A university technician has made the recently-announced shortlist for the UK’s only award ceremony dedicated to celebrating technical excellence and innovation in higher education and research.

Elaine Watts, Cartographic Unit Manager in Faculty of Social Sciences, has been shortlisted in this year’s awards in the Contribution to Knowledge Exchange category.

She joins 62 technicians from across the UK who have been shortlisted for an acclaimed Papin Prize across ten categories, with a brand new knowledge exchange prize introduced for the 2023 awards.

A record-breaking 357 individuals and teams were nominated for this year’s prestigious awards which will be presented at the biannual Higher Education Technicians Summit (HETS) 2023 on Tuesday 4 July at the University of Warwick.

Dr Kelly Vere MBE, Project Lead for MI TALENT and Technical Skills Development Manager at the university said: “The Papin Prizes have fast become one of the most highly regarded awards for technicians in our sector, highlighted by the record-breaking number of nominations received this year, all of which were an incredibly high standard.

“Many congratulations to all individuals and teams who have been nominated and thank you to the colleagues who nominated outstanding technicians and have helped to raise the profile and status of technicians within the sector.”

For the first time, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has partnered with HETS and the acclaimed Papin Prizes.

Frances Burstow, Director for Talent and Skills at UKRI said: “The Papin Prizes are the only awards wholly dedicated to celebrating the varied role of technicians and the valuable work they do to support teaching and research across all levels and disciplines.

Marking the achievements and impact of this valuable community will help to create a more inclusive and dynamic research community.”