On Tuesday, 13 February 2024 we hosted our 2^nd annual Mental Health information event for Doctoral Researchers and Postdocs of DESY and University of Hamburg. During this 2-hour online event, participants were introduced to help facilities for mental health issues in both institutions and got inputs on the focus topic ‘Basics of Burnout’ from the NGO Dragonfly Mental Health. More than 50 young scientists learned about the contact opportunities in case of mental health issues.

For DESY, the company medical doctor Katharina Bünz and psychologist Birte Walther introduced themselves and the help facilities available at DESY for mental health issues. Individual consulting sessions can be arranged in person or online. If you have a work contract with DESY or work on the DESY Campus, feel free to contact them at birte.walther@desy.de.

For students and doctoral researchers of University of Hamburg, psychologist Annette-Juchems-Brohl introduced the help services available at the University for all enrolled students of UHH (Bachelor, Master and doctoral students). She is working with a team of nine psychologists. If you are enrolled with the University of Hamburg, feel free to contact Annette Juchems-Brohl and her team for their services: Mondays from 11:00 am-12:pm (noon) via telephone +49 040 428388916.

For Postdocs and all employees of the University of Hamburg, Anna Schildt introduced her team and the help facilities for UHH employees. Their guiding principle is: open-ended and non-judgmental support for all. They can refer you to other internal and external advising services if needed. If you are a Postdoc being employed by UHH, feel free to contact:  sonja.nielbock@uni-hamburg.de

The most important message of this event was: Don’t be shy to ask for help! Even if you may think that your situation may not be ‘severe enough yet’ to contact a psychologist. Don’t stay alone with your problem!To ask for guidance and assistance in difficult situations is important and can only be to your advantage.

In case you are wondering if you are eligible to contact one of the above named, email the team of the PIER Helmholtz Graduate School for advice: graduateschool@pier-hamburg.de

Our next annual Mental Health information event with an alternating key talk will take place in spring 2025.