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Mental health and well-being

Advice on effective mental health support for students and staff to create a happier, healthier campus. Find out how universities and academics can promote well-being, protect their campus community from spiralling stress, minimise the risk of burnout and build resilience - from institutional practices that create a culture of care to personal self-care tips and healthy habits for overworked academics and students.

Research participants sit together in a circle

Six questions researchers should ask before assigning pseudonyms

It might seem like a routine step in research but choosing participants’ pseudonyms can be an uncertain, unsettling process. Here’s how to approach it thoughtfully

Eileen Harkess-Murphy, Rachel Allen

University of the West of Scotland

Spotlight guide: How to best serve the covid generation now at university

The post-pandemic university: how to best serve the Covid generation

A guide to how institutions can adapt and shape higher education in order to meet the needs of students whose vital school years were interrupted by pandemic lockdowns

Campus contributors

Campus

A peer-led approach to helping university students with information overload

Complex administration tasks and fragmented communication channels can cause students unnecessary stress and prevent them from accessing support. A centralised approach that offers peer guidance can be an answer

Véronique Hédou

Université de Technologie de Compiègne

Use short-form videos to build community in large courses

TikTok-style videos can give a face to a department and encourage students to take an active role in academic life. Learn how to work with students to create them

Ramin Nassehi

UCL

Universities are ‘wintering’: we need psychological safety more than ever

The UK sector is enduring course cuts, redundancies and restructures. Here, Meredith Wilkinson suggests practices that leadership can put in place to support staff and students through uncertainty

Meredith Wilkinson

De Montfort University

Five ways academics can protect their annual leave

Organisation and communication will ease the way for university staff to book guilt-free time off and prevent burnout

Emily Nordmann

University of Glasgow

How to reclaim your identity after academic job loss

When a university role ends abruptly, through redundancy, restructuring or a contract that isn’t renewed, the loss can feel like grief. Victoria Gibbon shares a structured journaling exercise that helped her rebuild a professional identity

Victoria E. Gibbon

Independent academic

Podcast graphic featuring Lisa Diamond of the University of Utah

Campus Talks: Why being a queer researcher ‘means speaking truth to power’

An LGBTQ+ scientist explains how funding cuts as a result of the US administration’s attacks on DEI-related research gave rise to a ‘gonzo science’ project and why data collection is its own form of resistance

Lisa Diamond, Eliza Compton

The University of Utah

LGBTQ+ inclusion that extends beyond Pride

Advice for ensuring LGBTQ+ staff and students feel seen and supported across teaching, research and all other facets of university life throughout the year

Campus contributors, Eliza Compton

Campus

Man sitting alone in a state of distress or worry

Understanding autistic grief to support staff and students through loss

Autistic grief can present differently from traditional understandings of bereavement. Imogen Varle explores how to better recognise and support autistic staff and students experiencing loss

Imogen Varle

De Montfort University

Let’s frame preparation as an academic skill

When students struggle to get started, the problem is rarely motivation. Teach them how to build the conditions for thinking by making preparation visible in the classroom

Meeyoung Kim

University of Sharjah

A group of research participants sitting in a circle

A trauma-informed approach to research

Practical strategies for researchers engaging with trauma-related issues and participants with experience of trauma

Helen Anne Nolan, Vicky Panossian

The University of Warwick

When it comes to AI, faculty are from Mars and students are from Venus

Students and academics are on different planets in terms of AI use, creating a culture of distrust and secrecy. Dina Kamel offers three ways to close the gap

Dina Kamel

The University of Portsmouth

Combat sustainability burnout by giving students the tools to act

Students care deeply about climate change – here’s how to design teaching to prevent them feeling powerless as a result

Soheil Davari

University of Bath

Global classrooms, without the jet lag: a guide to transnational education

How transnational and translocal strategies can foster a global mindset and a sense of belonging in students

Jayakumar Chinnasamy

University of the West of Scotland

A student sits an exam hall as her peers leave around her

The key to reducing exam anxiety? Better communication

Anxiety about assessment is leaving more students feeling overwhelmed. Ease the pressure with clarity, consistency and care

Apurav Krishna Koyande, Bhajan Lal Rahanu

Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP)

