Education/Academic qualification

Dr. Fardus Sultan is a Lecturer and Programme Chair for Digital Marketing in the School of Marketing & Entrepreneurship at TU Dublin.

Her research interests focus on the intersection of digital marketing, cyberpsychology, and youth media literacy, particularly examining how young people understand and interact with social media content creators and influencers. Her doctoral research explored "Digital Playgrounds: Irish tweens' media literacies in the context of social media content creators," investigating the complex relationships between social media algorithms, family and peer influences, and young consumers' purchasing behaviours.

Fardus has experience in teaching various modules in Digital Marketing and Advertising, such as Interactive Marketing, Web and App Design Optimisation, Intro to IT, Social Media and Apps, Graphic Design, as well as managing students Work Placement/Capstone project, and serves as International Liaison Marketing Lecturer with Pharos University in Alexandria.

She manages six digital marketing programmes ranging from Level 6 certificates to Level 8 degrees, including both full-time and part-time offerings, achieving a 100% placement rate for fourth-year students through her extensive industry network.

Her dedication to academic work was recognised early in her career when she received 'Student of the Year' for her MSc in Cyberpsychology and achieved her PhD with the highest mark, passing with no corrections.

Her expertise extends beyond academia through her role as Co-founder and Managing Director of FarendNet Ltd, where she has provided IT and digital marketing solutions since 2008.

This dual academic-practitioner perspective enriches her teaching and research, keeping her at the forefront of digital marketing innovation and emerging technologies. She regularly integrates real-world case studies, live digital campaigns, and emerging technologies including AI and AR into her teaching, enhancing curriculum relevance and student employability.

Her research has been presented at prestigious international conferences including the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), the British Psychological Society Cyberpsychology Conference, and the All-Ireland Student Psychological Congress where she was invited as a keynote speaker. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and contributed to academic textbooks, including a chapter in "An Introduction to Cyberpsychology" (2nd ed., Routledge). Her work has also been featured in public engagement platforms such as RTÉ Brainstorm, demonstrating her commitment to translating academic research for broader societal impact.

Fardus maintains active professional memberships with Media Literacy Ireland (as a working group member), the Psychological Society of Ireland and its Special Interest Group in Media, the Arts, and Cyberpsychology (SIGMAC) where she serves as a committee member and social media officer, the Marketing Institute of Ireland, and Women in Technology and Science (WITS). Since 2019, she has served as an academic judge for the Global Undergraduate Awards in Business and Media categories, demonstrating her expertise in evaluating student excellence at an international level.

Her commitment to academic service extends beyond TU Dublin, having served as an external academic expert for programme validations at IADT and as an internal expert for TU Dublin's MSc in International Strategic Accountancy. She has also contributed to national educational policy through consultations with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) regarding primary education curriculum development.

Fardus is actively engaged in community leadership and social inclusion initiatives. She serves on the DLR County Council's Economic Development and Enterprise Strategic Policy Committee and is a co-founder of Sisters of Faith for Peace. Her commitment to diversity and inclusion is further demonstrated through her board memberships with the Muslim Primary Education Board and her previous roles with The Glencree Centre for Peace & Reconciliation and Southside Partnership.