Details

Research: PEAK – Mood, Mind and Marks

A 12‑week pilot study at Monash University tested “PEAK – Mood, Mind, and Marks”, a neuroscience-backed exercise program co-designed with students to boost mental and cognitive health. Nearly half of participants reached the goal of exercising greater than three times per week. More importantly, students (notably those previously inactive) saw lower sedentary time, enhanced well‑being, less loneliness, and better concentration, memory, and productivity. Although self-reported exercise activity was inconsistent, the social connection and belief in the program’s academic relevance helped drive these improvements.

This study shows that a well-designed, behaviour‑change and evidence‑aligned exercise initiative can improve students’ mental resilience, cognitive performance, and campus belonging, even before perfecting activity tracking.

Citation: Brown, H., Demarco, L., Clarke, E. J. R., et.al. PEAK Mood, Mind, and Marks: A neuroscience-informed exercise program to enhance student mental health, cognition, and academic performance in higher education. Frontiers in Psychiatry, Volume 15, 2024. (link)

More Articles in Healthy Campus Projects

Research: Alcohol and Sexual Risk-Taking on Campus

Harmful alcohol use among university students can intersect with other behaviours that increase health risks, including sexual risk-taking. Led by the University of Southern Queensland, researchers analysed data from 3,325 sexually active students studying at Australian universities to examine patterns of alcohol use and sexual risk-taking among Australian-born domestic, overseas-born domestic and international students. Australian-born […]

Research: Food Insecurity Is Also a Mental Health Issue

Food insecurity is an increasing concern for university students, with potential consequences extending beyond nutrition to mental health and eating behaviours. Researchers from the University of Wollongong and collaborating institutions surveyed 348 Australian university students to examine relationships between food insecurity, psychological distress and disordered eating risk. Almost two-thirds (63%) experienced some level of food […]

FISU Healthy Campus Program Signatories

Keep up to date

Interested in Healthy Campus Content? Sign up to our exclusive mailer.

Join the community

Stay up to date with Healthy Campus news from Australia and around the world.
UniSport acknowledges and pays respect to all traditional custodians of the lands of which we run, jump and throw throughout Australia. We pay respect to elders both past, present and emerging.
Copyright © 2026 UniSport. All Rights Reserved.