A student on a field trip in the forest taking notes

The power of place to spark learning and belonging

Four place-based learning practices that can connect students to community, nature and a sense of hope for the future

Douglas Haynes

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh

Build supervisory relationships that inspire, not just correct

The supervisory relationship can make the difference between a doctoral student thriving – or simply surviving. Here’s how to build productive, respectful relationships, grounded in mentoring principles

Elmeida Effendy

Universitas Sumatera Utara

Being a beginner is hard. Let’s make it easier for our students

Tips and strategies for helping students move beyond the fear of making a mistake – and feel more willing to try

Kate Sansome

Adelaide University

Woman talking into smartphone, AI as student support

‘AI should support student services, not impersonate them’

Are universities ready for GenAI in student support? When chatbots seem to offer a scalable, cost-effective way to meet rising demand for student support, universities need to consider how to shape their use without outsourcing care or increasing risk

Michael Cowling, Joseph Crawford

RMIT University, University of Tasmania

A research supervisor sitting at her desk smiling to camera

Five things supervisors can do for struggling PhD students

Doctoral students can find the slow and often uncertain nature of research challenging. Supervisors can ease distress by rethinking how the doctorate is framed, structured and experienced

Peng Cheng, Jie Zhang

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

A struggling student works late at her desk

Are your students disengaging – or is it their personality type?

Students who seem lazy or like late starters may simply be wired differently. Find out how to meet them where they are

Chathura Sooriya-Arachchi

University of Westminster

One mountain climber helps another over a ridge

Find the courage to teach collaboratively

Teaching has never been a solitary endeavour, but it can be lonely. Here’s how to nurture collaborations with your fellow educators that will help everyone grow

Mark Young, Melissa Jane Megan

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Four ways to strengthen the PGR community and sense of belonging

The doctoral experience doesn’t have to be isolated. Here, Maisha Islam and Natasha Palmer share four recommendations to enable an inclusive, collaborative research culture and communities for postgraduate researchers

Maisha Islam , Natasha Palmer

University of Southampton

Encourage, don’t shame: rethinking writing feedback

Shame around writing ability can be a real problem for new students, so let’s make sure feedback encourages their development. Find out how here

Isabelle Parkinson

Royal Holloway, University of London

A PhD supervisor speaking to her student in her office

Recognise the human side of doctoral study

By listening with compassion, normalising uncertainty and helping students break down large tasks into small steps, supervisors can support PhD students with both the academic and emotional demands of their studies, says Bhawana Shrestha

Bhawana Shrestha

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

A female academic at her desk with her head in her hand

Start with men: universities must do more on menopause education

Universities have the research capacity, the educational mission and the moral obligation to lead on menopause education. It is time for men in academia to step up, drive the conversation and share the burden, writes Mark Butterick

Mark Butterick

Independent academic

A university student painting a blank canvas

Help students disconnect from their tech

How a ‘digital fast’ can give students time and mental clarity – and how to support them through the process

Multiple authors

The University of East Anglia

Lessons from being academic chair of a complex department

Being a department head takes both emotional and cognitive energy to juggle people, programmes, contracts and institutional demands. But digging into skills such as trust-building and communication will bear fruit, writes Ben K. Daniel

Ben Kei Daniel

University of Northern British Columbia

Help your students develop their own career compass

In an age when the job market is rapidly changing, equip students with the skill to understand how their personality can shape their career

Natalie Feng, Randford Joseph Tay

Singapore Institute of Technology

Black male student looking downcast in university corridor

Whose vulnerabilities get seen? Whose get missed?

When student circumstances fall outside standard support categories, their difficulties can deepen. This means hardship of groups such as caregivers or international students grows quietly, until it becomes much harder to address

Sorush Sepehr, David Waller, Ranjit Voola, Subhasis Ray

University of Technology Sydney, University of Sydney, XLRI Xavier School of Management

red paper airplane leaving line of white paper airplanes

Academia can never be ‘just a job’ (and why that is OK)

The uncomfortable truth is that academia doesn’t conform to the regular nine-to-five, and pretending otherwise will not fix working conditions that are broken, argues Sorin Krammer

Sorin M. S. Krammer

University of Southampton

An illustration of a man celebrating an achievement while his shadow despairs behind him

