Glorious sunshine and clear blue skies……Spring has arrived and the vaccine is saving many lives! With our rapid roll-out a roaring success so far and a roadmap to recovery ready, it’s almost as if Mother Nature reflects back the hope we hold. It’ll be time to whip off the layers and whip out our sunglasses before we know it. In the meantime, let’s take a look back at what March had in store for us:

What’s Happened

Hive Roundup:

Animals in Research – Katie delves into the modern debate of animal research. She discusses the ethics, the benefits to healthcare and how we as scientists are trying to improve our practice.

Rare Disease Day – Rob helped us raise awareness of Rare Disease Day to highlight the continuing burden of these difficult diseases and the effect it has on patients, families and friends. As well as the exciting prospects of research here in Manchester.

An ex-military psychologist’s battle against hearing loss – Dr Dalia Tsimpida tells her story from aircraft weapon technician with the Hellenic Air Force to insightful research into barriers of hearing loss healthcare.

Postgraduate Study – If I could turn back time – With the benefit of hindsight, Chloe gave us words of PGR wisdom on what we all wish we knew at the start of our PhD journeys.

Optimising Sleep and Managing Stress – Jason provided a helpful summary of the talk by Dr Marc Milstein, giving a timely reminder of good sleep hygiene and tips for dealing with stress.

Gal, Enby or Guy: Doesn’t matter I’m Bi – Nathan talks about his experience of coming out to his family and offers hope and advice to those in a similar situation.

Love thyself – As we celebrated Valentine’s Day, Olivia reminded us of the importance of being as kind to ourselves as we so often are to others around us. 

What’s next

In the Hive Pipeline :

Tips for zapping Zoom fatigue – After almost a year under lockdown, we think we can safely say we’re all a bit ‘Zoomed’ out. With restrictions set to continue for a little while longer, Olivia offers advice for how we can navigate countless Zoom meetings without burning ourselves out.  

Negative symptoms in psychosis – Isabelle discusses what negative symptoms are and their considerable impact on patients’ quality of life.

Tips for conference posters and presentations – Nadine gives us some top advice for impressing at conferences.

International Women’s Day – A list of favourite female reads from the Division of Population Health, Health Services Research and Primary Care

In Faculty: 

“It’s all in your head” – To mark International Women’s Day on 8th March, the faculty has invited guest speaker, Dr Nicole Brown, to talk about the experience of disabled women in higher education, drawing on her research with academics with fibromyalgia. 

In the UoM:

University Mental Health Day (4th March) – Today marks UMHD, which aims to make mental health a university-wide priority. Whenever you need support or someone to turn to, remember that the university is there for all of us. Take a look at some of the support services on offer.

Sleep Awareness Week (8th – 14th March) – Have a look at this trendy infographic to learn more about the sleep cycle and how to get a better night’s sleep

Digital wellbeing workshops (5th & 17th March) – Learn about the impact our heightened use of technologies is having on us and how we can promote positive digital wellbeing 

MRC Come & See with Prof. Thomas Fleming (17th March) – MRC DTP Keynote team have invited the Emeritus Professor of Developmental Biology from the University of Southampton to give a talk on “What was your mother up to at your conception?“. Register your attendance for free here.

Book club (26th March) – This month, the club will be discussing Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Around the world: 

International Women’s Day (8th March) – A celebration of the achievements and contributions to society from inspirational women all around the world.

World Kidney Day (11th March) – This day brings global awareness to the importance of maintaining the health of one of the unsung heroes in our bodies: our kidneys. 

Earth Hour (27th March) – Join in with this climate change initiative and switch off your lights for an hour at 8:30pm local time. By taking this simple action, you’re doing your bit to contribute towards a sustainable future. 

Final words

This time last year, never could we have imagined that we were all about to be locked down, with our research abruptly disrupted and our lives changed drastically for such a long time. Suddenly we could no longer go for a mid-morning coffee with friends, enjoy a meal in a restaurant or do many of the other activities which gave such a grounding structure to our lives. We stayed at home, looked wistfully outside our windows and admired the sun providing the only semblance of normality on our daily walks. As restrictions start to ease this month, perhaps now is a good time to reflect on what this past year has taught us and what each one of us wants to take into the ‘new normal’. If there is a silver lining, it’s that the pandemic has reminded us all to slow down and to appreciate our lives and the things we may have taken for granted for. ….Talking of slowing down, be careful not to devour those Easter eggs in one go. We’re all about savouring the taste of our chocolate this year. Happy Easter!

Written by your friendly Wellbeing Sub-editors 

If you would like to contribute to any wellbeing news, as well as tips, tricks and tipples for next month’s bulletin, don’t hesitate to contact us! 

(jack.sharpen@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk and olivia.mak@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk)