“Health at School” Project: the first courses dedicated to the psychophysical well-being of Students launched at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies

The activities of the Health at School project continue — the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies’ implementation of the national Health Mode On consortium’s initiatives, coordinated by the University of Pavia and funded by the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR) through the PROBEN programme.
Scientifically coordinated by Prof. Michele Emdin, the project involves a group of faculty members and researchers from the Health Science Center, together with undergraduate and PhD students of the School, through their representative bodies and working groups dedicated to promoting psychophysical well-being and mental health.
In September and October, the initiative “Back to Health at School” was launched, featuring four free extracurricular courses:
Yoga, led by Philip Murdoch from the Slow Yoga Association of Pisa;
Mindfulness, conducted by psychologist Marco Marotta;
Train the Brain – Managing Emotions, organized by psychologist Anna Luce Damone;
Healthy Nutrition, taught by Dr. Martina Chiriacò, specialist in Internal Medicine and Nutrition.
A distinctive feature of the project is the active involvement of students, who took part in selecting the topics, promoting the initiative, and organizing the activities. This participatory approach helps build a more aware and health-conscious community, integrating the promotion of well-being into the daily life and spaces of the School.
The Health at School activities will continue throughout the 2025/2026 academic year. On October 13 and 14, the School took part in the forum “Health Mode On: Promoting Well-being in the Academic Community” held in Pavia — a national discussion on well-being in universities, with the participation of students, faculty, and institutional representatives.
In the coming weeks, a survey will also be launched to map the lifestyle and well-being of undergraduate and PhD students, with a specific focus on the role of the digital world in health. At the same time, the testing phase of the Health at School App will begin, developed to support the Sant’Anna student community in making healthy choices and managing everyday well-being.