Dr Nilihan Sanal-Hayes
School of Health & Society
Current positions
Lecturer in Psychology
Biography
Dr Nilihan Sanal-Hayes is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Salford. She is a Chartered Psychologist and a member of the British Psychological Society’s Division of Health Psychology. She is the co-chair of the BRC/UoM Fatigue and Cognitive Group and serves as an Early Career Editorial Board Member for Healthcare (MDPI). Nilihan has several years of experience teaching and supervising students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
She completed her PhD in Developmental Psychology at Lancaster University in 2019, specialising in object knowledge. Prior to this, she earned a Master’s degree in Research Methods in Psychology from Swansea University, gaining extensive expertise in research design and mixed-methods analysis. She also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education from the University of Salford.
Nilihan serves as the co-lead for Careers and Employability within the Psychology Department and is the UKRN Open Science Local Network co-lead. Her teaching spans both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. At undergraduate level, she is currently the module lead for Level 5 Research and Professional Skills II and supervises dissertation students across undergraduate, master’s, and PhD levels.
Nilihan is passionate about research-informed teaching. Her research interests include chronic disease management particularly fatigue-related conditions, digital health, cognitive and physical wellbeing, psychological wellbeing, digital interventions, pain and fatigue management strategies, and comorbid chronic conditions.
Areas of Research
Chronic disease management particularly fatigue-related conditions, digital health, cognitive and physical wellbeing, psychological wellbeing, digital interventions, pain and fatigue management strategies, and comorbid chronic conditions.
Areas of Supervision
Chronic disease management particularly fatigue-related conditions, digital health, cognitive and physical wellbeing, psychological wellbeing, digital interventions, pain and fatigue management strategies, and comorbid chronic conditions.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are interested in undertaking a PhD in any of the above areas or have a proposal relating to a topic within health psychology.
Modules I currently teach on:
Atypical Child Development Level 6
Developmental Psychology Level 5
Introduction to Individual Differences Level 4
The Science of Psychology Level 4
Further Research Methods Level 5
Introduction to Developmental Psychology & Social Psychology Level 4
Research Methods in Psychology Level 7
Dissertation supervision Level 6
Introduction to Research Methods Level 4
Master dissertation supervision Level 7
Core modules L4
Skills I module L4
ML Skills II L5
Qualifications
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PhD in Psychology
2016 - 2019 -
MSc in Research Methods in Psychology
2012 - 2013 -
BSc in Psychology
2009 - 2012