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Collaborative project

MINDS – Moderation, integration and networks for the mental health of students and PhD students

A sustainable approach to improving and jointly shaping the mental health of students and PhD students requires a combination of scientific rigour, networking among relevant stakeholders, and practice-orientated implementation.

Through networking, the synthesis of findings and knowledge transfer, MINDS strengthens the sustainable promotion of mental health among students and PhD students at universities in Germany.

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Background

Promoting mental health in higher education institutions

In science, politics and higher education, the mental health of students and PhD students is becoming increasingly important. To address gaps in research and tackle current challenges, the BMFTR is funding ten (collaborative) projects on the mental health of students and PhD students as well as an accompanying networking project under the funding priority "Wissenschafts- und Hochschulforschung" (WiHo) (en. "Science and Higher Education Research").

MINDS

Project description

The companion project MINDS (moderation, integration and networks for the mental health of undergraduates and PhD students) aims to systematically compile, synthesise, and sustainably transfer the results of the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR) call for proposals for applied science in the field of student mental health into practice, science and higher education policy. Furthermore, MINDS promotes dialogue-orientated exchange and networking among the participating collaborative projects to create synergies, jointly advance knowledge, and strengthen competencies. Building on the structured knowledge synthesis, audience-focused formats are created for the scientific community and the general public, including podcasts, video clips, and reports. Moreover, the companion project increases the visibility of the collaborative projects and actively integrates their results into higher education policy discussions, for example, through publications, presentations, and participation in national and international discussions. As a complement, network analyses will be conducted and research desiderata identified in order to further develop existing structures and target future research. In this way, MINDS contributes to the development and establishment of a scientific community dedicated to the mental health of students and PhD students. This strengthens the structural effectiveness of the overall call for proposals and supports the long-term implementation of health-promoting structures at higher education institutions.

Project Overview

Ten projects – one common goal

The projects involve mapping psychosocial support services, conducting a needs assessment, investigating the underlying causes, developing and evaluating interventions, and, in particular, transferring and implementing the findings regarding the mental health of undergraduates and PhD students.

  • Institut für Hochschulforschung an der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg

    UNIFY

    UNIFY researches and promotes student mental health at three university campuses using a mixed-methods approach to establish evidence-based, scalable interventions and foster sustainable cultural change in higher education institutions.

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  • Universitätsklinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Psychosomatik

    StaR_MHI

    StaR_MHI is a three-part collaborative project within the expert network of the German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), the University Hospital Halle, the Leibniz Institute of Resilience Research (LIR), the German Youth Institute (DJI), the LMU University Hospital München, the Charité University Hospital Berlin, the University Hospital Jena, the Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, the Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo), the Institute of Psychology and the Student Health Management of the Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg that aims to identify predictors of students’ mental health, validate them through high-frequency longitudinal analyses, and adapt and further develop suitable interdisciplinary intervention platforms for support and guidance.

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  • Universität Duisburg-Essen

    PsychKOMPASS

    PsychKOMPASS analyzes psychosocial counseling services for students nationwide, identifies needs and barriers, and, based on this analysis, develops evidence-based, practical recommendations for the sustainable improvement of services at universities and student services organizations.

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  • Universität Bremen

    CAMPUS

    The CAMPUS framework developed from the project will include suitable recommendations for universities, based on a systematic investigation of risk and resilience factors at both the individual level and the structural institutional level of higher education.

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  • Otto-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg

    HoPsy

    HoPsy taps into analytical potential at the interdisciplinary interface of higher education research and health science and strengthens the possibility of evidence-based control by universities for the health-sensitive further development of higher education structures by providing more differentiated findings on the simultaneous influence of individual and institutional determinants.

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  • Universität Kassel

    GesundStudiPro

    Representative comparative analyses of health among higher education students and non-students of the same age.

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  • Deutsches Zentrum für Hochschul- und Wissenschaftsforschung

    StuPsy

    The project investigates the development, determinants, and effects of mental health throughout the course of (under)graduate and doctoral studies.

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  • Technische Universität Braunschweig

    GesA Stud

    GesA Stud develops and evaluates low-threshold, personalized interventions to promote student health and sustainably enhance academic success.

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David Guilden

Prof.in Dr.in Eike Quilling

Project lead MINDS

"We are delighted to be supporting ten exciting (collaborative) projects as part of MINDS. The inter-project networking and collaboration offer the potential to strengthen the mental health of students and PhD candidates at a structural level."

Higher education institutions and other partners in the MINDS network

News

Updates from the MINDS projects

  • MINDS

    Mental health in higher education – MINDS companion research project has been successfully launched

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  • MINDS

    Test Post

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