Are you a university staff member who has regular contact with students, doctoral candidates or other staff members?

When interacting with them, do you sometimes suspect that they have mental health issues, but don’t know how to help them, because you are not a psychological counsellors or therapists?

Then you can take the opportunity to get trained as a Mental Health First Aid. YUFE offers this Programme to laypersons who are interested in learning how to recognize, understand and respond to emerging mental health issues. The programme is open to those working with students and doctoral candidates (e.g. as teaching staff, study advisor or career counsellor) and staff members (e.g. in a counselling function). The Programme explicitly teaches first aid skills. It is therefore not a course that trains psychological counsellors or therapists.

What is YUFE offering for staff members?

The YUFE Alliance is based on the joint vision of ten young research-intensive universities and two non-academic partners in order to contribute to a more competitive, innovative and united Europe addressing European and global challenges.

The YUFE Alliance strives to support and develop all staff members with regard to their knowledge, skills and talents. Therefore, YUFE offers a variety of programmes aiming at different staff groups. The Mental Health First Aid Programme is one of those.

What is the Mental Health First Aid Programme?

Although many people are affected by Mental Health issues, the topic still triggers prejudice and fear, which is why prevention and destigmatisation are important in this area.

This is where the Mental Health First Aid Programme comes in. In the programme, laypeople are trained to become Mental Health First Aiders, similar to first responders in medical emergencies. Participants learn theoretical knowledge and concrete first aid measures for emerging mental health problems and acute mental crises. An important part of the course is learning how first aiders can encourage affected individuals to seek professional help and activate additional resources. The learning is reinforced through case studies, role plays, and further exercises.

MHFA courses are not therapy or self-help groups – they are learning and information courses. However, participants are welcome to share their own experiences within the course. For this purpose, the course instructor creates a safe and trusting environment. This includes absolute confidentiality regarding all personal experiences discussed. The course explicitly teaches first aid skills. It is therefore not a course that trains psychological counsellors or therapists. First aid is – often an essential – first step in helping people find their way into professional support systems. However, it cannot replace professional healthcare or professional workplace health services.

MHFA is a global education initiative that has already trained over four million first responders. MHFA was established in Australia in 2000 and has been regularly evaluated scientifically ever since: it has been scientifically proven that the MHFA course improves knowledge about Mental Health, reduces stigmatising behavior, increases confidence in one’s own first responder skills, and strengthens one’s own Mental Health.

Trained Mental Health First Aiders accompany and help others to the best of their ability within the scope of their possibilities. Even though they can provide a wide range of support (e.g. by talking to the person, listening, or encouraging them to seek professional help) the responsibility for the actions or recovery of those affected does not lie with the Mental Health First Aider. The training and qualification as a Mental Health First Aider is voluntary and does not entail any legally binding obligations.

The programme takes place as a three-day training at the University of Bremen, Germany (travelling required). There are two places per university available.

How to apply

There are two places available for each YUFE university. Your own university selects those two participants. Selected participants will be informed about the decision on 20 March 2026. To apply, you have to take two steps:

1. Apply for the programme via the YUFE Virtual Campus

• You need to create a user account in the Virtual Campus, if you do not already have one. Once you have created an account, you can apply. If you face technical problems, please contact Jana Sievers ([email protected]).

2. Submit a short motivation statement in English to your university’s contact person (see contact list below). The statement should include:

• Your name, department/faculty, and position
• What is your role in the university and have you ever encountered mental health problem situations in the academic environment?
• In what way do you believe you could benefit from this programme?

Application deadline: 6 March 2026

Local contact persons:

• Maastricht University: Aude Frost ([email protected])
• Nicolaus Copernicus University: Urszula Walenczak ([email protected])
• Universidad Carlos III De Madrid: Amaya García Sierra ([email protected])
• University of Antwerp: Marjolijn De Clercq ([email protected])
• University of Bremen: Jana Sievers ([email protected])
• University of Cyprus: Savvas Christodoulou ([email protected])
• Université Sorbonne Nouvelle: Elissa Ammar ([email protected])
• University of Eastern Finland: ([email protected])
• University of Rijeka: Veronika Kostrenčić ([email protected])

 

Expenses & Further Information

For travel and accommodation expenses please check with your university’s Erasmus coordinator, if you are eligible for Erasmus Staff Mobility funding. If you have any additional questions or need further information:

• Maastricht University: [email protected] (Travel costs need to be covered by your department/ service. Please discuss this with your manager prior to your application.)
• Nicolaus Copernicus University of Toruń: YUFE office [email protected]
• Universidad Carlos III de Madrid: [email protected] (Travel costs need to be covered by your department/ service. Please discuss this with your manager prior to your application.)
• University of Antwerp: [email protected]
• University of Bremen: Barbara Hasenmüller [email protected]
• University of Cyprus: Emma Zeniou [email protected]
• Université Sorbonne Nouvelle: [email protected] and [email protected]
• University of Eastern Finland: [email protected]
• University of Rijeka: [email protected]