Research celebrated at Institute of Sport Physical Activity and Leisure conference

The full-day event held at the Carnegie Pavilion was designed to showcase the research and achievements of ISPAL and included a selection of seminars, workshops and networking sessions.

Director of ISPAL and Associate Dean of the Carnegie Faculty, Professor Carlton Cooke, who opened the conference, commented: "This was a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase the breadth and quality of the work being undertaken across ISPAL's five research centres.

Attendees heard about the variety of our research in sport, physical activity, leisure, events, tourism and hospitality. There was also a series of tailored workshops targeted at staff and students at different stages of research development."

ISPAL delivers international research excellence through its five University Research Centres that focus on: Active Lifestyles; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Events, Tourism and Hospitality; Sport Coaching and Physical Education; and Sports Performance.

Professor Andrew Sparkes gave the day's keynote on the subject of 'Connecting the biological with the social in sport, physical activity and leisure'.

In addition, research career development workshops were led by Dr Xavier Font, Dr Hayley Fitzgerald and Professor Cooke, while further sessions were held on topics including: 'The PhD student journey'; 'How to get published; Research ethics'; 'Responding to the challenge of impact in sport, physical activity and leisure research' and 'Examining research awards'.

Research Officer Samantha Armitage, who organised the event, added: "Both postgraduate research and masters students attended the conference alongside staff. The Institute is such a large group that the event was a key opportunity to bring colleagues and students together to network and learn about the scope of research being undertaken across the five research centres."