On 11 October 2021, the Research Mental Health Observatory (ReMO) launched the Researcher Mental Health and Well-Being Manifesto. The European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers (Eurodoc) is an active partner in ReMO, a COST Action focused on wellbeing and mental health in Academia. The main aims of ReMO are:
- Establishing a global discussion forum
- Creating an open evidence hub
- Launching a research wellbeing ambassador programme
Mathias Schroijen, Eurodoc representative at ReMO and Mental Health working group co-coordinator, said: “Mental Health and Wellbeing among Early Career Researchers (ECRs) is a crucial topic for Eurodoc. Eurodoc strongly endorses ReMO’s coordinated and evidence-based international networking action, aimed at promoting mental health skills and wellbeing within academia. Together with ReMO and other stakeholders, we join efforts to identify and share best practices that enable ECRs to improve their working conditions”.
The Researcher Mental Health and Wellbeing Manifesto is a call to institutions and policymakers to improve policies in assessing, monitoring, and supporting the mental health and wellbeing of researchers and research staff in Academia. The manifesto warns Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) by suggesting some measures to improve the working conditions and moving towards more sustainable research careers.
Mental health is a top priority for Eurodoc, and the Mental Health Working Group (WG) was set up to address the mental health issues and improve the working conditions of ECRs in Europe. We encourage all our members and stakeholders to sign the petition supporting the Manifesto, which is now open: https://www.change.org/p/council-of-the-european-union-researcher-mental-health-manifesto
Full statement has been published on Zenodo:
Gábor Kismihók, Brian Cahill, Stéphanie Gauttier, Janet Metcalfe, Stefan T. Mol, Darragh McCashin, Jana Lasser, Murat Güneş, Mathias Schroijen, Martin Grund, Katia Levecque, Susan Guthrie, Katarzyna Wac, Jesper Dahlgaard, Mohamad Nadim Adi, & Christina Kling. (2021). Researcher Mental Health and Well-being Manifesto. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5559806
The petition supporting the Manifesto is now open to be signed at: https://www.change.org/p/council-of-the-european-union-researcher-mental-health-manifesto