Asper School research was on display at 2 Minutes 2 Slides, presented as a part of Hickson Research Day.
Weeks…months…maybe years of research. No matter how far you are, you’ve got 2 minutes and 2 slides.
On May 1, 2026, 2 Minutes 2 Slides was a part of the Asper School of Business’ Hickson Research Day—a day that has celebrated business research at Asper since 2010.
As the Asper School hosts faculty and graduate students spanning four departments and the Warren Centre for Actuarial Studies and Research, it can often be hard to know everyone’s research.
Hickson Research Day, created in commemoration of the late Dr. Allister Hickson, honours collegiality and interest in the research of others. It is meant as a chance to share recent results, tease upcoming projects, and keep everyone informed. It is also a chance for colleagues to think about future collaborations and interdisciplinary projects.
“Business research is for everyone,” said Mary Margaret Licharson, Senior Lead, Research Facilitation & Mobilization.
“Because the presentations are so short, the audience gets a perfectly distilled explanation of what the project did and why it's so interesting. And what our researchers do so deftly in just two minutes is translate their niche expertise into a story everyone can get excited about,” she said.
Presenters covered a range of topics across research areas in business administration, marketing, accounting and finance, supply chain, and more.
The ideas were rapid-fire. Shi-Yik Au discussed fund managers’ decision-making after natural disasters. Niki Khorasani shared the quote “hope is a rope,” as she shared upcoming research on the role of hope in business settings.
Paul Larson asked if neurodivergent people can create competitive advantages in the supply chain. Among the many diverse minutes during the event, even one of them was a silent one, as Wenxi Pu led a 60-second silent meditation to illustrate mindfulness.
The groundbreaking ideas continued, including from Asper PhD students. Mickey Liu: how LGBTQ+ couples in advertising has positively changed perceptions. Mohammad Motevasseli: the dark side of charisma. Fateme Hardani Pour: perceptions of human YouTube creators versus AI-generated ones. We can go all day.
Hickson Research Day is not just a day to celebrate the impressive business research happening in the walls of the Drake Centre, but also some of the first steps in a larger initiative to share the research with communities that can apply the research in the real world.
“Sharing research is a way of giving back to our community. As Manitoba’s only research-intensive business school, it is important that Asper School research makes it to desks across industries in an accessible and actionable form,” said Suzanne Gagnon, Associate Dean Research and Graduate Research Programs at the Asper School.
Keep an eye out for research by Asper professors in The Conversation, which shares important insights in bite-size, readable articles. Recently featured was Asper Associate Professor and Director of Sustainability, Minelle Silva. Read it here!
For nearly 150 years, UM has transformed lives through groundbreaking research and homegrown innovation. We push the boundaries of knowledge and do the hard work here in Manitoba to move our community and the world forward. With a spirit of determination and discovery, we are shaping a better future for our province and beyond.
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