The university joins its partners in Midlands Innovation committing to implement recommendations from a national policy commission that will strengthen the future of technical skills and staff in higher education and research.

The TALENT Commission report was published in February 2022 and has generated new strategic insights into the skills, roles and careers of the UK’s technical talent and vision for the future of the sector.

It outlines 16 overarching recommendations for employers, funders, government, policymakers, professional bodies, learned societies and technicians to collectively ensure that the UK has the technical skills, roles and careers required across academia, research, education and innovation.

Aston University, University of Birmingham, Cranfield University, Keele University, University of Leicester, Loughborough University, University of Nottingham and University of Warwick have pledged to action the TALENT Commission employer recommendations within their institutions.

This includes taking a strategic approach to future technical skills and plugging any future skills gaps, addressing existing EDI challenges, costing technicians on grants and proposals consistently, broadening technical career pathways and expanding technician job families, making it easier to attract the best talent to create a diverse technical workforce.

Director of Technical Skills and Strategy from the university and TALENT Project Lead, Kelly Vere MBE was part of an allocation of speakers at the TALENT Commission Parliamentary Reception, which hosted more than 130 delegates.

She said: “The TALENT Commission report is the culmination of almost two years of research and insight into technical skills, roles and careers in the higher education and research sector.

“It provides foundational new strategic understanding of our vital technical community, supporting the sector to ensure that the UK will be a global superpower in science, engineering, and the creative industries, enabled by its technical capability across academia, research, education and innovation.

“We are grateful to Research England, part of UKRI, for funding this work. We also thank our team of Commissioners for their wise guidance and positive engagement and the many research participants we engaged with throughout this research,”

The University of Nottingham is also a founding signatory to the Technician Commitment, a national initiative to ensure the visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability of technical roles and skills in UK higher education and research.