Around a third of university students report feeling lonely. Loneliness is, by definition, a negative experience in itself but it has also been identified as a main cause of mental ill-health in students. As such, loneliness in university students is a major concern. Attempts to address loneliness are hampered by insufficient conceptual understanding and a lack of relevant research tools. We aim to address these gaps.

Students often describe belonging as the opposite of loneliness. We will test whether a sense of belonging helps us understand loneliness. Social identity influences our sense of belonging and we am to understand the broad diversity of student experience and how this shapes differences in the experience of loneliness.

There are many reasons why university students may feel lonely. We will work with students across the project to make co-creation a priority, and our work will be informed by the perspectives of young people. We aim to make it easier to measure loneliness sensitively, developing new tools to analyse the links between loneliness, social connection, sense of belong and expectations thereof.