Dr Francesca Brencio PhD

• BA in Theology, Theological Institute in Assisi associated to Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis (PUL), Italy
• PhD in Philosophy and Human Sciences, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Italy
• BA (Hons. – 5 years degree course) in Philosophy, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Italy 

Selected Memberships:

• Member of the European Association of Phenomenology and Psychopathology (EAPP)
• Executive Committee Member of The Royal College of Psychiatrists Special Interest Group in Philosophy
• Member of the The Collaborating Centre for Values-based Practice at St. Catherine's College at the University of Oxford (UK)
• Member of the Philosophy of Psychiatry Educators Network as part of the International Network for Philosophy and Psychiatry.
• American Daseinsanalityc Institute
• Associazione Italiana di Psicologia Fenomenologica
• Associazione Italiana Psichiatria e Filosofia
• The British Society for Phenomenology
• The Nordic Society for Phenomenology

Dr. Francesca Brencio joined the University of Birmingham in August 2024 as Teaching Fellow in Mental Health with a full-time teaching position. Since September 2025 she is Deputy Director Undergraduate Studies (Access, Participation and Careers).

She studied Philosophy at University of Perugia (Italy), Theology at the Theological Institute in Assisi associated to Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis (Vatican City), and awarded a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Human Sciences from the University of Perugia (Italy). She was a post-doctoral researcher at the Western Sydney University (Australia) and the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (Germany).

In November 2020 she awarded the title of Associate Professor according to the Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes (ANVUR) respectively for the fields of Theoretical Philosophy, and History of Philosophy.

In March 2021 Francesca received The Seal of Excellence, awarded by the European Commission in the frame of EU Programme for Research and Innovation 2014-2020.

From September 2023 to July 2024 she was among the leading researchers of Co-production Scheme on OCD, entitled “Stuck on the puzzle. A philosophical inquiry on OCD”, as part of the broad international project entitled Renewing Phenomenological Psychopathology, funded by Wellcome Trust Grant at the University of Birmingham (UK) and led by Prof. Matthew Broome.

She spent a visiting research stay in the USA for the Winter Semester 2017 at the Hillsdale College (Michigan), Wisconsin University, and The SUNY in Buffalo. Before joining the University of Birmingham, from 2018 to 2024 Francesca was Associate Researcher in Philosophy at the Research Group “HUM018: Filosofía Aplicada: Sujeto, Sufrimiento, Sociedad” at the University of Seville (Spain).

Dr. Brencio’s work has been published in leading international venues including The British Journal of Psychiatry, Journal of Affective Disorders, Philosophy, Psychiatry & Psychology, and Phenomenology and Cognitive Sciences, and is disseminated through a portfolio of 7 authored or edited books, 1 major handbook, 3 special journal issues, and more than 30 peer-reviewed articles. Dr. Brencio has been invited to speak at over 60 international conferences, workshops, and symposia across Europe, the Americas, and Australia.

DL MSc programme in Mental Health modules:

• Research Methods in Mental Health: Qualitative Approaches and Meta-Synthesis
• Service User Involvement in Mental Health
• Biopsychosocial Approaches to Mental Health: Epidemiology and Diagnosis
• Addiction
• Dissertation Project

On campus MSc programme in Mental Health: 

• Dissertation Project

Francesca supervises Master Students and Postgraduate students in Phenomenology, Philosophy of Psychiatry, Phenomenological Psychopathology, Phenomenologically Informed Interviews and Analysis and Applied Ethics.

Currently she is supervising the following PhD students, as first supervisor:

• Joanna Swiecinska, title of the project: Islamic Psychotherapy in Work with Muslim Converts.  A phenomenological investigation
• Aleasha Nambalirwa, title of the project: Exposed child: The disclosure of HIV status in family systems. A phenomenologically informed study

Dr. Brencio’ s research work and interests lie at the intersection of phenomenological psychopathology and psychiatry, with a focus on the fundamental structures of human experience. These include perception, attention, emotion — both individual and social — affective life, and the role of the body in psychopathological states. Through her works, Dr. Brencio offers a nuanced account of the lived experience of mental health conditions, with a sustained focus on depression and schizophrenia.

Research Grants

• 2025–2026 The Birmingham Network for Phenomenology and Mental Health
  Value: £31,458 
  University of Birmingham, Interdisciplinary Research (IDR) Network+ Scheme (competitively awarded). Co-Lead with Prof. Matthew Broome (Director, Institute for Mental Health, University of Birmingham)

• 2023–2024 Enhancing Pedagogical Metacognition in Literacy Instruction
  Value: €15,000
  University of Perugia, Italy

Fellowships

• 2003–2006 Doctoral Fellowship — University of Perugia & Italian Ministry of Education (MIUR)  
  Value: €31,320  
  Project: Heidegger's interpretation of Hegel's notion of negativity

• 1995–2000 Undergraduate Fellowship — University of Perugia  |  BA Hons in Philosophy

Awards

• 2021 Seal of Excellence — European Commission (Horizon 2020)  
  Awarded for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions proposal (H2020-MSCA-IF-2020) evaluated by an independent international expert panel. The proposal achieved a score of 85% or above on all three assessment criteria (Excellence, Impact, Quality & Efficiency) — a threshold reached by fewer than 8% of applicants — and was formally recommended for funding by alternative sources.

• 2006 Special Prize for PhD Thesis - Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici di Napoli & Collegio
  Siciliano di Filosofia

• 2001 Special Prize for Bachelor's Thesis  Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici di Napoli &
  Collegio Siciliano di Filosofia

Involvement and participation in other research projects:

• 2020
  COVID-19 Pandemic Effects on Mental Health  
  Freiburg University Hospital (Germany), Department of Psychosomatic Medicine  
  Study registered: German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00021395

• 2018– to date         
  Research Group: Filosofía Aplicada: Sujeto, Sufrimiento, Sociedad Andalusian Research Plan — University of Seville, Faculty of Philosophy (Code: PADI-HUM-028)

• 2023–2024            
  OCD: A Philosophical Exploration  
  Wellcome Trust Grant — Co-Production Scheme             
  University of Birmingham | P.I.:  Prof. Matthew Broome
  https://stuckonthepuzzleproject.blogspot.com/   

• 2024–2025            
  Phenomenological Interviews into Post-Stroke Patients' Conscious Proprioception | Centro di Riabilitazione Neurocognitiva Villa Miari, Santorso, Italy

Professional services

Among her academic services, Dr. Brencio serves as Editorial Board member of the following journals and book series

• The Humanistic Psychologist, publication of American Psychological Association Division 32 (February 2023 - to date)
• Studies in Existentialism, Hermeneutics, and Phenomenology, Brill (book series, 2023– to date
• Heidegger Studies (2017- to date)
• Differenz. Revista Internacional de estudios heideggerianos y sus derivas, Universidad de Sevilla (Spain) (2015- to date)

She also serves as reviewer for the following research centres:

• Institute for Advanced Study, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany
• Research Council, Université Catholique de Louvain (KU Louvain), Belgium