ReMO 2022: 1st Conference of the Researcher Mental Health Observatory - Bridging Science and Practice in Supporting Researcher Mental Health Central European University Budapest, Hungary, August 25-26, 2022

1st Conference of the Researcher Mental Health Observatory (ReMO 2022)

Bridging Research and Practice in Fostering Healthy Academic Workplaces

25th-26th August, 2022, Budapest

THEME

"Bridging Research and Practice in Fostering Healthy Academic Workplaces"

The ReMO COST Action focuses on wellbeing and mental health within academia, a theme of strategic importance for the European Research Area and beyond. We would like to invite our fellow researchers and practitioners to critically think about Bridging Research and Practice in Fostering Healthy Academic Workplaces. How can stakeholders in the research environment contribute to tackling this challenge in a rapidly changing world? We therefore hope for an inspiring conference with presentations, workshops and keynotes that will not only showcase the newest findings about the cognitive, motivational, and emotional aspects of Researcher Mental Health and Well-being, but will also be a place to discuss the global challenges that shape the present and will define the future of our research workplaces.

The conference will be a hybrid conference within the content of the ReMO COST Action with free online participation and in-person attendance at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.

OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE

The ReMO 2022 programme committee warmly invites you to participate in the exploration of the theme “Bridging Research and Practice in Fostering Healthy Academic Workplaces”. We aim to collaborate with each other and share and discuss the latest research and practice in Researcher Mental Health and Well-being as we work to achieve the objectives of the Researcher Mental Health and Well-being Manifesto:

1. At the community level: 
   1. Supporting grassroots initiatives; 
   2. peer-to-peer support actions; 
   3. a person-centred approach to training and career management; and 
   4. anecdotal evidence collection. 
2. At the institutional level: 
   1. Recognizing mental health and well-being issues; 
   2. sharing best practices across institutions; 
   3. development of fair and personalised research performance assessment; 
   4. addressing well-being in doctoral and staff professionalisation; and 
   5. supporting change initiatives at the organisational level. 
3. At the policy level: 
   1. ongoing dialogue between all relevant stakeholders; 
   2. systematic and structured data collection for evidence-based policy making; 
   3. dissemination of state-of-the-art evidence and tools addressing mental health; and 
   4. revising the academic reward system. 

We will have several keynote speakers and expert-led workshops, paper presentations, interactive poster sessions, and round table discussions. 

VENUE

The ReMO 2022 Conference will take place at the Central European University, Budapest.

SUBMISSION DETAILS

All papers will be assessed by blind peer review and are selected based on merit and relevance. Submissions must be made online using the EasyChair abstract submission system by March 31 17:00 CEST.

Full instructions for submitting your abstract are provided in the online system. The deadline for submission of abstracts by March 31st. 

All abstracts must be between 500 and 1000 words excluding title, references and tables/graphs. Names and institutions/organisations of authors should not be included in the text of the abstracts to facilitate the blind peer review process but entered separately in the online system. The abstract template can be downloaded here.

Abstracts should address one of the categories below:

1. Scientific and practitioners' research presentations
   1. Bottom-up and community-driven Interventions: Assessing the effectiveness and practical implementation of bottom-up and community-led interventions, such as, counselling support, peer-to-peer support, online networks and activities, mindfulness, yoga and other tools for mental health. 
   2. Institutional interventions and policies: Assessing the effectiveness and practical implementation of interventions and policies within institutions to address mental health, understand prevalence within institutions, reduce stigma and mandate support within institutions will be brought together in order to create evidence-based understanding of what ‘best practice’ looks like, what the practical challenges are and how they can be addressed, to share institutional learning and break down barriers and taboos in institutions recognising and addressing challenges within their workplace environments.
   3. Policy-Level Insights: Research and initiatives providing insight on systemic issues beyond any particular organisation or discipline and bringing together cross-institutional evidence on the prevalence, characteristics of mental health within research workplaces, and what can be done at a system level.
2. Workshop/hands-on practices for enhancing researcher mental health and well-being that facilitate community feedback, development of experimental design and collaboration.

Abstracts will be published open access in a Book of Abstracts. Selected contributions will be invited to submit a paper to a special journal issue.

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION

Paper Sessions

• The Paper should relate to the scientific objectives of ReMO as described in the Researcher Mental Health and Well-being Manifesto.
• Relevance of the topic to one of ReMO’s three Working Groups (System Level, Institutional Level, and Local Actors)
• Clarity of research question(s) and/or focus of enquiry/discussions/workshops
• Robustness of analytical and/or theoretical framework
• Significance for researcher mental health practice, policy and/or theory

All submissions must directly relate to the field of researcher mental health with a focus on practices and policies in place to address researcher mental health and may offer critical analysis or review of issues for researchers of all career stages.

Participants will be notified of acceptance decisions by May 20th.

PROGRAMME COMMITTEE

Gábor Kismihók, Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology, Hannover, Germany.

Brian Cahill, Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology, Hannover, Germany.

Stéphanie Gauttier, Grenoble École de  Management, Grenoble, France.

Janet Metcalfe, Vitae, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Stefan T. Mol, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Darragh McCashin, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland.

Carla van der Voort, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Dilara Özel, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.

Gabriel Saravalli-Burchfield, Columbia University, New York, USA.

Gökce Gökalp, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.

Lorena Cudris Torres, Fundación Universitaria del Área Andina, Bogotá, Colombia.

Maria Bostenaru Dan, "Ion Mincu" University of Architecture and Urbanism, Romania.

Mayya Sundukova, Fundación Biofísica Bizkaia / Biofisika Bizkaia Fundazioa, Bilbao, Spain.

Olga Vvedenskaya, Dragonfly Mental Health, Germany/USA.

Sabina Osmanovic,  University of Montenegro, Crna Gora, Montenegro.

REGISTRATION

Registration will open for both physical and virtual participation at a later stage. 

The ReMO COST Action covers the main organisational costs related to the conference and there will be no charge for either physical or virtual participation in the conference. The capacity of the venue will dictate a maximum number of physical participants. There may be a charge to cover the cost of the conference dinner and other meals. Details will be made available when registration opens.

TRAVEL GRANTS

Some Travel Grants will be funded by the ReMO COST Action with priority given to ensuring the participation of:

• Speakers
• Early Career Investigators (below 40 years of age)
• Researchers from Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITCs)
• ReMO COST Action Working Group Members
• Ensuring gender balance

Details will be made available when registration opens.