SMaRteN Conference 2026
Rethinking University Mental Health: Complexity, Culture, and Collective Responsibility
9th - 11th June 2026
As student mental health needs grow in complexity and staff face increasing emotional demands, universities are being called to respond in more sustainable, inclusive, and joined-up ways. The 2026 SMaRteN Conference will bring together researchers, practitioners, and university decision makers to critically explore what a Whole University Approach to mental health really means and how to make it work in practice.
Our conference programme maps onto five different areas of focus:
The Complexity Challenge: Supporting students with complex and co-occurring mental health needs and the challenge of how to think, talk about and understand mental health in a university context.
Beyond Buzzwords: Inclusivity and Intersectionality in Practice: Moving from rhetoric to action in dismantling systemic barriers and embedding inclusive practice.
Bridging the Gap: Collaboration for Impact: Building stronger partnerships across research, practice, and policy to drive change and secure sustainable investment.
Interconnected Wellbeing: Addressing student and staff mental health together, tackling cultures of overwork, financial strain, and emotional labour.
Research Methodology Skills Share: Practical workshops and reflective sessions focused on improving evaluation and co-production practices.
This event is delivered in partnership with Student Minds, the UK’s student mental health charity, bringing sector-wide insight, leadership and lived-experience perspectives to inform action and change.
This is your opportunity to be part of bold conversations, shared learning and co-created solutions for student mental health.
Highlights You Won’t Want to Miss
Opening Keynote:
📌 Gareth Hughes, University Mental Health Charter Development Lead — opening plenary on how we think about student mental health and why the ways we talk about it shape culture and care across universities and services.
Special Wednesday Sub-Programme – 10th June:
💡 A focused strand on working with the NHS to support students with eating disorders — unpacking barriers, building practical collaborations, and strengthening clinical pathways between university support services and specialist care.
Closing Keynote:
📌 Rosie Tressler, CEO of Student Minds — finish the conference with fresh insights about the strategic role of university-wide mental health action and leadership.
Who should attend
This conference is relevant for:
✔ Heads and Directors of Student Services
✔ Senior Student Wellbeing Leads
✔ Student Support Managers
✔ Disability & Inclusion Leads
✔ Heads of Counselling, Advice & Casework Services
✔ Academic & Professional Services Leaders
✔ NHS partners and clinical leads working with universities
Presentation formats
The conference will include a range of different presentation formats. In your submission to the conference, you can specify your preferred format. We do not guarantee that this will be the format you will be offered - this will depend on the distribution of presentations across topics and formats. The conference will include the following formats:
Lightning talks - approximately 5 minutes long.
Perfect for concise, high-impact sharing. This option allows you to present a key idea, headline finding, or personal reflection in a focused, accessible way. Lightning talks are ideal if you're sharing early-stage work, prompting critical questions, or highlighting a single powerful insight. The short format makes these sessions dynamic and varied, encouraging wide engagement across topics.
Short talks - approximately 15 minutes long.
A good choice if you want to explain your work in a little more depth. A 15-minute slot allows you to set out your project, explain your findings or practice insight, and reflect on key implications. This is suitable for sharing research outcomes, programme evaluations, or practical case studies, while still leaving time for questions and interaction with the audience. We recommend you take no longer than 8 minutes in your presentation to leave plenty of time for questions.
Workshop - approximately 60 minutes.
Ideal for those who want to teach a skill, test an approach, or create space for collaborative exploration. Workshops should be interactive and practical, designed to engage around 20 participants in discussion, activities, or hands-on learning. This format is well suited to practice-based methods, reflective exercises, or co-creation activities where attendees work together.
Discussion session - you will host a discussion on your topic, where the idea is that those attending the session do most of the talking.
Choose this if you want to facilitate dialogue rather than deliver content. You will introduce your topic and frame the key questions, but the aim is for participants to drive the conversation. This is an opportunity to surface diverse perspectives, share lived experiences, and collaboratively explore challenges and opportunities in a supportive setting.
Poster
Posters are ideal for informal, one-to-one or small group conversations. You’ll create a visual summary of your project, research, or insight, displayed during dedicated poster sessions. This is a flexible, low-pressure way to share your work, spark conversations, and get feedback from a broad audience in a relaxed environment.