The University of Nottingham’s pledge to develop, value and sustain technical staff has been supported by 75 universities and research institutes across the country.

The achievement and progress the University has made in this area was recently marked by a commemorative plaque, presented by Lord Sainsbury during celebrations of the first birthday of the Technician Commitment initiative. Denise Mclean, Senior Technician in Life Sciences, was also invited to speak at the anniversary event and represent the country’s technical staff.

The University of Nottingham has also been mentioned in a new report on the impact of the initiative. The report, titled the ‘Technician Commitment – One Year In‘, includes details of the Nottingham’s progress and collaborations to date and its role in supporting technical staff.

The University of Nottingham, together with the University of Cambridge, were the first to pledge their support to the Technician Commitment, which was launched in May 2017. The Commitment is led by a steering group of sector bodies, with support from the Science Council and the Gatsby Foundation. It was initiated to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians, technologists and skills specialists working in higher education and research across all disciplines.

Kelly Vere, Higher Education and Technician Commitment Lead at the Science Council, and Director of Technical Skills and Strategy at the University of Nottingham, said: “We are delighted with the progress of the Technician Commitment and we look forward to continuing our work to ensure technicians are afforded the esteem they so richly deserve.”

During the last year the Technician Commitment has driven a new collaboration between the University of Nottingham, the University of Liverpool, the Science Council and the John Innes Centre. The group are now working together to look at equality, diversity and inclusion within the technical workforce, building on the principles of the Athena SWAN charter.

New strategy — ‘Our Vision for Technical Talent’

The University has encouraged positive action in the sector by developing a strategy for technical colleagues to enhance their profile and the opportunities available to them.

Developed by Technical Managers and senior leaders from across the institution, this strategy (which makes up the key components of our Technician Commitment) is notable for having been developed to align with the University’s wider aims and objectives and has clear themes and activities, all designed to ensure increased visibility, recognition and opportunities for their technical colleagues.

We will launch the strategy, titled Our ‘Vision for Technical Talent’, on Tuesday 4 December 2018.