Technicians are key players and key contacts for addressing social responsibility and sustainability issues in labs. This article was first published on 13 June 2019.

The Technician Commitment is a university and research institution initiative, led by a steering group of sector bodies, with support from the Science Council and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation’s Technicians Make It Happen campaign and input from Higher Education and Technicians’ Educational Development (HEaTED). The Commitment aims to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education and research, across all disciplines. Universities and research institutes are invited to become signatories of the Technician Commitment and pledge action against the key challenges affecting their technical staff.

The action plan will focus on these areas:

• Visibility – Ensure that all technicians within the organisation are identifiable and that the contribution of technicians is visible within and beyond the institution
• Recognition – Support technicians to gain recognition through professional registration
• Career development – Enable career progression opportunities for technicians through the provision of clear, documented career pathways
• Sustainability – Ensure the future sustainability of technical skills across the organisation and that technical expertise is fully utilised

All staff have a part to play in achieving these aims, whether in a technical, academic or a leadership and management role.

Why we support the Technician Commitment / Social Responsibility and Sustainability by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0