I was given the opportunity to attend the STEMM Change Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: A Technician Lens report launch at the Royal Society of Chemistry on the 14th of November 2019, as a representative of the University of Edinburgh Technician Steering Committee (TSC). This event was a standalone component of the STEMM Change annual conference, […]

On September 18th the annual Institute of Science and Technology (IST) Technical Conference was held in Birmingham and I was one of a small number of attendees from the University of Edinburgh. The IST is an independent body which is firmly committed to the enhancement of professional development and recognition for technical and specialist staff […]

Excerpt reposted from the Spring 2019 edition of the Bulletin  

What is self-directed learning? The most commonly accepted definition of self-directed learning (SDL) is that outlined by Malcolm Knowles, back in 1975: ”In its broadest meaning, self-directed learning describes a process in which individuals take the initiative, with or without the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying human and […]

We had our QMRI TechNet launch last Thursday with representatives from TSSG (Natalie Homer), central HR (Joanna Fairweather), IAD (Nicola Cuthbert), Go Abroad (Lesley Balharry), Athena Swan (Carmel Moran) and Sustainability (Andrew Arnott) delivering us much sought after information and resources.  The aim of the meeting was to bring together the technical community across the […]

The Technician Commitment was set up by the Science Council and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in universities and research institutes.   The third Technician Commitment signatory event was held on 6th November 2018 at the Tower of London to welcome the third round of […]

Technicians are often a department’s most experienced fixture, says Kelly Vere – so why are we still invisible to the sector? This month has been a good one. I’ve had my first ever scientific book chapter published, taught an excellent cohort of students in a lab class, had a paper accepted in an international journal, become a […]

Sue Churm (@HEaTEDSue) is Memberships and Networks Manager for HEaTED This post originally appeared in HEaTED Magazine – Spring/Summer 2017  

A recent survey from technicians across the University highlighted that over 83% of individuals had not accessed any CPD (Continuous Professional Development) in the last 12 months. When looking at the top barriers it was a lack of time to undertake training, a lack of funding and people not being clear on what CPD to […]

The Technical Managers in Universities (TMU) is a national network of technical managers working in higher education and research. This year’s TMU conference 2018 was held at the Engineering and Science Learning Centre on the leafy campus of the University of Nottingham on 12th and 13th April 2018. In conjunction with Midlands Innovation and the […]