Building Wellbeing Literacy

Co-creating Learning Opportunities for Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Researchers

Project Overview

Promoting wellbeing literacy is crucial given the increasing mental health challenges faced by PhD students and postdoctoral researchers.

This Enhancing Research Culture at Warwick Link opens in a new windowproject funded by Research England aims to develop targeted online resources for wellbeing literacy specifically designed for PhD students and postdoctoral staff. We aim to create such tailored online offering incorporating their perspectives from the outset to inform the offering's development.

Utilising participatory methodologies, particularly co-creation, we will address the learning needs and preferences of the earlier-career researchers. Through a series of listening workshops, we will explore the preferred resources and tools for delivering effective and flexible online wellbeing literacy resources that align with the lifestyles of early-career researchers. Our approach will ensure that decisions regarding learning objectives, format, and content are driven by the insights gathered during these listening workshops.

After the online wellbeing literacy resources are created, we will gather feedback from PhD students and postdoctoral researchers to refine and tailor it further, ultimately creating a valuable resource for all PhD students and postdoctoral researchers at the University of Warwick.

In addition to the feedback listening workshops and as part of the continuous improvement of the online wellbeing literacy resources, an evaluation study will be conducted to identify and understand the impact of the online resources on the wellbeing literacy and overall wellbeing of Warwick's early career researchers before and after using the resources.

Enrol in the online Building Wellbeing Literacy resources for early career researchers.

Online Wellbeing Literacy Resources Moodle

Open access for all Warwick PhD students and postdoctoral researchers
Academic research based on 27 topics related to early career researchers’s wellbeing
Diverse learning formats, such as videos, podcasts, and infographics, accommodate different learning styles

The project aims to develop a cohesive offering of online wellbeing resources tailored for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, actively including and valuing their voices, input, and feedback to ensure the content is relevant and impactful.

Objective 1. Co-creation with PhD and Postdoctoral Researchers

With the participation of a PhD student and a postdoctoral researcher as co-creators we will develop online wellbeing literacy resources. The co-creator officers will actively participate in the project to ensure the content is both practical and applicable from their own perspective.

Objective 2. Focus Group Research and Data Analysis

Organise listening workshops with both PhD students and postdoctoral staff to gather insights, thoughts, and experiences related to wellbeing literacy in academic life. The qualitative data collected from the listening workshops will be analysed and will shape the content and structure of the online resources.

Objective 3. Online Resources Development

Based on the data collected from the listening workshops, develop a cohesive offering of online wellbeing literacy resources (e.g. module, series of podcasts and other multimedia). This offering will aim to address the specific challenges PhD students and postdoctoral staff face.

Objective 4. Pilot Testing and Feedback

Conduct additional listening workshops to test the online resources with a cohort of PhD students and postdoctoral staff. Collect their perspectives and feedback to refine and improve the offering before its final release.

Objective 5. Continuous Improvement

Use the feedback from the second round of listening workshops to make necessary adjustments, ensuring the online resources are user-friendly, engaging, and effective in promoting wellbeing literacy to PhD students and postdoctoral researchers.

We are conducting the evaluation study to identify and understand the impact of the online resources on the wellbeing literacy and overall wellbeing of Warwick's early career researchers before and after using the resources.

Take part in the survey

Information for early-career researchers

If you are a member of the University of Warwick, whether as a PhD student or Postdoctoral staff, and would like to participate in this study, please read the Participant Information Leaflet (PIL) Link opens in a new windowand register using the button provided or hereLink opens in a new window. After the registration, Dr Tania Villanueva will contact you.

For further questions, please reach out to Tania-Maria.Villanueva-Cabello@warwick.ac.uk.

Key Contacts for this Project

Professor Elena RivaLink opens in a new window, Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning (IATLLink opens in a new window), University of Warwick, e.riva@warwick.ac.uk
Dr Tania VillanuevaLink opens in a new window, Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning (IATLLink opens in a new window), University of Warwick, Tania-Maria.Villanueva-Cabello@warwick.ac.uk

Project Team Members

Main Team Members:

Professor Elena Riva, Principal Investigator
Dr Tania Villanueva Cabello, Former Research Fellow
MSc Virginia Thomas-Pickles (PhD Student), Former Co-Creator Officer

Other Team Members:

Sam Hardy, Director of Flexible and Online Learning, Flexible Online Learning Department, University of Warwick
Jath Pathmanathan, Technology Enhanced Learning Specialist, Flexible Online Learning Department, University of Warwick
Dr Fiona Fisher, Research Strategy and Programme Manager, Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Warwick