Balancing mental health, care and research work in Astronomy and Space Science

Nowadays researchers face many challenges in maintaining mental well-being and work-life balance within highly competitive academic environments, particularly in Astronomy and Space Science. As part of an interdisciplinary research project of the Parthenope University (PI E. D’Avino) and further in collaboration with astronomers from around the world gathered in occasion of the EAS annual meeting 2025, we tackled several of these issues from a variety of perspectives – philosophical, social science and practical experiences – featuring contributions from experts in funding and hiring committees as well as researchers actively engaged in these topics, in order to discuss and explore best practices for our community. These include: 1) discussing the impact of stress, burnout, precariousness, and mental health issues in research, and explore strategies to foster a healthier, more sustainable approach to academic work; 2) examining effective practices that help researchers maintain a fulfilling work-life balance, ensuring personal well-being while meeting professional tasks, ambitions, and expectations; 3) highlighting how caregiving responsibilities, especially those linked to parenthood, disproportionately affect women and contribute to the gender gap in research, investigating policy changes, institutional support, and cultural shifts necessary to mitigate these inequalities; 4) exploring how academic institutions and research organizations can cultivate environments that support diverse personal circumstances, ultimately fostering a more inclusive and productive research culture; and 5) discussing the challenges, disparities and inequalities researchers face in accessing large-scale astronomical data, tools, and resources, how these can affect researchers' ability to contribute to the field, and strategies for democratizing access to data and fostering a more inclusive global research community.