SMaRteN Conference 2026
Conference Programme
New Hunts House, Guy’s Campus, King’s College London
Big Ideas, Time to Reflect.
We are inviting you to join us in rethinking university mental health.
This is complex. Our programme has been intentionally designed to support your engagement.
We start on the Tuesday (day 1) with some scene setting and many short talks. This is to sow ideas and help you start thinking about the work going on in the space. It gives you a chance to connect and work out who is working on what, so you can follow up for discussions across the conference.
On Wednesday (day 2), there are more short talks and then we start to move towards workshops and discussions to allow reflection on the ideas introduced.
On Thursday (day 3) we have sessions run by experts in the field who have been working on and thinking about these complex issues for time and from a range of perspectives. Their sessions are designed to help our delegates bring their own thinking together, to leave with clear momentum for what you’ll do next.
Tuesday 9th June: the introductions
This is a day of scene setting and introductions; bringing you up to speed with ideas in the sector and introducing you to people working across the space. This will be a fast paced day. Be ready to take new information on board. Make notes to capture ideas that you may wish to circle back to again and again across the programme.
10:30
11:00
12:30
13:00
14:00
15:30
16:00
18:30
Session
Session 2
LT1
LT2
G4
Registration - G3 & G4
Opening Session - LT1
Welcome - Nicola Byrom & Aneeska Sohal
Are we talking mental health bad - Gareth Hughes
Home Group Session
Lunch
Session 1
Tea - G8 / G12
Short Talks:
Beyond Buzz Words
Kevin Matlock
Vicki McDermott
Meg Jones
Hannah Slack
Jenny Oates
Short Talks:
Complexity Challenge
Thomas Kador
Maria Vourda
Clara Armstrong
Jeffrey Lambert
Hannah Taylor
Sophie Homer
Short Talks:
Bridging the Gap
Rachel Spacey
Shell Bayliss
Beth Allender
Ellie Horton
Lexi Ewing
Dinner TBC
G3
Wednesday 10th June - Morning: Digging deeper
Wednesday morning provides further opportunity to be introduced to ideas and people at work in this area. This morning, there is a little more focus on methods, with an opportunity, for those who wish, to explore how we work in this space. We will also kick of our Spotlight programme on Eating Disorders; reflecting on how we support students with complex mental health needs to transition to university.
11:00
11:15
09:30
12:15
Session
LT1
Workshop
Leigh Spanner & Shonet Hockley
Advancing Evidence-Informed Approaches to Mental Health through the University Mental Health Charter
LT2
G4
Brief Break
Eating Disorders Spotlight
Lunch
Session 3
Session 4
Short Talks:
Skills Share
Beti Baraki;
Ellie Horton;
Hannah Slack;
Jacks Bennett;
Jennifer Oates;
Rob Summers
Workshop
Hannah Slack
From Concept to Measurement: A Practical Workshop on Scale Development in Student Mental Health Research
G3
Short Talks:
Interconnected Wellbeing
Olga Zayts;
Fadia Gamieldie;
Tania Villanueva;
Hannah Slack;
Viginia Thomas;
Kashaf Arif
Workshop:
Katie Rakow & Becky Upsher
Agency for change: enabling academics to implement change for student and staff wellbeing
Wednesday 10th June - Afternoon: Starting to reflect
We kick off our afternoon with reflections from students. As we change pace from learning to reflecting and discussing, the students involved in organizing the conference programme will share their reflections on the conference and the topics under discussion. We invite you to use their reflections as a start point for your own contemplation across the remainder of the programme. We continue the focus on methods, with some guest lectures on how we work in this space, and the impact of our work on the sector. Our Beyond Buzzwords sessions give you a chance to start to unpack more complex ideas about intersectionality on the university campus. We will round off the day with an opportunity to talk in depth with others who share a common interest, providing a springboard for future collaborations.
13:15
15:00
14:00
16:00
Session
LT1
Student Reflections & Discussion - LT1
Beyond Buzzwords
Radhika & Kawshar
Further details TBC
Beyond Buzzwords
Manny & Tanatswa
Further details TBC
LT2
G4
Eating Disorders Spotlight
Eating Disorders Spotlight
Tea & Walk & Talk
Session 5
Session 6
Survey as Intervention
Denise Meyer
Measurement
Emma Broglia
Further details TBC
G3
Workshop:
Sara Speziali
Hats aside, we all have mental health
Thursday 11th June: Reflecting, discussing and planning
Three days out to think and reflect is great. But what happens when the conference ends and you return to usual work? Today is designed to help you think and plan about what comes next, how will you change your work? Who do you want to work with further? What else do you want to learn? There is time and space today, in sessions led by experts in the field, to reflect on what you’ve heard in the conference so far, discuss your ideas with a supportive audience, and make connections to help you build on the momentum that we’ve kick started here.
15:00
11:30
11:45
09:30
12:45
14:00
15:00
16:00
Session
LT1
Complexity Challenge
Pablo & Max
Further details TBC
Workshop
Michael Priestley
Holistic approaches to wellbeing in education
LT2
G4
Discussion
Thomas Kador & Neil Armstrong
Taking the sting out of buzzwords: restoring the space for self expression in student mental health research and practice
ECR Spotlight
Details TBC
Quick Break
Lunch
Discussion:
Alana James, Michael Kilmister & Gareth Hughes
Rethinking reasonable adjustments; taking a collaborative approach
Closing Session
Key Note - Rosie Tressler OBE
Lock Note - Nicola Byrom
Conference close
Session 7
Session 8
Session 9
Session 10
Workshop
Jemima Dooley & the Nurture U Team
Collaboration for Impact: What are the next steps for the Nurture-U project?
Workshop
Tatjana Damjanovic & TASO Team
Developing testable causal pathways to measure student wellbeing
Bridging the Gap
Aneeska
Further details TBC
Workshop
Julia Ouzia
Universal design in action - turning barriers into opportunities
G3
Interconnected Wellbeing
Juliet Foster & Haseeba
Further details TBC
Discussion:
Sam Roberts
SMaRteN Measuring Student Mental Health and Wellbeing SIG – THE LIVE SHOW!
How do we protect and promote staff wellbeing?
Discussion:
Sharon Kleintjes & Roshan Galvaan
Scholarship in Action: The power of critical dialogue and reflection as generative practices
Interconnected Wellbeing
Kate Ippolito & Ro Calver
Further details TBC