I’m now a few months into my SSI Fellowship, where I am continuing the conversation around mental health in the Research Software community.

A lot has happened, so I thought it was time for an update.

In March, I announced my SSI Fellowship and set out my plans for the next year-or-so. A lot has happened since then. I’ve become a Mental Health First Aider, attended some events and launched a website. So, let me catch you up on what has happened and how my plans have evolved.

CW25

The 2025 SSI Collaborations Workshop was held in the shadow of the Wallace Monument at the University of Stirling in May.

The event took place during Mental Health Awareness Week, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to talk to people about my fellowship. I gave a lightning talk summarising my plans, launched the ConveRSE website (which you can read about below), and gave out my first batch of leaflets and laptop stickers. I had several conversations with people about mental health, and even got to use some of my MHFAider training. I made some notes on the challenges faced by RSEs, as well as some tips and advice for self-care from different people, which will eventually end up on the ConveRSE site. A few people also offered to contribute by helping with the development of the site or writing blog posts for it, which is fantastic.

On top of all that, I got to meet my fellow Fellows and hear about the fascinating and varied things they’re all doing (check out their profiles for more info!). I was also involved in several fascinating discussions, including pitching a project to highlight the challenges faced by RSEs and other RTPs. Unfortunately, the project didn’t get enough votes to become a hack day project. However, I did get involved with BRIDGE (Better Research via Inclusive Design-Driven Guided Experiences), a project to bring together advice on design-based development and creating accessible websites.

As always, CW was one of the highlights of the year for me, but this year was particularly special. Thank you so much to everyone who came to talk to me!

ConveRSE

ConveRSE is the website that will serve as a hub for mental health information and support, including updates on the progress of my fellowship and collaborations with others in the community. It has the tagline “Let’s talk about Mental Health”, which reinforces one of the key messages I want to get across: it is better to talk about mental health problems and to attempt to address any issues before they become bigger problems. It is also a hub for mental health information. We are compiling tips for looking after yourself, your team and your colleagues, along with links to various other charities and organisations across the UK that support mental health (with plans to expand it to include less UK-centric information, but we’ve got to start somewhere!).

I did a soft launch of the site at CW25, allowing me to get some feedback on the prototype version. Based on feedback from CW25 and conversations with colleagues from the Newcastle RSE team, I’ve been working to make the site more user-friendly and accessible. There’s still more work to do, but I feel like it’s really starting to take shape.

Moving forward, the plan is to engage with other fellows and the #mental-health channel on the RSE Society Slack to start adding more content. I also want to include blog posts (including stories, tips and resources) from a wide and diverse group of contributors to help maximise the impact of the site. These can be posts about anything relating to mental health. What quirky things do you do to stay sane in the workplace? What have your colleagues or line manager done to improve morale in your team? What tools do you use to help manage your life-work balance more effectively? We want you to share these things with us, as while they may not work for everyone, they may help some people to improve their mental health and wellbeing.

More information on how to get involved can be found on the site’s Contribute page.

Final Thoughts

I have been quite fortunate that I’ve been able to hit the ground running with my fellowship work. I probably won’t be able to maintain this pace for the next nine months, but I’m optimistic that we can build a community around this, continue the conversation and push for better mental health in our community.

Follow me and the SSI on social media, or join the ConveRSE mailing list to keep up to date with the latest developments.

Thanks for reading.

Take care of yourselves!