Announcing our first PhD and ECR Research Day and CFP

 The Birmingham Network for Phenomenology and Mental Health

Call for Papers: Exploring lived experiences in mental health

Launch event for PhD Students and Early Career Researchers based in and around the Midlands

September 3rd, 2025
Venue: The Studio, 7 Cannon St. B2 5EP
Birmingham (UK)

Theme and Scope

The Birmingham Network for Phenomenology and Mental Health is pleased to launch the first workshop designed for PhD students and Early Career Researchers based in and around the Midlands, exploring the intersections between phenomenology and mental health. This interdisciplinary call seeks to foster innovative research that bridges these two domains, encouraging fresh perspectives from emerging scholars who are shaping the future of these fields. This workshop also aims to provide a supportive and nurturing environment where presenters can receive feedback and mentorship from members of our network.

We welcome theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions addressing (but not limited to):

• First-person accounts of mental health conditions

• Digital mental health interventions and user experience

• The role of narrative in mental health recovery

• Stigma, identity, and lived experience

• Virtual reality and embodied experience

• Metaphor, meaning, and mental health discourse

• Computational linguistics and phenomenological descriptions of mental ill health

• Cross-cultural perspectives on language and experience

• Mixed methods combining phenomenology and artificial intelligence

• Experiences of epistemic injustice in mental health care

• Novel applications of phenomenological philosophy to mental health research or care

Submission Guidelines

We invite PhD students and ECRs (3 years post-PhD) to sign up to present by filling out this form which includes a bio as well short description of your proposed presentation (up to 250 words).

The deadline to sign up is August 15th. Confirmations of slots for oral presentations will be communicated by August 20th. More details on attending the workshop to follow.

We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in academic publishing. We particularly encourage submissions from PG and researchers with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, including those from underrepresented groups in academia.