Mind Matters Initiative (MMI) has opened its call for abstracts for its 2025 veterinary mental health research symposium, and is inviting mental health researchers from around the globe to share their research.

The symposium, which is the only one of its kind globally, aims to promote effective knowledge exchange and collaboration, the sharing of high-quality evidence-based research, and inclusivity within the veterinary mental health research community.

Dr Louise Allum, Mind Matters Chair, said: “Next year will mark 10 years of the RCVS Mind Matters Initiative. Research plays a vital role in shaping understanding, enhancing policy and practice, and supporting positive veterinary mental health. Since our inception, the veterinary mental health research landscape has evolved considerably. We have been working hard to support its progression to the best of our ability, through funding numerous research grants, subsidising training and holding biennial symposia, among a range of other activities. We’ve come a long way in the past 10 years, but there’s still much further to go.

“Our fifth symposium in 2025 will centre around the theme of ‘Advancing veterinary mental health research: learning from the past, considering the present, and looking to the future’. It is of vital importance that we can collectively learn from recent endeavours to work out how we can collaborate towards creating a brighter future for the professions. It is only through events such as our symposia that we can start to understand where those vital research gaps lie, as well as what actions we need to take next in order to advance our understanding of veterinary mental health.

“Our symposium presents a fantastic opportunity for knowledge exchange in the veterinary mental health research sphere so that, together, we can continue to foster a compassionate environment and build a solid evidence-base for veterinary mental health research to grow and evolve.”

Mental health researchers from around the globe and at all career stages are invited to submit an abstract and become a part of the symposium. MMI aims to support and showcase high quality research with ethical approval, which covers a range of mental health science and practice related topics, with a particular focus on mental health as opposed to mental wellbeing.

In order to submit an abstract, researchers must ensure that they thoroughly read through the MMI mental health research symposium abstract guide, which includes details around the submission process and entry criteria.

For more information about the symposium and how to submit an abstract, please visit the Mind Matters website, where the abstract submission guide and abstract submission forms are available to download.

All abstract submissions must be completed and sent via email to symposium@rcvs.org.uk by 23.59 GMT on Friday 28 February 2025. The symposium will take place on Friday 10 October 2025 in Birmingham, UK.