EGU 2025 is almost upon us! While a highlight of the year for many scientists, a big conference like this can also come with feelings of stress or anxiety for many. (If that’s you – you are not alone!) At this year’s general assembly, the topic of Mental Health in Academia will be given a prominent space in the form of a panel discussion on Monday, 28th of April, 16:15–18:00 in Room E1, focusing on systemic causes for the high prevalence of mental health issues in academia and their role in the wider conversation about lack of diversity in academic spaces. Scroll to the end of this blog post to find other mental health-related resources available during the conference and read on to learn more about the event and the motivation to open up about mental health in academia.
The idea has been around for a while, explains Ana Bastos, one of the organizers: ‘Jens Terhaar and me started discussing mental health in academia almost ten years ago when we were both early career representatives at the LSCE. The idea for the session came together when I met Sabine Hörnig at Leipzig University and learned that she had also been organizing activities on the topic in her institute.’ In organizing the event, it was important to the organizers to not see mental health as an isolated topic:
We wanted to link the mental health crisis with the broader issue of lack of diversity and work-life balance in science. By discussing different dimensions of the problem in an integrated way, we can start to break the stigma about mental illness in academia and learn how to improve the well-being of geoscience researchers across career stages.
Therefore they reached out to Anita Di Chiara, who is involved in EDI and work-life balance initiatives at the Union level, and Carolina Giorgetti, the Early Career Scientist Representative for the EMRP Division. The panel will include scientists from all career stages, and with different personal and professional connections to the topic. As Nicolas Rüsch, mental health professional, researcher on mental illness stigma, and one of the panelists highlights, engaging with the topic is not only relevant for people dealing with mental health themselves:
Mental health is important for everyone, whether they are ‘healthy’ or ‘ill’. All of us can have mental health problems in the near future, and most of us have colleagues, students or supervisors with mental health problems. Therefore it is good to think together about ways to be a supportive colleague or friend for those who are unwell at times.
In this spirit, we hope to see many of you on Monday evening to participate in the discussion!
Photo credit: Lucia Layritz
Event details:
Opening up about mental health across career stages in the geosciences
Mon, 28 Apr, 16:15–18:00 (CEST) in Room E1
Conveners: Ana Bastos, Anita Di Chiara, Sabine Hörnig (ECS), Jens Terhaar (ECS), Carolina Giorgetti (ECS)
Speakers:
- Nicolas Rüsch, Ulm University, Germany
- Lucía María Cappelletti, Foundation for Argentinian Development, Argentina
- Timo Vesala, University of Helsinki, Finland
- Anita Di Chiara, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Italy
https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU25/session/54303
Photo credit: Lucia Layritz
Mental Health resources during the conference
EGU can feel overwhelming at times, and watching out for your mental health helps you have a successful conference – whether that means taking a break or seeking out support for something. Here’s an overview of resources EGU is offering during the conference:
- Quiet rooms are provided on the purple level of the conference center, together with other special facilities such as the family and breastfeeding rooms, the childcare service and the multi-faith prayer rooms. (They might not be indicated on all maps but they will be there.)
- If you have specific sensory or access needs, you can exchange your EGU blue lanyard for one indicating those at the EGU booth
- Keep an eye on the pop-up calendar for helpful side events by EGU’s Work Life Balance group.
- In case of emergency, a doctor will be on site, on main floor in room 0.41
Take a look at the GeoLog for more information.
There are also some related events happening during the week that are worth checking out:
- Mind your head: How to take time off in the academic world? on Tuesday, 8:30 in Room -2.82
- Surviving in Academia as a Parent on Tuesday, 10:45 also in Room -2.82
Additionally, there are a bunch of research contributions investigating mental health aspects of e.g. environmental change or natural hazards. Browsing the program for ‘mental health’ should bring these up.
And finally, check out some of the other Blog Posts we’ve written on the topic over the years:
- 5 simple 5-min-practices for 5 days
- An interview with Jean Holloway on the importance of mental health in graduate school
- The Tectonics and Structural Geology (TS) Division blog features regular articles on Mental Health topics in their Mind your Head series.
You got this! Take a deep breath and have a great EGU 2025!
