This year, funding of up to £1,000 was available for initiatives to bring technicians together in support of the Commitment’s aims – ensuring visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for all technical staff in higher education and research.
As a sector-wide initiative, the Technician Commitment has always depended on collaboration to achieve our ambitions. The aim of the Collaboration Fund is to support projects that seek to achieve better outcomes for technicians through activities which create and strengthen these networks of collaboration in innovative ways.
This year the Collaboration Fund received a large number of applications, and we were unfortunately unable to fund them all. The Technician Commitment are happy to provide feedback and support to help progress all applications and are delighted to announce the five successful projects are:
Cranfield University, United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory Limited (UKNNL), TESCAN-UK Limited: Creation and establishment of the United Kingdom focused Ion Beam-Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry Network (UKI FIB-TOFSIMS Network)
University of Edinburgh, University of Aberdeen, University of Dundee, University of Glasgow, University of Strathclyde, University of West Scotland: Supporting the Scotland Technician Network Conference
University of Hertfordshire, Manchester Metropolitan University, Oxford Brookes University: ArchiTECHture: Capturing the ‘technicians' voice’ to develop a roadmap for technical staff involvement in university building design
University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University College London: Fostering growth and collaboration for technicians in large technical networks
University of Sussex and University of Brighton: Exploring collaborative opportunities in technical services across University of Sussex and University of Brighton
Clare Stevenson, Associate Lead and Chair of the Collaboration Fund panel, Technician Commitment said:
“This year, we're proud to award five grants to signatories who are driving meaningful change for technicians through collaboration. These projects exemplify the Technician Commitment's goals, promising to elevate visibility, recognition, career development, and sustainability. From establishing vital networks to fostering inter-university partnerships and supporting the Scottish Technician Conference, these initiatives will have a significant impact. We're grateful for the overwhelming enthusiasm from our signatories in the fund's fifth year."
