Letters: November 2023
Readers share how the Talent Project is supporting technicians, share a proposal for enhanced oil recovery, and more
Technician Talent
In her article ‘The history and the future of chemistry’, Catherine Jackson rightly calls out the importance of technicians and technical roles within research and higher education (HE), and notes the continued struggle they have for recognition. As she mentions, the UK’s Technician Commitment is helping to redress this balance.
Readers may be interested in the Talent Project, which is having an impressive impact for technicians within HE and beyond. Set up by the Midlands Innovation consortium of universities, Talent is building an understanding of future requirements for skilled technicians, collaborating to drive a change in culture, delivering training and development opportunities, and advocating for technicians within the UK HE sector.
In February 2022 the Talent Commission report was published, setting out a vision for technicians accompanied by 16 overarching recommendations to guide delivery of that vision. Talent has also initiated the Herschel Programme for Women in Technical Leadership, with over 550 graduates having already successfully passed through its doors.
The Talent Commission recommended a new entity to build on the Technician Commitment and the Talent Project. The UK Institute for Technical Skills and Strategy was launched in August 2023. It provides a permanent centre to champion and develop the role of technicians within the UK.
Technicians are the vital, and often unsung, life blood of UK science. Finally they are being taken seriously.
Simon FitzGerald FRSC
Advisory Board Member, Talent