The video recording of the event is available on the YouTube channel of the Young Academy of Europe here. Below you’ll find the advertisement and description of the webinar.

In academia, the prevalence of mental health symptoms is a growing concern. There is a notable incidence of mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, and burnout, among early career researchers, and evidence suggests that senior academics also experience the burden of mental health challenges. This trend is alarming for both the research community and policymakers alike. The pressing question arises: what factors contribute to this mental health burden in academia?

Importantly, it is not only over to individual researchers to take care of their mental health. In this webinar on the 29th of May, 13:00-14:00 CET, we looked at how academic communities can work together to rebuild the academic structures creating the conditions for workaholism and burnout. To this end, we invited two speakers, Joeri K. Tijdink, psychiatrist from the Amsterdam UMC and the Young Academy from the Netherlands and Gábor Kismihók (FYAE), chair of the Researcher Mental Health Observatory COST Action, to talk about effecting the structural changes we need.

Joeri Tijdink focused on the following questions: What are the potential underlying causes? Is it primarily attributable to individual researchers, or does the research environment play a significant role? Additionally, how do the working conditions for researchers and the broader scientific ecosystem, including recognition and rewards, factor into this complex equation? By exploring these questions, we seek to foster a comprehensive dialogue surrounding mental health in academia and find ways how we can foster a supportive and healthy academia.

Gábor Kismihók talked about how small, bottom-up initiatives can make a change when it comes to improving the poor mental wellbeing situation in academia. These initiatives include networking activities, teaching and learning activities, Artificial Intelligence based learning recommendations for better wellbeing and academic career management skills, and lobbying for better wellbeing policies.

We had a Q&A session at the end of the webinar where we would be glad to hear your opinions on the topic. Register here: