The last year has been an exceptionally challenging for our PhD students, who have struggled to continue their research and education all while battling total isolation. This undoubtedly placed huge burdens on their mental health, with depression and anxiety levels increasing. When organising our PhD Colloquium, we wanted to confront this head on and not only bring the students together in person for the first time in a year, but to encourage them to talk about their struggles. I had followed Zoë’s work on twitter for a while personally and I knew she would provide some thoughtful insight to our student community. Despite the strange hybrid nature of our conference setup, where Zoë was unable to see the audience, she delivered a very engaging and thought-provoking talk. The audience, students and supervisors alike were stirred by the topics discussed and the fruitful discussions stimulated at the event have continued within the Bragg Centre. Mental health advocacy is now high on the Centre’s agenda, where we are continuing to facilitate workshops in partnership with the University counselling services which are targeted at both students and supervisors, and which explore ways to recognise and support people students (and other people) who are struggling with their mental health. Zoë’s contribution opened the doorway and revealed that there were many people who wanted to discuss these ideas but didn’t know where to turn. The Bragg Centre hopes to become a beacon of best practice in this area for the benefit of its members.”
- Dr Andrew Lee, Bragg Centre Manager, Bragg Centre for Materials Research, University of Leeds