Last month, the Technician Commitment hosted its sixth in person event for current Signatories and Supporters of the initiative. Attendees arrived early, curious to see the newly renovated Guildhall with its original 15th century features. Greeted by Yorkshire sun shining through the hall’s stained-glass windows, colleagues across the sector were warmly welcomed by Professor Charlie Jeffery, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of York, who went on to celebrate the significant progress of York’s technician community since becoming a founding signatory of the Technician Commitment in 2017. He emphasized the work of the outgoing Dean of Science and York Signatory Lead Professor, Brian Fulton, the advocacy and work of the University of York’s Professor Sir John Holman and the progress of the Technician Commitment Delivery Group chaired by Lucy Hudson.
Following this, recipients of the Technician Commitment Collaboration Fund shared their plans for the year. Lucy Hudson and Graeme McAllister from the Yorkshire Technician Exchange Partnership (YoTEP) shared proposals for visits between technicians in York and Leeds. Mel Leitch, Newcastle University’s Head of Infrastructure, shared some final details of the Technicians Partnership Conference held on Wednesday 6th July 2022.
Dr. Julie Baldry Currens, Professional Standards Framework (PSF) Project Lead and Dallas Alexandrou, PSF Review Manager, spoke on the latest changes to the Framework and how it has been recently improved to ensure technical skills and contributions are accounted for.
Kelly Vere MBE, Technician Commitment Programme Director then provided an update on plans for ‘Technicians: The David Sainsbury Gallery’ at London’s Science Museum. The gallery opens in November 2022 and Kelly outlined the opportunities for Technician Commitment signatory institutions to get involved.
Hillary Noone, UKRI’s Research and Innovation Culture Lead, spoke on research culture and provided insights on developments impacting the technical community. Signatory institutions presented on how they are responding to the recommendations of the Research England funded TALENT Commission.
Ben Coles from the University of Southampton, Jane Hubble from the University of Huddersfield and Mat Beardsley from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) shared their experiences as Technician Commitment signatories and spoke about initiative and activities underway to advance the Technician Commitment at their institutions.
Facilitated round table discussions provided opportunity for networking throughout the day and focused on themes of collaboration, progress monitoring and looking towards the future.
The event was closed by Kelly Vere and concluded with a drinks and networking reception. Awards were presented by Technician Commitment Steering Board Member Professor Sally Bradley, Senior Professional Learning and Development Adviser for AdvanceHE, to signatory institutions who have demonstrated positive progress and impact through their Technician Commitment.
Kelly Vere commented:
Since its inception, the Technician Commitment has built a fantastic and engaged community of practice through our bi-annual networking events which provide an opportunity for colleagues to hear sector updates, meet new colleagues and share best practice. Our York event was no exception, many thanks to everyone who participated and presented. We look forward to welcoming colleagues to London for our Autumn event in November.
