Category: Salford Advantage Fund

Rachael Magwaza, a lecturer in our School of Science Engineering & Environment (SEE), secured funding through the Salford Advantage Fund last year. The impressive project was to engage ‘SEE PGT cohorts in tailored training to connect and motivate pre-16 pupils from selected Greater Manchester inner-city schools.’

The programme began with a workshop which involved specialists from Johnson Matthey and Pharmakure discussing STEM career paths with our Postgraduate Taught (PGT) students. The specialists conducted workshops centred on careers plans, CVs and cover letters which enhanced the self-confidence of PGT students.

The students were able to attend the ELRIG drug discovery conference in Liverpool in 2023, this provided enriching experiences that fostered their academic and professional growth.

What was the impact of the project?

The purpose of the project was to ‘equip PGT students with language, public speaking, and leadership skills, promoting cultural integration, self-confidence, belonging, and employability’. Then, in turn, school pupils were able to gain early exposure to STEM-related careers and access to inspiring role models.

The project aimed to reach out to schools in communities with low participation neighbourhoods to stimulate interest in STEM careers. Rachael arranged a visit to the Albion Academy in Salford. The visit concluded with a STEM showcase event, featuring scientific speeches by postgraduate students and an array of interactive scientific tasks. Many pupils were unaware of the existence of STEM career opportunities besides ‘being a science teacher’ said by Mrs Elli Scott, Head of Science at the Albion Academy. After interacting with our PGT students, a considerable number of pupils acquired a newfound understanding of STEM careers, one pupil saying, ‘The workshop helped in preparing me to start thinking about my career aspirations’.Students displayed a heightened curiosity for STEM and associated careers, ‘I am now considering STEM careers when I finish school’. As a result, pupils now perceived these careers as accessible to them, having relatable figures as role models positively influenced their perspective about STEM careers.

This project had a profound influence on the public speaking and leadership abilities of the postgraduate students which is evidenced by these quotes from participating PGT students.

‘The project has inspired me to become a mentor, educator, or advocate for STEM fields’.

‘The project has helped solidified my interest in future STEM public speaking engagement’.

‘One thing I look forward to in the future is to collaborate with more high schools for this type of interaction with students’.

Thank you to alumni, friends, and supporters who made this project possible.

Our supporters’ donations make a big difference to what we can achieve. For further information on how you can support our students and read about the causes you can support, please visit our Salford Giving web page.

One of the fund recipients for 2023 / 2024 was awarded to Oli Hurst, who is the company director for Red Brick theatre company. Red Brick is a group of University of Salford graduates from the Theatre and Performance Practice degree. Red Brick were commissioned through the Salford Advantage fund to direct students and recent graduates in a two-night gig at The New Adelphi Theatre.

Since graduating in 2021, Oli has been working with the Young Vic as a member of their Fresh Directions 2023/24 cohort. As part of this programme, he will be part of the team developing and directing a new play Bad Moult (Winner of the Cambridge Creatives Playwrighting Award) by Robin Cantwell.

In addition to this, Oli is currently Assistant Directing David Thacker in a revival of David Mamet’s American Buffalo. His recent work also includes the first professional UK revival of Simon Stephens’ Pornography and he’s about to start directing The BBC’s First Homosexual as part of BBC100 celebrations, for a national tour.

The project started with some introductory workshops which allowed students to understand the project, learn about the process; from workshops, auditioning and then rehearsing for the shows. Students had to audition for the performances and received some mock audition training to help ease them into the process.

Once the cast was formed, rehearsals began! Students from Technical Theatre were also included and supported the production, from lighting and sound, so simple set management.

One of the Level 5, Theatre and Performance Practice students, Lucy Ryan, has said, ‘I really enjoyed “Brick by Brick” it was a really useful experience to work with Oli and Tilly. They were both brilliant, I really liked their way of working, such as ‘mining the text’,  their dynamic ways of playing with scenes, and their use of fun warmup activities in the workshops. The talks on working in the industry were also really helpful, particularly the tips they offered. This experience was so helpful’.

An unforeseen plus on this project was that we were also working with a 23-24 graduate scholar, and she was able to support the performance as part of her own scholarship project, which is another great way to get our current students thinking about all the opportunities open to them post graduating.

Thank you to alumni, friends, and supporters who made this project possible.