“A story, an anecdote, can be a carefully recorded observation […]. Those anecdotes are sometimes the key to unlocking a puzzle. They are terribly important and the collection of anecdotes, stories, has been very very important in my research” onbeing.org/programs/jan...

My new children’s book is available in bookshops from today! Join Luke and Ruby in ‘The Experimenters’ on cosy adventures where you think, test, & experiment like a real scientist. It’s been so much fun working with with illustrator Sayani Mukherjee & publisher @littleislandbooks.bsky.social

⚠️Scientist at work!⚠️ Huge thanks to @shanedbergin.bsky.social for signing copies of his new kids books, The Experimenters, a treat for curious minds

Remarkable to see five of my @mupsychology.bsky.social colleagues listed amongst the world’s top 2% of scientists rankings. Congratulations to all 👏

“If your situation allows you to do what delights you, do it; following healthy delight rarely leads to misery” Excellent advice from Sarah Moss in today’s @irishtimes.com www.e-pages.dk/irishtimes/5...

Applications for Young Academy Ireland (YAI) are still open. We're sharing reflections from Dr Emma Farrell, inaugural Co-Chair of YAI. Emma talks about what it means to be part of a community that values collaboration, curiosity, and impact. youtube.com/shorts/WX8pd... #earlycareerresearchers

This event is a must for researchers and policy makers alike - an opportunity to come together to consider how ERCIs and policy makers can best support each other to produce effective evidence for public policy. A small number of spaces have become available- don’t miss it!

Looking forward to sharing a paper on applying phenomenology to understand the lived experience of mental health and distress at this conference later this month. Still time to register👇

“Schools involved in the DEIS programme are already creating a school context that is of positive influence on their students’ well-being” It was a pleasure to work with ESRI colleagues Dr Caoimhe Dempsey and Prof. Selina McCoy on this important evidence paper.

Sign up for our Evidence for Policy Summit 2025 📍Sept 10, 2025 📍at @ria.ie 📍Keynote: Professor Michael Sanders 📍Panels on-ECRIs & Policy, Sustainability, Fair & Inclusive Society Sign up here: www.ria.ie/events/an-ev... #ECRchat #AcademicSky

“Boasting has become the new normal [in HE]” Bruce Macfarlane getting the PaTHES ‘Creative University’ conference off to a rousing start with a thoughtful paper on educational leadership, the neoliberal university and the duty to serve in academia. pathesorg.wordpress.com/pathes-confe...

Magical day on Saltee Mór. It’s taken quite a while for this Wexford woman to get there but it was a visit to remember. Puffins, guillemot, razorbills, kittiwakes, Manx shearwater, gannets, every type of gull and tern, and all in great numbers.

I’m in the Guardian today, arguing that we should stop them all-class mental health lessons in schools I've thought very carefully about ‘going public’ with this, because it's a sensitive argument to make, especially in the face of so many young people struggling. (cont 🧵) tinyurl.com/vun92cz7

Assistant Professor/Lecturer Post in any area of psychology in the Department of Psychology, Maynooth University (Fixed Term, 2 years). Sunday, 22nd June 2025. universityvacancies.com/maynooth-uni...

If you’re in #Blackrock be sure to take a moment to marvel at this fabulous literature map of the world. The wonderful team @ravenbooks.bsky.social have read and can recommend all 80 ❤️

Delighted to receive a Teaching & Learning Fellowship with @emmaefarrell.bsky.social for our project: Sense & Sensitivity - Exploring emotionally-complex topics in higher ed. Wonderful collaboration across @maynootheducation.bsky.social @mupsychology.bsky.social

Interesting episode. “The implicit purpose of education has been to get a good job […] We’ve asked people to behave like a machine of a kind and now we’ve created machines that can act or mimic as people of a kind. And so the whole [education] transaction has been thrown into chaos”

🧑‍🎓🧠 Phenomenal: @ucdphilosophy.bsky.social Associate Professor Timothy Mooney joins Melvyn Bragg to discuss French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty on the latest BBC Radio 4 In Our Time #TheresAReadingListToGoWithIt #philosophy #inourtime www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

I have the great privilege of hosting a seminar entitled ‘Mental Health in Higher Education: Opportunities, Challenges & Supports’ in the Royal Irish Academy on 31st of March. With a wonderful keynote, expert panel & book launch, it’s set to be a great day. Register here: tinyurl.com/5eufs5cz

I have just been sent a shareable link so this article can be accessed for free: www.wsj.com/health/welln...

