International summer school in youth mental health research reaches over 100 participants
12 August 2024
In July 2024, the Wolfson Centre for Young People’s Mental Health held its third virtual Summer School in Youth Mental Health Research, drawing more than 100 participants from over 20 different countries across the globe.
The event featured a diverse and dynamic three-day online programme, with sessions led by experts associated with the Wolfson Centre. Participants engaged in thought-provoking talks and workshops on various topics, including current challenges in youth mental health, global approaches to mental health programmes and policies, strategies for preventing depression in young people, mental health in educational contexts, the evaluation of complex interventions, and issues surrounding youth suicide and self-harm.
The event also sparked significant activity on social media, with the hashtag #WolfsonSummer24 generating over 26,000 impressions. Attendees shared photos of their setups, feedback on the sessions, and networked with each other.
"It was great to see the power of social media bringing students from all over the world to our Summer School. As the Wolfson Centre communications officer, my highlight was seeing the enthusiastic and celebratory tweets of students who got accepted onto the Summer School."
The feedback from attendees has been resoundingly positive. Participants praised the summer school for its broad range of topics and they particularly liked the small-group sessions where they got to choose a topic that best suits their areas of interest.
The organisation of the school also received very positive feedback, especially the Padlet, a platform provided to attendees that allows them to access the speaker’s slides, ask further questions, see other opportunities the Centre provides, and interact with each other.
To have the Summer School being described as inspirational and beneficial is extremely rewarding. We try our best to put on a summer school that will contribute to the attendees’ career and goals. The feedback we receive every year is not only gratifying but also very helpful for us to keep improving future editions of the summer school.
One of the attendees, Debbie, a postgraduate student in Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Wellbeing and a medical doctor, highlighted the unique opportunities that come with participating in the Summer School.
“This three-day online summer school provided extensive research on youth mental health which was presented by experienced practitioners and researchers and discussed by everyone including participants during the sessions. Some of my highlights were having the opportunity to network with specialists who I might not have had access to outside the school.”
Mariona Perez Anton, who attended the school from Spain, added: “I found it very beneficial to see the studies that are currently being conducted in the field. Real-world class examples to accompany what we were talking about were particularly enlightening."
“We want to express our deep gratitude to everyone who participated and to our outstanding speakers from the Wolfson Centre, the Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, and DECIPHer."
“We look forward to hosting our fifth edition of the Summer School next year. We hope #WolfonSummer25 continues to bring an international audience of students eager to learn more on such an important topic: youth mental health research.”
Take part in 2025
Are you interested in joining us for the Wolfson Summer School 2025?
Applications open next March and we would love to hear from you.
Until then, you can sign up to our mailing list to keep up to date with all the opportunities the Centre has to offer, and keep an eye on our social media channels where we will advertise #WolfsonSummer25
Read more on our blog about student's experiences at the Wolfson Summer School:
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Research Associate, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences
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Research Associate, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences
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Research Associate, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences
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Post-Doctoral Research Associate, DECIPHer
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Communications Officer, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences
