Beyond Burnout: Building Institutional Support for Researchers' Mental Health

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Elisa Garcia Garcia, of EURAXESS Spain (Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, FECYT), about one of academia's most under-addressed issues: researchers' mental health. Drawing on her own move from bench researcher to research manager, Elisa breaks down what "institutional support" really means in practice, introduces SATIS — a new self-assessment tool helping universities audit their own mental-health support across eight key areas — and shares results and lessons from the REBECA mentoring programme, which tackles career uncertainty, one of the biggest stressors researchers face. The conversation moves from policy frameworks and EU-wide recommendations down to concrete, low-cost interventions that institutions of any size can start putting in place today. Link to additional resources: https://www.euraxess.es/spain/self-assessment-tool-institutional-supportive-measures-mental-health-researchersGuestElisa Garcia Garcia, PhD — Project Officer at the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) and Trainer/Career Advisor with EURAXESS Spain. A former researcher herself, she now works on researcher mobility, career development, and institutional well-being policy across the EURAXESS network.Key Topics CoveredThe hidden mental health toll of academic careers: chronic stress, heavy workloads, and competitive culture, seen from both the researcher and the research-manager sideThe WHO definition of mental health and why EURAXESS frames its work around well-being, not just illnessSATIS: a self-assessment tool helping institutions benchmark their support across 8 areas — policy and leadership, coordination, evidence-based planning, promotion, prevention, intervention, and monitoring/visibilityReal institutional models referenced, including Luxembourg University's interconnected support network and input gathered from Spanish, French, and Portuguese EURAXESS partners while building SATISThe REBECA mentoring programme: addressing career-path uncertainty as a major stressor, and what worked (and didn't) about delivering it onlineWhy even non-clinical interventions — mentoring, career guidance, peer support — measurably improve researchers' sense of well-beingWhat's next: leadership training for junior group leaders/PIs, and embedding mental-health measurement into everyday EURAXESS activitiesTimestamps00:00 – Episode intro and recap of the EURAXESS Smart Talks series00:54 – Meet the guest: Elisa Garcia Garcia (EURAXESS Spain)01:58 – Q1: What does EURAXESS offer for researchers' mental health, and what resources are available?05:54 – Q2: What do we mean by "institutional" support — research managers, PIs, or dedicated units?10:21 – Q3: For institutions without an established system, what guidance and materials exist to help them get started? 16:19 – Q4: Lessons from delivering mentoring and support sessions online vs. in person19:24 – Does it actually work? Measuring the real impact of these interventions on researchers' mental health23:13 – Closing thoughts, thanks, and where to find the resources mentionedSend us a message!