EXploring Collective Care in Research: A pilot-study with PhD Students (#ExCCiR-PhD)

Within the academic community, several studies point out that working towards a PhD is a particularly sensitive time, causing significant stress for PhD students. While some actions are being implemented to support their mental and physical health, these resources are still limited and no program has been designed  in order to implement different individual and collective support modules. This project aims to develop a well-being pilot-program for PhD students in a Participatory Action Research (PAR) perspective, The CRI ecosystem and the modules already proposed (MBSR, psycho-education) will be at the heart of this pilot program. By using mixed-methods, this study will intricate different qualitative and quantitative phases and exploit the potential of digital technologies (hardware/software) to collect social, behavioral and physiological data. After a first qualitative phase aiming to co-design with various stakeholders the content of the program as well as the research protocol to assess it. The second phase will be mainly quantitative and will compare PhD students following modules of the program or not (control group) in order to assess the impact of such a program but also to identify new relevant markers. These results will be enriched by a last qualitative phase to reflect about the implementation and adaptation of this program in other context. In addition to the socio-pedagogical benefits, this study will explore innovative perspectives in cognitive sciences on mind/body interactions as well as in social sciences by developing interdisciplinary, open and data science practices grounded in strong ethical and social reflections.