‘The doctorate is a challenging phase for many early career researchers: It demands a high degree of personal responsibility. Uncertainty, procrastination - the postponement of upcoming tasks - or phases of extreme work demands are probably familiar to everyone who is doing or has done a doctorate. Particularly in strenuous and stressful phases, it can happen that serious stress symptoms arise, which can also be the precursor to a mental illness such as depression or burnout,’ summarises Dr Sabine Korek, consultant for occupational health management.
Following on from this, the Mental Health Awareness Days for doctoral researchers and postdocs will take place from 27 to 29 November at our university, the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ).
Workshops, lectures and networking opportunities are intended to sensitise people to the topic, open up support options and strengthen their own options for action. Interested parties can learn how to ease stressful situations, avoid psychological strain and strengthen their own resilience in the predominantly online programmes.
Registration is only required for the three parallel introductions to the method of peer counselling at the Leipzig, Halle and Jena sites as well as for the lecture and workshop on mindfulness and meditation at the UFZ. All other online events can be attended without prior registration.
“However, the days can only be an impetus to sensitise people to thetopic and point out contact points for those seeking help. Structural problems in the doctoral and postdoctoral phase cannot be eliminated through mindfulness and meditation”, says Dr Kornelia Ehrlich, Managing Director of the Graduate Academy Leipzig, which is co-organising the Mental Health Awareness Days. The university's central institution for doctoral researchers and early postdocs is committed to quality assurance in doctoral research, for example by establishing supervision agreements. Mental health is an important topic on its agenda.