A Lancaster University technician has been shortlisted for a national award at the Higher Education Technicians Summit (HETS) which is taking place in Birmingham this summer.

The awards, known as the 'Papin Prizes’ recognise the skills, talent and experience of technicians in higher education and research, across the UK and Ireland.

The Lancaster technician nominated for the Papin Prize is Dr John Baum, who supports Chemistry outreach for the University and works within the Department of Chemistry.

Dr Baum said: “Being shortlisted for the Papin Prize is a great honour and a highlight of my technician career, which started in 1978 as a lab assistant.

“These awards highlight the growing contribution technical staff have in the development of both teaching, outreach, and research at universities across the UK. The work we do as technicians is not in isolation and the shortlisting shows what a great environment Lancaster is for the development of technical staff.”

Professor Peter Fielden, Head of Lancaster University’s Department of Chemistry, said: “Technicians are a vital part of a modern Chemistry department. Talented and enthusiastic technicians such as John Baum are essential for supporting our high-quality teaching, and cutting-edge research. In addition John plays a very important role in the department’s outreach work where we bring in school children to our laboratories to give them a taste of what studying science at university is like. I would like to congratulate him for being shortlisted for the Papin Prize.”

There are over 20,000 technicians working in universities in the UK, who make a crucial contribution to research and teaching activities. In addition to providing essential traditional technical duties, they also present at international conferences, publish research papers, teach, lecture and even help to mark the work of students.

Named after Denis Papin, a famous 17th century technician, the Papin Prizes were first awarded at the inaugural Higher Education Technicians Summit (HETS) in 2015. Held biennially, the third round of awards will be made at the HETS 2019, which is taking place at the University of Birmingham on 25th June 2019.

The national Higher Education Technicians Summit aims to share best practice amongst higher education technical staff in UK, Ireland and beyond, and is the largest event of its kind in the country.

It is sponsored by Midlands Innovation, a partnership of eight universities - Aston, Birmingham, Cranfield, Keele, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham & Warwick, in partnership with the Science Council and the Technician Commitment.

Speaking about the Papin Prizes, Dr Helen Turner, Director of Midlands Innovation, said: “The Papin Prizes are designed to recognise the excellent work of technicians in higher education and research across the UK.

“The roles that technicians do, usually behind the scenes, are vital in ensuring the success of our universities and research institutes, providing academic, research and student colleagues with the essential technical expertise that they need to enable their research and teaching. It is very important that we highlight and recognise their contributions, and the Papin Prizes help to do that.”

Kelly Vere, Technician Commitment lead for the Science Council, added: “This year, the standard of entries for the Papin Prizes was incredibly high, so all of the technicians and technical teams that have been nominated for the awards should be very proud of their achievements. I’m looking forward to meeting the Papin Prize nominees and all technical colleagues who will be coming to HETS 2019 in June.”

To apply for the Papin Prizes, and for more information about HETS 2019, visit http://www.midlandsinnovation.org.uk/programmes/hets2019.aspx