The Technician Commitment is a sector-wide initiative led by the Science Council, supported by the Gatsby Foundation to help address key challenges facing technical staff working in research.

Five target areas have been identified, which universities and institutions will work to improve to safeguard vital technical skills. The commitment will ensure greater visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians across all disciplines.

The commitment was launched today (31 May) at the Higher Education Technicians Summit in Warwick following a panel discussion with representatives from the funding, higher education and research communities.

The commitment comes at a key time as the demand for technicians is increasing. More than 1.5 million technicians currently work in the UK, which is expected to rise by around 70,000 each year.

Vice Chancellors and Directors of Research Institutes from leading institutions across the UK have recognised the need to ensure sustainability by safeguarding technical skills across their organisations by utilising and developing expertise.

Rob Allan, Director of Human Resources at Loughborough, said: “Technical staff are a crucial part of the University community and Loughborough is delighted to be a founding signatory of this new initiative.”