The SMaRteN Student Cohorts website has been launched!
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• The project will establish cross-sector standardisation and comparability for longitudinal student wellbeing research across UK universities.
• Researchers from UK universities can receive a Cohort Starter Kit and practical guidance to setup their own cohort study.
• Student involvement will underpin this work.

There is limited robust data about mental health and wellbeing of university students. We don’t know what are the rates of mental health problems, what are the risk and protective factors, and what are the best strategies to intervene, to prevent, to detect difficulties, and to provide support. Longitudinal cohort studies are becoming a popular research design and UK universities are beginning to take advantage of this method to tackle the problem of wellbeing among the student population. If implemented effectively, cohorts allow us to efficiently follow up a population over time, to understand changes in wellbeing, to link with external data sources, and to embed trials within the cohort for rapid evaluation. 

​​​Dr Michael Fay, Lecturer in Law, Keele University (m.fay@keele.ac.uk) 
& Dr Yvonne Skipper, Lecturer in Psychology, Keele University (y.skipper@keele.ac.uk)