Technicians' Conference 2024
The next technicians' conference has been announced for Thursday 25th January, 2024.
There will be two main sessions as well as various workshops:
10:30-12:00: Talks and Updates - Clifford Allbutt Lecture Theatre, Addenbrookes Site.
Speakers include:
Clare Stevenson from the Technician Commitment. National updates and developments including the brand new Institute for Technical Skills and Strategy and the MI TALENT commission report.
Professor David Cardwell, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Strategy and Planning) and Technician Champion.
John Nicolson, University Technician Commitment Coordinator. Lots of change is happening across the sector. Discover local developments and opportunities.
Miranda Carr, Strategic Workforce Programme. Introducing the University's progress towards Career Pathways work and more.
12:00-14:00: Exhibition and Networking Session and Workshops and Tours. Jeffrey Cheah Building, Addenbrookes Site
The exhibition will include displays of poster, pictures, artefacts and multimedia displays from technical staff across the University (see below to get involved!). There will also be local exhibitors including relevant University schemes, local companies and professional body representation. Details to be confirmed and updated. During this session there will also be lunch and tours of some of the local facilities.
13:30-15:00: Fair Attribution and Publishing for Technicians. A workshop to understand the process of academic publishing and an introduction to ORCID. There will also be time for discussions of participant's experiences and expectations of recognition in this form.
15:00-17:00 Professional Registration Workshop Dr. Michelle Jackson, IST: This workshop will give a more detailed introduction to Professional Registration and the processes involved. There will be examples of items to include and what to reflect on from your own career. Aside from the recognition of your work, it is a great way to focus on your achievements and successes and think about the next steps in your career.
We are looking for submissions for the afternoon exhibit:
Technicians have a range of skills across all sectors of the University. Usually the roles are hidden yet there is often pride in the role and room for creativity. Why not show like-minded colleagues your role or creative nature? We are looking for:
Posters: Showcase your work or skills in poster format
Pictures: If posters are not your thing, we are looking for photos that highlight your job or area of interest
Creations: Physically made items from workshops or crafted items to showcase
Video: A short video of your work area, role or anything else you wish to display
Articles: Short articles on your work or experiences as a technician within the University
We appreciate that it is a big ask to find time and willingness to do these items but it is a great opportunity to connect with other technical staff and share your work or skills with like-minded colleagues. To encourage you, there will be small prizes and/or awards (tbc) for best submissions and we look forward to your entries! We can also provide some assistance for posters, articles and videos which may also be used for the Cambridge Festival in 2024.
Please use this form to register interest for submissions or contact John Nicolson (jan35@cam.ac.uk) for further details and submissions.
More details will follow soon.
Technician Forum 2022
Due to COVID, the latest technician event was scaled back slightly and became an online event. Taking place over lunch on the 2nd March 2022, it had 124 people sign up and over 80 attended the session on the day.
There were three talks followed by a Q+A session and the feedback was positive.
The presentations, slides and links are now available to view. Please feel free to browse them at your leisure and get in contact if you have any questions.
The presentations cover:
- An introduction to the Technician Commitment and overview of the projects within the University
- An introduction to ourcambridge and personal development options
- An overview of Professional Registration and the mechanics of applying
If you attended the event, we hope it was useful and interesting, and if you couldn't make it we hope to see you at our next series of events and workshops which will be announced soon. Keep up to date with our Yammer and Teams groups.
Technician Conference 2019
Over 80 technicians from 21 departments recently attended the first University of Cambridge Technician Conference.
The keynote speaker, Professor David Cardwell, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Strategy and Planning, described his experience of working with technicians throughout his career and emphasised the unique contribution that technicians make to the University.
Kelly Vere, Technician Commitment Lead at the Science Council, spoke about the Technician Commitment, which she oversees, looking at improving visibility, career development, recognition and sustainability for technicians. Early successes include the development of career pathways, national awards for technicians, introduction of apprenticeship schemes and the development of technician websites.
Kate Maxwell, from ourcambridge spoke about the importance of technicians having a voice. She highlighted how the aims of ourcambridge can support the Technician Commitment and encouraged technicians to become involved.
Two members of the Technician Commitment Working Group, Barney Leeke and Liz MacRae, covered some of the achievements of the working group to date, including the development of a Technician website and Yammer group.
Delegates then spilt into groups to hear six technicians talking about their careers and current roles. One delegate said:
“The breakout sessions were great, getting to hear other technicians’ experience was very motivating and reassuring. It also made me think of the wide variety of career paths that are open to me as a technician, which I perhaps wasn’t aware of before and how high up the ladder you can go as a technician."
Following the conference, 14 technicians attended a Professional Registration Workshop run by the Science Council where they learnt about different professional registers and how to apply.
Overall feedback from Conference delegates was positive and it is hoped that this will be the first of many events for technicians.
Below are a range of films from the event. To activate captions, click on the CC icon in the bottom right of the film window and select the English CC option.
Professor David Cardwell, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Strategy and Planning, describing his experiences working with technicians.
Kelly Vere, Technician Commitment Lead at the Science Council, discussing the national Technician Commitment.
Barney Leeke and Liz MacRae, members of the Technician Commitment Working Group, speaking about the Technician Commitment at Cambridge.
Kate Maxwell, Overall Programme Lead for ourcambridge, discussing ourcambridge and support for professional services staff.