18 Jan 2019
New placement programme allows Midlands university technicians to exchange skills and share best practice
Midlands Innovation, a partnership of eight universities including Loughborough, has introduced a Technical Skills Placement Programme to support technical staff working across institutions in the region.
The Midlands Innovation universities’ 2,100 technicians play a vital role in enabling teaching, research, knowledge exchange and outreach activities to take place. The Technical Skills Placement Programme will provide technicians with an opportunity to work with technicians at other universities on a short placement, in order to develop their skills and make new contacts that can provide support and advice to help them in their future technical careers.
The Technical Skills Placement Programme is open to any technician, of any grade from across the eight Midlands Innovation universities. Applications are welcome directly from technicians or from managers who would like their staff members to learn or experience a particular technique or skill. The closing date for applications is 20th February 2019.
All members of the Midlands Innovation partnership are founding signatories of the Technician Commitment; a sector wide initiative led by the Science Council and supported by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation’s Technicians Make It Happen campaign. The Commitment aims to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education and research, across all disciplines.
Speaking about the Programme, Kelly Vere, Director of the Technician Commitment, said: “The Midlands Innovation Placement Programme is an innovative initiative that aims to drive the professional development of technicians across the Midlands. It's fantastic to see universities working together in support of the Technician Commitment and their technical communities."
Dr Helen Turner, Director of Midlands Innovation, added: “Over the past three years the Midlands Innovation partnership has embarked on a programme of activities designed to increase the visibility of our technical workforce, to recognise excellence and to think about collaboratively supporting their career development. Technicians are vital in ensuring the success of our universities and research institutes, providing academic, research and student colleagues with the essential technical expertise that they need to enable their research and teaching.”
More details about the Technical Skills Placement Programme and the application form are available on the Midlands Innovation website.
Midlands Innovation is a world-class research and innovation partnership, combining the collective excellence of eight leading universities in the heart of the UK – Aston, Birmingham, Cranfield, Keele, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham and Warwick. It unites the power of university research with the unique strengths of Midlands industry to drive cutting-edge research, innovation and skills development.