Scottish Student Mental Health Research Network (ScotSMART)

ScotSMART is a research network for student mental health in Scotland. It seeks to bring together academics, professional services, practitioners, and other student mental health research stakeholders to address a broad range of topics and facilitate knowledge exchange across the Scottish Higher Education sector, covering themes including mental health, stigma around mental health, identity, loneliness, and social relationships.

Based at the University of Edinburgh, the network includes researchers from the University of Edinburgh, the University of Glasgow and the University of Strathclyde, as well as a professional and a student advisory group. 

The main aims of ScotSMART are:  

• To understand the unique challenges and opportunities of the Scottish higher educational environment and its resulting impact on student mental health.   

• To create a bespoke evidence base to identify ways to promote mental health and wellbeing initiatives, and create avenues of support for all (academic staff and students alike).  

• To improve the quality and impact of student mental health research across Scottish higher education institutions.  

• To enhance and foster a collaborative environment which embraces key stakeholders and leads to impact on policy and practice.