Lightning Talks:
Interconnected Wellbeing
Michael Priestley, Susanna Wilbraham & Emma Jones - Redesigning the university physical environment to address student and staff mental health together
Research has demonstrated clear links between the physical characteristics of campus environments and multiple dimensions of student and staff wellbeing, including social, cognitive, and physical health outcomes. Following the Covid pandemic and move to hybrid working, there is a timely imperative to theorise how the physical environment impacts on experiences of belonging for students and staff. Drawing on reflexive thematic analysis from a cross-sectional qualitative survey (n= 129) and 6 focus groups (n=17) conducted with students and staff, this talk elucidates the emotional and experiential dimensions of the relationship between the university physical environment and sense of belonging between students and staff. The findings show that the accessibility, inclusivity, and design of the physical environment significantly influences belonging and working behaviour for students and staff. These findings can provide a point of access to address student and staff mental health together, by designing a healthy culture and environment to inform the operationalisation of the principles of good practice within the University Mental Health Charter.
Ellie Horton & Anita Goldschmeid
Neurodivergent in Academia: Co-Creating Inclusive Research Practices. Overview: This workshop creates a space for neurodivergent (ND) researchers and allies to come together, reflect on the lived experience of being an ND researcher, and explore practical ways of engaging with neurodivergent student populations through research. Too often, neurodivergent voices are underrepresented in academic discussions and research shows that neurodivergent students are more likely to experience mental health difficulties but are not accessing university mental health support or do not find this to be useful. This session aims to flip that, centring lived experience while also co-producing strategies for inclusive research design and practice. Aims: To provide a reflective and supportive space for ND researchers to share the highs and lows of navigating academia. To facilitate peer-to-peer learning about inclusive, participatory approaches to researching with ND students. To co-create a set of practical principles or take-home strategies that participants can apply in their own research practice. This workshop aligns to conference themes: Interconnected Wellbeing and Research Methodology Skills Share.
Isabel Lang
My PhD research explores how university culture can better support university student wellbeing. Using a case study from a Welsh university, I conducted 17 semi-structured interviews with students and staff to understand their lived experiences, perceptions of university culture, and ideas for improvement. I also used Online Group Concept Mapping methodology to gather insights from 16 participants, resulting in a visual conceptual map that captured collective views on how culture and wellbeing intersect. Student wellbeing concerns are rising, yet many find institutional support systems overburdened and hard to navigate. There’s limited evidence on how university culture affects wellbeing, especially research that includes both student and staff voices. This study aims to fill that gap and inform more effective, inclusive wellbeing support. This work centers student voice and lived experience, aligning closely with the theme Beyond Buzzwords by advocating for deeper cultural change over surface-level solutions. As I near PhD submission, I’m also keen to ‘Bridge the Gap’ - sharing findings and collaborating. Student voice is powerful. Collaboration must be embedded throughout the research process.
Dom Smithies - Understanding the connection between high-risk income-generating behaviours and mental health.
Student Minds have been exploring the connection between financial hardship, high-risk income-generating behaviours and mental health. While the link between financial hardship and mental health is increasingly clear, Student Minds were keen to better understand the impact that ‘higher risk’ behaviours - such as gambling, sex work and investing in cryptocurrency - has on students’ mental health.
We’ve seen, largely in attribution to the financial hardship many students are facing, an increasing number of students’ engaging in these higher risk behaviours. We’ve also heard that there’s a tremendous amount of shame and stigma associated with these behaviours which presents barriers to seeking and accessing support.
In this session we’ll be sharing our findings and facilitating discussion around how our sector can better support students that engage with these behaviours.
Niamh Nicholson - Embedding Boundaries and Sustainable Practices for HE Staff
Our presentation explores how supporting staff wellbeing is essential to improving student mental health and building a sustainable culture within education. We will share how our approach embeds staff wellbeing, self-care, and healthy boundaries into every stage of our training programme, ensuring that those who support students also feel supported themselves.
Our model allows for flexibility in completing the training around their own schedules/capacity as well as delivering student workshops. This structure not only reduces pressure on resourcing, allows for descaling and upscaling of delivery to suit the needs of the institution, but also models positive wellbeing behaviours to students.
We will then outline practical actions for institutions to embed these practices. We can be flexible with the session and have the option to build out these actions into a workshop or discussion session.
Finally, we will present feedback and testimonials from staff who have completed our training, highlighting measurable impacts on confidence, workload balance, and perceived connection with students. Our aim is to show that by investing in staff wellbeing and boundary-setting, we create more compassionate, resilient learning environments where both staff and students can thrive.
Helen Payne
In this short talk an overview of the Erasmus+ funded project will be presented. The collaborators from the UK, Italy, Greece, Germany and Belgium designed the curriculum for an e-learning training for teaching staff to support students struggling with their mental wellbeing. A needs analysis was undertaken together with a literature review to inform focus groups to elicit views from teaching staff on content. A handbook, policy document and a free e-training platform was released in March 2026, which are available to all universities in Europe and the UK. Universities can download the platform for engaging their teaching staff and/or any section of the training to support their own training developments. Further information about the project and all downloads can be found at www.sunmentors.eu