The human side of the practitioner-to-academic pipeline

Higher education wants to hire academics with real-world experience – yet the identity shift required often goes unnoticed. Here’s how to improve support

Asrif Yusoff

University of Greenwich

Students laugh together in front of a blue wall

Build student and community partnerships for safer campuses

Employ the local community and nearby institutions to address student safety issues in a collaborative way. Here’s how

Simon Merrywest

The University of Manchester

Three ways to build an engaged student community from the ground up

Here’s how to bring students together to create a community on campus and encourage their active participation in university life from governance to volunteering

Denisa-Georgiana Nistor

Valahia University of Târgoviște

A group of smiling university students outside a campus building

Welcome new university students with inclusive events

Five ways to make welcome activities more inclusive, helping students engage at their own pace, build connections and feel a sense of belonging from the start

Megan Jones

The University of East Anglia

Black female student looking thoughtful writing

The benefits of positive affect journaling for university students and staff

This low-effort, high-impact practice can enhance the start of a class, and helps both students and staff develop emotional resilience

Lesley Black, Glenn Fosbraey

University of Winchester

Illustration of man climbing a mountain of books

What does it mean to ‘make it’ in academia?

The arrival fallacy can eat into scholars’ sense of achievement, reducing milestones to prerequisites for the next step. Here, Rachel Hagan shares ways to redefine success and acknowledge even quiet wins

Rachel Hagan

Liverpool John Moores University

What the Baftas incident teaches us about psychological safety in universities

How universities can take a proactive, compassionate approach to psychological safety that supports all students

Nicola Martin

London South Bank University

A pedagogy of grief: dealing with loss in higher education

What happens when a university educator is grieving a loved one? Here’s how collective loss can shape an institution

Rachelle McKay

Dalhousie University

Be the warrior students want to see at the front of their class

What do your students want from their university educators? Nail these ingredients and effective teaching will follow

David Kirby

Florida State University

The five emotional types of learners on online courses

Online learning is still growing. But to offer personalised support, educators need to understand their students’ emotional type. Find out more here

Panu Erästö

Aalto University School of Business

Spotlight guide: Duty of care, making university safe for all

Duty of care: making university safe for all

Safeguarding advice to help universities look after students and staff, both on campus and online

Campus team

Campus

A group of students interacting happily around a laptop

‘Joy doesn’t dilute academic rigour. It sustains it’

By weaving playfulness, humour and authenticity into teaching, research and departmental culture, academics can spark curiosity, strengthen collaboration and tackle difficult conversations, say Alice Wilson and Madeleine Steeds

Alice Wilson, Madeleine Steeds

Manchester Metropolitan University, University College Dublin

More than singing: a university choir as a cultural hub

Flexibility, pedagogical sensitivity, community and well-being – far more than artistic perfection – emerge as strong notes in the process of establishing a university choir

László Matos

Semmelweis University

A teacher helping a student with mental health issues

I’m a well-being adviser: here’s how to support students with mental health issues

As students arrive at university with increasingly complex mental health needs, academics are often keen to help but unsure where to start. Tessa Warinner shares practical tips

Tessa Warinner

The University of Edinburgh

A book with heart-shaped pages in front of a stacked bookcase

Has your relationship with your PhD lost its spark?

Make sure you and your PhD aren’t drifting into a toxic relationship. Here’s how to recapture the magic

Lucia Juarez

Independent academic

Use social media to create a digital community for international students

Students are already relying on social media to help them settle in when studying abroad, so why not harness its power for support services? Here are six ways to do so

Liubov Darzhinova

The Education University of Hong Kong

Young Asian woman concentrating working at laptop

Advice for protecting writing time and motivation

Social media, reading and the fragmented schedules of academia can all eat into precious writing time. Based on her experience supervising PhD students, Zhen Sun offers advice for supporting doctoral candidates to set and stick to a plan

Zhen Sun

Macau University of Science and Technology

Find purpose and identity in the ‘near-end’ season of an academic career

As careers near their later stages, familiar markers of achievement fade and professional identity shifts. Wendy Cowan and Bridgette Walker explore how academics can move from proving value to mentoring, shaping legacy and finding renewed purpose

Wendy Cowan, Bridgette Walker

Athens State University

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