World-leading researchers attend innovative mental health conference convened by two AHC researchers
World-leading researchers from 14 countries have attended an innovative cross-disciplinary mental health conference led by two academics from the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures
World-leading researchers from 14 countries have attended an innovative cross-disciplinary mental health conference led by two academics from the University of Leeds’ Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures.
The ‘New Research Directions in Global Mental Health: Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) Symposium’ took place at the University of Leeds on 12-13 June 2024.
Convened by Professor Sarah Waters from the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, and Dr Matthew Elliott from the School of Performance and Cultural Industries, the two-day in-person conference brought together academic researchers, doctoral students, and postdoctoral trainees from across the Worldwide Universities Network and beyond to discuss how collaborative research could and should be addressing the major mental health challenges in our societies today.
Four researchers deliver a talk at the conference
It aimed to foster collaboration between researchers from a wide range of countries and disciplinary backgrounds to share knowledge, forge new partnerships, and generate new research ideas and approaches for addressing critical global mental health challenges.
The symposium was attended by 78 people from 14 countries (the UK, Ireland, Germany, Norway, Netherlands, Uganda, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Hong Kong, Australia, Brazil, and Canada). It included 41 oral presentations, a poster session, three participatory workshops and six keynote talks by speakers from the UK, South Africa and Uganda. The latter included three speakers from the University of Leeds:
- Professor Paul Cooke, School of Languages, Cultures & Societies
- Professor Ghazala Mir, School of Medicine
- Professor Siobhan Hugh-Jones, School of Psychology.
We were delighted to host this two-day global conference on mental health at the University of Leeds. We deliberately took an interdisciplinary approach and sought to provide opportunities for networking and development of new collaborations, so it was brilliant to welcome so many talented colleagues from around the world and from different disciplines. There was strong participation from countries in Africa including Uganda, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria and South Africa. The interactive workshops helped to break down personal and disciplinary barriers, encouraging new collaborations to form and adding to the success of the symposium. We look forward to seeing how these new collaborations and Research Development Fund (RDF) applications develop.
Dr Matthew Elliott, Lecturer in Applied Performance and Global Challenges, said:
“We would like to offer thanks to the Worldwide Universities Network for their financial sponsorship of the symposium, which allowed us to offer a reduced registration fee to participants from WUN universities. A special thanks must also go to the University of Leeds for hosting the symposium and for the financial contributions towards the travel costs of keynote speakers and early career researchers from the University of Leeds Interdisciplinary Mental Health Research Network (LIMHRN), the Knowledge Equity Network (KEN), Horizons Institute Global Academy, and University of Leeds School of Languages, Cultures and Societies. Thanks to the University’s Conferences and Events team who provided invaluable support for the conference and to School of Performance and Cultural Industries for making their facilities available for day two of the symposium.”
One attendee commented: “Thank you very much for organising such a stimulating and important conference. I found all the presentations highly thought-provoking, and it renewed my faith in the value of interdisciplinary research and conversations.”
Another said: “I have made some really useful connections that will hopefully lead to future collaborations. I also really liked the diversity of the audience and the meaningful inclusion of colleagues from the global south and in particular those coming from low resource settings.”
The conference was supported by WUN and the Leeds Interdisciplinary Mental Health Research Network (LIMHRN), the Horizons Institute, University of Leeds, the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, and the School of Performance and Cultural Industries.
Photo credits: Karis Welch.
