The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding the interdisciplinary scientific network Experimental Psychopathology and Psychotherapy with twenty funded and additional associated members, in which the Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH) in Mannheim is also involved. The network brings together researchers from all over Germany to pool basic research and develop new approaches to characterizing psychopathological phenomena. The aim is to optimize psychotherapeutic methods on the basis of experimental research.
Mental illness is one of the major health challenges of our time. The newly founded scientific network SNEPP – Scientific Network for Experimental Psychopathology and Psychotherapy – now aims to integrate basic research more closely with clinical practice in order to further develop targeted therapeutic approaches.
Focus on bio-psycho-social mechanisms
The aim of SNEPP is to promote innovative, translational research that no longer views mental illness exclusively in terms of diagnostic categories, but focuses on the underlying bio-psycho-social mechanisms. The focus is on experimental psychopathology and psychotherapy — an interdisciplinary field of research that combines insights from psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral research.
“Traditional diagnostic classification often falls short. Many patients exhibit symptom constellations that cannot be clearly attributed to a specific disease — or they do not respond to therapy despite a diagnosis. This is precisely where SNEPP comes in: We want to understand why certain symptoms arise in individuals and how the underlying processes can be specifically influenced,” explains Prof. Dr. Jan Richter, Professor of Experimental Psychopathology at the University of Hildesheim and applicant.
Contribute expertise from different disciplines
Over a period of three years, network members from universities across Germany will receive funding. “SNEPP will leverage and make available joint synergies,” says Richter. “Workshops and lecture series are planned to establish the topic in the research landscape in the long term. There are also plans to publish a reference book that brings together the current and complex state of research in one place.”
At the Central Institute for Mental Health, the working groups led by Prof. Dr. Inga Niedtfeld and PD Dr. Florian Bublatzky are involved in the newly established network. “The network enables us to pool expertise from different disciplines and locations. Through closer cooperation, we are creating new perspectives with the aim of making psychotherapy even more targeted and effective in the future,” says Prof. Dr. Inga Niedtfeld, head of the Emotion Regulation and Social Cognition working group at the CIMH.
PD Dr. Florian Bublatzky, head of the Social Learning and Perception of Persons working group at the CIMH, adds: “Mental illnesses are complex. To better understand them, we need interdisciplinary exchange. We will contribute our expertise, for example in the field of social learning, to the network.”
Other members of the steering group include Dr. Sinha Engel (Chair of Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Health Technology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg), Dr. Susanne Meinert (Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster), Prof. Dr. Andre Pittig (Department of Translational Psychiatry, Georg-August-University Göttingen), Prof. Dr. Marcella Woud (Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, Georg-August-University Göttingen), and Dr. Yunbo Yang (Working Group for Experimental Psychopathology, University of Hildesheim).
The German Research Foundation offers funding instruments for research projects and infrastructures. The focus of the funding is on the development of scientists, the research topic, or the necessary infrastructures. SNEPP will receive €116,373 in funding over three years.