University of Salford Postgraduate Annual Research Conference (SPARC) a huge success!

Taking place on Wednesday 29 June and Thursday 30 June at our MediaCity campus and online, the free conference was open to staff, students and the public, and was a great opportunity for the University to celebrate the fantastic work of our postgraduate research students. 

SPARC is a forum for developing research, offering a space for postgraduate researchers from all disciplines to exchange ideas. Taking part enabled attendees to actively engage with our postgraduate research community and see what they have been working on. 

Professor Karl Dayson, Pro Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise at the University, said: "I was delighted to attend our first in-person SPARC conference since 2019, and celebrate our postgraduate research community. A big thank you to all colleagues who were involved in planning and organising both days of the conference, it was a fantastic event.   
  
“I would also like to congratulate the winner of the Supervisor of the Year Award, Dr Chris Murphy from Salford School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology, and all of the academics who were nominated. Our Supervisors play a pivotal role and have a lasting impact on our PhD students, so it’s vital that they get the recognition and appreciation that they deserve.” 

This year’s conference featured over 60 researchers presenting several talks and interactive workshops for participants to get involved with, and two keynote speakers – Professor Turi King and Dr Cristina Vasilica.  

Across the two days, attendees heard several talks, presentations and exciting panels, networked with likeminded individuals and even claimed a free ice cream! A key moment for our academics was the Supervisor of the Year award which was announced at the end of the first day - a huge congratulations to Dr Chris Murphy from Salford School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology who is this year's winner. 

Chris said: "I'm delighted to have won! Supervising PhD students is a really rewarding part of the job, as you watch someone with a passion for a subject become a world-leading expert in it. It's not something that's talked about much, really, so it was lovely to see so many supervisors nominated by their students - we must all be doing something right! 

"I still don't know which of my students nominated me, as none of them will fess up to it - but thank you, whoever you are!"