Welcome to the TIRIAE Conference 2025

From the Conference Director

Dr Mark Holland - Associate TIRIAE Professor

on behalf of the planning committee

Welcome! We are so glad you could join us. If this is your first TIRIAE conference, well, you are in for a treat. For those more seasoned attendees, I assume you are back to savour another two days of everything that is good in higher education. As you can see, we have a slight name change this year, Teaching Intensive, Research Informed, Assessment Enabled, or simply put, TIRIAE.

We started planning for this year by listening to your feedback from 2024. In our call for abstracts we dispensed with set sub-themes and just asked you what you thought your peers and colleagues might want to see and hear. Our aim was to be as inclusive as possible, and we hope that is reflected in the final programme. It is important that we have some time and space to share our experiences innovations.

Planning the conference has been fun, especially meeting and working with people from across the whole university. I need to thank everyone for their help, including the student interns who filled my knowledge gaps around website design, social media and event management. Time is our most valuable commodity in life, and I was humbled when people continually gave theirs so freely to help set-up our event. This is your conference, so on behalf of the committee, our final request is purely to say please enjoy and make TIRIAE 2025 special.

Deputy Director

Dr Sarah Telfer - Associate TIRIAE Professor

Professor Patrick McGhee

Assistant Vice Chancellor (REF)

Welcome to the 2025 TIRIAE Conference!

It's with immense pleasure that I welcome you to the 2025 TIRIAE Conference, our first annual teaching and research conference as the University of Greater Manchester. Our vision as a Teaching Intensive, Research Informed, and Assessment Enabled institution is ambitious, and I'm confident that the next two days will powerfully showcase the incredible breadth and depth of our collective achievements and aspirations in delivering on that vision.

We're proud to have recently been confirmed as 1st in the North West for Teaching Quality and 1st in the region over five years for student satisfaction. These accolades are a testament to our dedication. This year, we're also thrilled to have the highest number of student conference interns ever, directly demonstrating the skills and talents of our remarkable students.

Conference Highlights

This year's conference offers a rich and diverse program:

Day one will focus on research, knowledge exchange, and applied pedagogy.
Day two will delve into "The Greater Manchester Way," exploring our commitment to a new structure and philosophy of teaching delivery.

We've always believed in fostering a collaborative environment, welcoming leading external researchers, practitioners, and leaders alongside the exceptional innovation and dedication of our own academic and professional services staff. We are particularly excited to feature several eminent keynote speakers:

Professor Christian Harrison – Professor for Leadership and Enterprise
Professor Kerri-Lee Krause – Chief Commissioner Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA)
Professor Mike Sharples – Emeritus Professor of Educational Technology at The Open University
Professor Caroline Wilkinson – Director of Forensic Research Institute (FORRI) and Director of Face Lab, Liverpool John Moores University
Professor Paul Hollins – Professor of Cultural Research Development

In addition to our inspiring keynotes, we're proud to present around 60 excellent abstract submissions from colleagues across the university. This conference promises to be a dynamic event, incorporating a selection of workshops, presentations, lightning talks, and posters.

Recognising Research Excellence: The REF Research Prize Awards

As part of the University's commitment to recognising research excellence, we are delighted to reinstate the REF Research Prize Awards scheme. Not run since Covid, this scheme is designed to celebrate the outstanding research contributions of our academic and professional support staff, aligning with our progress towards the REF2029 Research Excellence Framework assessment. It's a fantastic way to conclude the 2024-25 academic year and acknowledge a period of significant development in our REF2029 preparations.

All nominations have been rigorously reviewed by a dedicated panel. The final winners will be announced live on Tuesday, September 3rd, during the closing session of the first day of the TIRIAE conference.

The award categories include:

Early Career Researcher of the Year
Book of the Year
Research Article of the Year
Creative Output of the Year
Research Team of the Year
Research Technician of the Year
Research Support Professional of the Year
Research Mentor of the Year
Impact Case Study of the Year (Case study need not yet be complete)
Research School of the Year
Lifetime Achievement Award

A Special Thanks

My sincere gratitude goes to all the staff who have worked tirelessly to make this conference a success:

Mark Holland
Sarah Telfer
Nurun Nahar
Scott Threlfall
Sadiyya Jangharia
Elaine Catterall

In addition, I would like to thank all our TIRI Professors who collectively worked hard over the last few months to help pull this splendid event together.

A special thanks also to our invaluable Conference Interns:

Syed Fawad Hussain
Kelvin N. Agbakwuru

I wish you an enjoyable and memorable TIRIAE Conference 2025, and thank you in advance for your active engagement and valuable contributions.

Professor Patrick McGhee

Assistant Vice Chancellor (REF)

About the TIRIAE Conference

The University of Greater Manchester has strategically positioned itself as a “Teaching Intensive, Research Informed, and Assessment Enabled (TIRIAE)” University. The TIRIAE approach aims to achieve the overall excellence in teaching and student learning through the following key elements: excellent academic staff; state-of-the-art course curriculum and content design; innovative teaching delivery methods and processes; rigorous research underpinning the teaching; high quality facilities and learning environment; robust quality assurance systems and processes; and outstanding student support and experience throughout the student life cycle.

The TIRIAE Conference, is the University of Greater Manchester's annual teaching and learning conference that uniting educators, researchers, industry practitioners and academic leaders to enhance teaching through evidence-based research whilst showcasing the excellence in pedagogical practices of academic and professional services colleagues at the University of Greater Manchester. It features keynote speeches, workshops, panel discussions, and poster presentations on themes that are reflective of contemporary issues and policies impacting the higher education sector. TIRIAE emphasises translating research into practical applications to improve classroom practices and student outcomes. The conference fosters a collaborative community, promoting interdisciplinary partnerships and professional development. This annual gathering is not just about sharing knowledge; it’s about fostering a community where ideas can flourish and where we can collectively strive to enhance the educational experiences of our students.

Hear what our former presenters have to say about the TIRI conference

Dr. Chathurika Kannangara

Associate TIRIAE Professor

Bimpe Kuti-Matekenya

Programme Lead - Public Health Programmes

Dr. Mohammed Sadiq

Associate TIRIAE Professor

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