Great to see Young Academy Ireland colleague and friend Dr Deirdre Robertson featured in today’s Irish Times @esri.ie

We are recruiting a Post Doctoral Researcher (Level 2) in Gender-Based Violence and Harassment. We welcome applications from a variety of disciplines including sociology & psychology. Closing date Feb 7th. Based in UL, see my.corehr.com/pls/esbsheul... for details. Recruitment Ref: 073688

Fantastic workshop on Narrative CVs for ECRs, hosted by the Young Academy Ireland. Kudos to Kevin Daly (@gingerhowley.bsky.social) for coordinating the event. A follow-up online workshop is planned, and we’ll also publish a document with helpful resources. www.ria.ie/events/narra... @ria.ie

Is social media really behind an epidemic of teenage mental illness? The scientific evidence is not as compelling as some commentators suggest writes Eoin Whelan, professor of business analytics and society at University of Galway Read more: www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

Delighted to receive a copy of this book on “spaces of mental health and wellbeing” in the post. The wonderful @sheenahyland.bksy.social and I contributed a chapter on how the university as a lived space shapes students’ experiences and understandings of distress.

Thrilled to start a new role today as Assistant Professor in mental health in the Department of Psychology @maynoothuni.bsky.social. I look forward to working with new colleagues and continuing my teaching and research in mental health, belonging and hermeneutic phenomenology.

“Productivity influencers want us to feel like the issues in our lives are a consequence of our own choices rather than being a systemic problem.” Great piece by @patrickfreyne.bsky.social in today’s Irish Times. www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...

“universal school-based [mental health] prevention is less effective than targeted approaches, often leads to null or unsustained positive effects, has the potential to elicit negative effects and is not well liked by young people.” acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Terrific service. The best recommendations, service, returns, plus the wonderful team @ravenbooks.bsky.social remember what I bought everyone in previous years so I don’t buy the same gift twice!

Nothing like waking up on the first day of the #BirdwatchIreland garden bird survey to find a sparrowhawk in the back garden. birdwatchireland.ie/our-work/sur...

Excellent day with scholars from Ireland, NI, Wales and Scotland considering threats to, and opportunities for, our research and innovation ecosystem. Thank you to Celtic Academies Alliance and the Royal Irish Academy for hosting such a thought-provoking day.

“Our assessment of what counts as relevant for causal explanations depends on our background sense of what’s normal.” In this week’s #ThinkfulThursday Dr Richard Gipps explores the politics of causal explanations of distress. thinkful.ie/articles/pol...

We’d like to that the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain for their continued support for thinkful and all those who write, read, comment and share the diverse range of articles (3/3).

We begin the fortnightly posts with an interview that describes a project @AineMarieMahon and I have been working on in recent months. The Belonging Project is a creative exploration of belonging and connectedness in the post-pandemic university (2/3) thinkful.ie/articles/the...

Thinkful is back for a final season! Over the next five months we look forward to sharing articles, podcasts and interviews with leading scholars and practitioners with the aim of empowering conversations between mental health, philosophy and education (1/3) thinkful.ie

“Social disconnection also can lead to poorer education outcomes; young people experiencing loneliness in high school are more likely to drop out of university” WHO launches commission to foster social connection www.who.int/news/item/15...

Really pleased to see The Belonging Project on display in the UCD Student Village. This exhibition of UCD student and staff written and creative expressions of belonging will be in place for the remainder of 2023. #DontMissIt belonging.ie