Congratulations to the CTIS member Sheena Kalayil whose novel The Others has been longlisted for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Find out more about this fascinating work here: www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/news/display...
@uomsalc.bsky.social @uomhums.bsky.social @uomcreativemcr.bsky.social
Fully Funded PhD Opportunity
We’re recruiting for a PhD researcher on climate change & heat in school environments (Sept 2026 start)
Funded by the UoM prestigious President’s Doctoral Scholar Award that provides:
A poster advertising the event with Sarah’s painting “the Madonna of Hampstead”
📣 Yesterday, Holly Morse and I were thrilled to install Encountering Biblical Bodies: Sarah Lightman's Biblical Women in the Glass Corridor Gallery at The University of Manchester.
Now exhibiting in the Samuel Alexander Glass Corridor: Encountering Biblical Bodies – Sarah Lightman’s Biblical Women
📅 Until 26 March 2026
📍 Samuel Alexander Glass Corridor
Join us for a research café with the artist Sarah Lightman on 16 March: https://ow.ly/FFTl50YotOl
Questions from the audience now. When asked about how students can help navigate and influence the world today, "Persistence... It's about demonstrating that you can vote with your feet".
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💬 Natalie reflects on her career so far and the world today: "War is never simple, but it seems incredibly complex today"
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Natalie shares her experiences working in conflict zones, such as Syria and Ukraine. How she and her team were received differently by civilians, especially across generations, and the relationships they formed.
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We're joining @hcrinstitute.bsky.social for a special lecture, "Navigating Humanitarian Medical Care in Active Conflict" with Dr Natalie Roberts (@docnat.bsky.social) from @msf.ca. A talk focused on her experiences as a medical practitioner working on the front lines in humanitarian zones.
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'The problems are real – but the solutions Reform offered were not. Its politics relies on fear and scapegoating, and the racism feels barely disguised'
Remi Joseph-Salisbury comments on the Gorton & Denton by-election
@uomhums.bsky.social @uomsoss.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Now exhibiting in the Samuel Alexander Glass Corridor: MossWorlds – Re-Storying Urban Lives
📅 Until 2 March 2026
📍Sam Alex Glass Corridor
The exhibition is based on an interdisciplinary research project undertaken at The University of Manchester during 2024-5, supported by Creative Manchester.
P‑S WELLS is shifting how we understand and support children’s emotional wellbeing during the context of primary-secondary school transitions, providing a first step in minimising educational disadvantage and social inequality in children’s developmental pathways.
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Throughout the project, they have worked in partnership with non-academic stakeholders, and all work has been guided by two advisory groups: one panel of young people (aged 9-13 years) and a second panel of educational and clinical practitioners, NGOs and policymakers.
3. To develop a P-S WELLS manual for use in schools, including CPD opportunities to administer, score and interpret the measurement. This will give teachers real‑time insight into their class’s emotional wellbeing on a universal and targeted basis.
2. To pilot and conduct longitudinal psychometric assessment and longitudinal validation on two discrete samples, across two primary-secondary school transitions periods: doi.org/10.1177/1073...
1. To develop a clear theoretical and conceptual definition of emotional in the context of primary-secondary school transitions: doi.org/10.1007/s106...
The project’s key aims to develop the first robust, sensitive, and standardised accessible measure, to longitudinally assess children’s emotional wellbeing in the context of primary-secondary school transitions, through the following objectives:
So, what will P‑S WELLS do differently? It is novel in its approach (asking children about their feelings towards the changes they are negotiating in context), and in its design and operationalisation (through careful phrasing of items and longitudinal psychometric assessment and validation)
👉Have inconsistent reliability and validity
👉Use inaccessible formats, that lack child voice
👉Key constructs (primary-secondary school transitions and emotional wellbeing) are not conceptualised and/or theoretically defined
They often:
👉Ignore the dynamic, longitudinal nature of primary-secondary school transitions in the design and operationalisation of scales
👉Follow a negative discourse using unbalanced items and negative wording
These changes can be exciting and worrying. They’re dynamic, ongoing, and multi‑layered.
But current tools for measuring emotional well-being during this transition fall short.
Why? Because primary-secondary school transitions are emotionally demanding, critical periods for 2/3 of children. Children experience academic, social, psychological, environmental, and personal changes, simultaneously.
The P‑S WELLS project has designed, piloted, and is now validating the first sensitive and standardised scale for assessing children’s emotional wellbeing during primary-secondary school transitions.
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@uomseed.bsky.social @manchester.ac.uk #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek #EduSky
2 children in winter coats and hats building a den out of wood in woodland. Text reads: Noticing nature - supporting your wellbeing and mental health at all ages
When did you last pause to really notice nature? 🌱
This #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek, research from the @educationuom.bsky.social shows how simple, unhurried moments outdoors can support children’s mental health and wellbeing.
Read 👉 c-js.uk/4pVwpGO
#MentalHealth #Nature #OutdoorLearning
This #childrensmentalhealthweek @smqpsych.bsky.social has co-written an article for Countryside Jobs Service on the importance of noticing nature and how families, educators and policy makers can encourage play and exploration in natural spaces
📖 www.countryside-jobs.com/article/noti...
When did you last pause to really notice the world around you? 🍃
Simple moments of engaging with nature are tools for supporting mental health and wellbeing, and research shows that giving children space to explore and play in nature encourages creativity, curiosity and a sense of calm.
Text reads 'Nature as therapy, research shows how the outdoors can help us to heal' - image of two men walking in woods
A study examines a form of outdoor, ‘eco' therapy.
Participants said moments in nature helped them process the past: watching trees grow and decay, feeling the wind on their face, or sitting quietly in a forest.
@uomhums.bsky.social #ecotherapy
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Text reads 'Manchester research reveals how global laws can give workers real power' - image is workers on a tractor
Study reveals that ‘due diligence’ laws are beginning to give a voice to some of the world’s most vulnerable workers.
The laws are designed to make multinational companies accountable for labour and environmental abuses.
@uomhums.bsky.social #workersrights
academic.oup.com/joeg/advance...
Discover funding, mentorship, and elevate your research to industry.
@digitaluom.bsky.social is hosting this workshop for those whose work has a digital element or for those curious about how a digital strand could enrich their research.
24 March (1- 4:40PM): tinyurl.com/yxmhden6
Book now for our @mcrlitfest.bsky.social events in partnership with @uomcreativemcr.bsky.social and @newwritingmcr.bsky.social – featuring Douglas Stuart and Tayari Jones 📚
Join the Linguistic Diversity Collective, Creative Manchester and Manchester Museum as we participate in Manchester City of Lit’s International Mother Language Day 2026 celebrations!
📅 21 Feb, 11am–12pm
📍Manchester Museum
🎟️ https://ow.ly/l5sw50Y9o5y
#MCRIMLD26 #motherlanguageday
