Dr Barda joined Manchester University in January 2020 after being a Junior Research Fellow in French Studies at Murray Edwards College (Cambridge). In October 2020, he was awarded the Manchester Humanities Outstanding Teaching Award.

He is the author of Experimentation and the Lyric in Contemporary French Poetry (Palgrave, 2019),  the co-editor with Daniel Finch-Race of Textures: Processus et événements dans la création poétique moderne et contemporaine (Peter Lang, 2015) and with Philippe Charron of a special volume of essays on Pierre Alferi: une pratique monstre (Presses du Réel, 2023). He has recently published articles on Christophe Tarkos, Michèle Métail, Anne-James Chaton, Franck Leibovici, Jacques-Henri Michot, Julien Prévieux, Christophe Hanna and many others; on the relationship between media and contemporary literature, and the history of the avant-gardes.  He also co-edited with Eric Lynch a special issue on ‘Poetic Practice and the Public’ for L’Esprit Créateur (Spring 2022).

In October 2021, Dr Barda was awarded the Literary Encyclopedia Book Prize in the category 'Literature in languages other than English' for Experimentation and the Lyric in Contemporary French Poetry (Palgrave, 2019).

Before joining Manchester University, he studied at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon and at Trinity College (Cambridge). He also taught at Charles’ University of Prague, King's College London, Cardiff University and Cambridge University.