How the Wolfson Summer School 25 strengthened my interest in digital interventions for youth mental health

Pelin Koyuncu is a master’s graduate in Psychology from Switzerland. In this blog, Pelin shares her experience on attending #WolfsonSummer25 and how it strengthened her interest in using gamification as an intervention mechanism.

I applied to the Wolfson Summer School with the motivation to learn more about the current research landscape in youth mental health from professionals both active in academia and in clinical practice. One of my goals was to exchange knowledge and experiences with other attendees from similar backgrounds. The approval of my application made me happy and excited to join a summer school with a topic of big relevance – and all this conveniently online.

I spent three great days where I was able to gain an insight into trends, challenges, and future aspirations in youth mental health. I appreciated the diverse program and benefitted a lot from lectures on topics I had missed throughout my studies, such as genetics and policy. Having had experience in serious game design before, I was especially happy to have insights into digital interventions, as I could connect both experiences together. Additionally, my soon to start PhD will be focusing on looking at the efficacy of a digital intervention and I am looking forward to using those valuable insights for my future work.

The program included interactive sessions alongside lectures, which made the summer school very dynamic. I experienced the interaction between attendees, lecturers, and organisers as respectful and very engaging. The networking session allowed me to talk to some participants and exchange on personal thoughts and experiences. From Brazil to Nepal – it was interesting to see where people were participating from and what knowledge and expertise, they brought with them to share with us all.

My participation made me realise that we all have one mission: to understand, improve and support youth mental health – wherever we are. It was genuinely great and inspirational to see that so many people were caring for youth and their wellbeing.

I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in this summer school where I can say I accomplished my personal goal of expanding my knowledge and skills. I would highly recommend everyone who wants to learn more about youth mental health research to participate!

You can connect with Pelin via LinkedIn

Join us in 2026:

Are you interested in joining us for the Wolfson Summer School 2026? Applications will open in March 2026, and we would love to hear from you.

You can sign up for our mailing list to keep up to date with all the opportunities the Centre has to offer, and keep an eye on our social media channels to know more about #WolfsonSummer26