In March 2025, the Public Squares Initiative launched its Postdoctoral Fellowship with support from the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation, and Internationalisation. The fellowship is designed to embed early-career researchers within collaborative and engaged research spaces such as the Public Squares where they can both contribute to and shape emerging research agendas. 

“The idea for establishing a fellowship emerged from seeing how quickly our teams were generating new ideas, collaborations, and proposals, and recognising the need for dedicated capacity to sustain that momentum” explains Dr Astrid Treffry-Goatley, Project Manager for the Public Squares. 

The aim of the fellowship is not only strong academic outputs, but also the skills to work across disciplines and with societal partners. It also seeks to strengthen the initiative’s ability to translate research into sustainable and impactful change. 

In this two-part series, we introduce our fellows as they share more about their projects, research journey and what brings them enjoyment and relaxation.

Dr. Saskia Hanft-Robert is a psychologist, psychodynamic psychotherapist in training, and postdoctoral research fellow with a strong interest in global mental health issues. She is a Postdoc Research Fellow within the Social & Environmental Determinants of Health (SEDOH) Public Square, led by Prof. Lynn Hendricks.

What motivated you to apply for the Public Squares Postdoctoral Fellowship, and how does it align with your research interests? 

I have always been interested and motivated to study, live, and learn across different countries and contexts. During the final phase of my PhD in Germany, I was searching for postdoctoral opportunities and met Gabriela Carolus from Stellenbosch University during her visit to Hamburg. Through our conversation, I learned about Prof. Lynn Hendrick’s Co-Create Research Equity for Health Hub and the Public Squares Postdoctoral Fellowship, whose strong emphasis on inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration, co-creation, and community engagement immediately resonated with me.

I strongly believe that addressing complex health challenges, particularly in mental health, requires approaches that work collaboratively across disciplines and with the people our research is about. My previous research focused on migration, language barriers, and diversity and equity in mental health care, and I have become increasingly interested in how social and environmental determinants impact our mental health. Thus, I am very happy to be part of the Social and Environmental Determinants of Health (SEDOH) Public Square. 

Could you describe your current research project and explain why this research is important right now? What key questions/problems does your project address?

The current research project explores how young mxn living in low-resource settings in South Africa understand and experience their mental health. In particular, it examines their help-seeking pathways, as well as the available resources and barriers they encounter when accessing care. These include environmental factors, interpersonal dynamics, and intrapersonal aspects (such as availability of services and safe spaces, social support, coping strategies, beliefs about mental health and stigma). 

In addition, the project investigates the potential of nature-based social prescribing, meaning structured activities in natural environments, such as walking, gardening, or stargazing, as an accessible, relevant and suitable approach to supporting mental well-being among young mxn in low-resource contexts.

What has your academic journey been like leading up to this fellowship and are there key moments or influences that have shaped your work? 

I began my PhD in November 2019 at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany, where I focused on language barriers and equity in mental health care. Alongside my doctoral work, I was involved in several national and international research projects and co-founded a research group on diversity and equity in mental health care, which aims to bring together researchers working on questions of inclusion, discrimination, and structural inequalities in health systems. 

A particularly formative experience was my role as project coordinator of the international MiM2M project (“Multilingualism in providing quality mental health care to migrants”), which brought together research teams from five different countries. This was my first time coordinating a large, international project. It required not only scientific coordination but also navigating diverse cultural, institutional, and disciplinary perspectives. This time significantly shaped both my academic and professional development. 

The ethos of the Public Squares Initiative is to advance collaborative and engaged research, involving key stakeholders such as community members, policymakers, etc. in the research process. How does your research reflect this? 

My research is grounded in a collaborative and participatory approach. I view knowledge production as a co-creative process, working with community members, local organisations, and practitioners. In our project, we will conduct participatory workshops and qualitative interviews, and use co-design processes to explore mental health, help-seeking pathways, resources and barriers, and the potential of nature-based activities to support mental health. We also engage with broader stakeholders to ensure the research is relevant, accessible, and fits within or complements existing systems. 

What has been the most rewarding and challenging part of your fellowship so far? 

The most challenging and at the same time most rewarding part of my fellowship has been navigating the many layers of change that came with it. Moving to South Africa meant not only leaving my home country but also stepping out of an academic and healthcare system I was familiar with, into a new context with different structures, resources, and ways of working. This required a great deal of flexibility, openness, curiosity, and continuous learning, both professionally and personally. While the process was sometimes not easy to navigate, it has been incredibly enriching. I was pushed to reflect on and rethink my approaches, beliefs and assumptions and to engage more deeply with the context and people around me. 

How do you hope your research will contribute to public discourse/policy, and what impact do you see for it beyond academia? 

I hope the research will contribute to public discourse and policy by shedding light on a group that has often been overlooked in mental health research and by highlighting the structural and contextual factors that shape mental health and access to care. Moreover, by exploring the potential of nature-based social prescribing to improve well-being, we aim to co-develop interventions that complement existing mental health care approaches, particularly in contexts where formal services may be limited.

How has being part of the Public Squares community shaped your thinking around research and its impact? 

Being part of the Public Squares community has deepened my appreciation for interdisciplinary collaboration, the value of working in diverse teams, and engaging in open and thoughtful conversations and exchanges with colleagues. 

What do you enjoy doing outside of your research? 

Alongside my academic work, I am also a psychologist in training to become a psychotherapist. Working with clients provides a good balance to my academic life. 

Outside of my research and clinical work, I enjoy staying active and creative. I used to play handball for more than 15 years, and I still do CrossFit, which helps me clear my mind. I also have a strong interest in interior design and enjoy creating and shaping spaces. I love working with different materials and building things myself, whether through pottery or woodworking. I am quite passionate about plants and love gardening to slow down. In quieter moments, I enjoy reading and unwinding. 

Is there a fun fact about you that not many people know?

According to my dear colleagues, I am great at admin and sending out Outlook calendar invites