Michael Hughes (Teaching Laboratories Manager, Department of Chemistry) and Sandra Taylor (Senior Buildings Technician, FSE Infrastructure and Facilities) were invited to Belfast to attend the Queen’s University’s Technician Showcase and co-host a session of “TechsConnect” with Kerry Truman (Nottingham University) and other participants around the UK, including Hayley Markham who is soon to join University of Manchester. 

Pre-event discussions
Arriving the night before provided an opportunity for many good and useful conversations with colleagues from Ireland and the UK. A common theme was an expression of wanting to be the best we can, fostering positive relations with other colleagues including academics, finding it helpful to network with similar minded staff yet often feeling isolated either geographically, organisationally, or both. 

There was a shared agreement in how beneficial Technician Commitment has been with addressing some of these issues within the UK. The Republic of Ireland does not yet have such a similar scheme, but there is interest in developing more support for staff there and for an all-Ireland network.  

Several of the attendees expressed interests in joining the professional body Institute of Science and Technology and creating a Special Interest Group for their community. However, commonly, it is hard for those within the Republic of Ireland to access funding to support travel costs and/or to be afforded the time to attend Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities. There was a high level of interest in The University of Manchester policies around supporting staff to develop, engagement in public outreach activities and staff network groups. 

The Technician Showcase event
The main event was excellent and very well organised. The morning sessions had opening addresses from key leads on Technician Commitment, with representation locally as well as from the Science Council. The address from the President and Vice Chancellor, Prof Ian Greer, previously of University of Manchester, recognised and celebrated the contribution of technical staff to the REF result and highlighted that Queen’s tech staff can and do have Pure profiles!  

There were presentations on Queen’s Technician Commitment, followed by Simon Breedan updating on the Science Council and TALENT Commission Report (mitalent.ac.uk/theTALENTcommission) with it’s 16 recommendations, including the call for technical staff to engage in the process. 

Prof Emma Flynn acknowledged in her talk that the research culture has not always been as it should be. The best science is complex and challenging and requires diverse minds to bring success, and that very much includes and involves technical staff. Dame Ottoline Leyser (who Sandra Taylor knows of from her days working at the John Innes Institute in Liverpool, which did have that right) is championing a return to a more inclusive culture which embraces the contribution of technical staff to the success of universities and other institutions, including REF success. The University of Manchester have our own cheerleaders such as Prof Peritta Barran, who are doing magnificent work in this area. 

Queen’s University have identified their key themes as: job security, career paths, workload, wellbeing, and mutual respect. The Science Council have commended Queens along with Glasgow and Cambridge as making good progress in these areas. They aim to improve openness and transparency and to recognise all contributions to research output. Research networks which cross organisational boundaries are encouraged.  

The workshops
The workshop sessions ranged from Professional Registration to “Customer Service Excellence and Employability”, Sustainability at Queens and our session “TechsConnect,” which was a hybrid face-to-face and MS Teams event. New members are always welcomed to the “TechsConnect” family, but as much as anything it was a showcase as to what could be done in Ireland where technical staff there often work between different buildings or commercial organisations who want to stay connected more regularly.  

We spoke about the benefit of a safe confidential space away from the pressure of the day job and sharing best practice. Anything from coping with working during the pandemic to wellbeing activities to questions on procurement, health and safety, job descriptions, professional development and more. We always end our sessions with a round table “win of the week” to end the session on a positive note! We had lots of questions during the session. If you’re interested, feel free to join TechsConnect when we meet on a Friday at 10am via Teams. Here is the link https://t.co/H0akaH3HGY 

There were some great displays and posters in the networking space. The day ended with the Awards, which were popular with staff and well received. It was an enjoyable day, seeing how Technician Commitment is being implemented at Queen’s University and the commitment they have from senior staff, with the presence from the Vice Chancellor and senior academic staff contributing to the day. 

Author: Sandra Taylor, Senior Buildings Technician, Infrastructure and Facilities, Faculty of Science and Engineering
Date: 14th June 2022

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