EN

Supporting PhD candidate mental health and well-being – A useful toolbox

A digital informaton event for Postdocs, Juniorprofessors and Professors

“I’m an academic, not a therapist.”

As a supervisor, you are in a special relationship with your PhD candidates. Some of you may have the sense that your people are struggling and you simply not know how to approach them or the subject. In this interactive session you’ll develop a toolbox for navigating your PhD candidates’ mental health and well-being.

We will explore:

How to ask the right questions.
Why number of interactions matters.
Having a genuine open-door policy.
The role of belonging, self-worth & capability and how to foster it.
Caring for yourself first.

Tutor

Desiree Dickerson, PhD

Former postdoctoral researcher in the neurosciences and a clinical psychologist. Dickerson has worked at both ends of the spectrum – from (lab) bench to bedside. After working in research in New Zealand, Australia, and Austria, she now lives in Spain and spends her time helping academic institutions and academics themselves pursuit a healthier approach to research:

reframing maladaptive thought and behaviour patterns that hinder our performance.
developing habits and lifestyle choices that allow us to think, feel, perform and grow with clarity and intention.
increasing resilience to highly stressful environments.

Moderator

Dr. Kathrin Ruhl

Managing Director of the IFGPZ at the University of Koblenz. Previously, she was a research assistant at the Giessen Graduate Center for Cultural Studies at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen. She studied teaching at secondary schools and received her doctorate in political science. She has been active in the promotion of young academics since 2002. She is co-founder of the QualitätsZirkel Promotion and member of the network Good Scientific Practice of UniWiND e.V..