Technician Commitment

A technician helping a physics student :)

Technician Commitment at Lancaster University

Lancaster University is a founding signatory for the Technician Commitment. The Technician Commitment is a university and research institution initiative, led by a steering board of sector bodies, hosted by the UK Institute for Technical Skills and Strategy. The Commitment aims to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education and research, across all disciplines.

Led by our Steering Group and Engagement Network we are currently implementing our Stage 3 action plan and continuing to work hard to raise the profile of technicians at Lancaster University and provide meaningful networking and development opportunities for our technical community.

If you would like to get in touch, please contact us: technician-commitment@lancaster.ac.uk

The Technician Commitment Steering Group was formed in July 2018 with technical representation from across faculties and divisions, members from POE, OED and representation from the Trade Unions. Information was gathered on the profile and location of Technicians at the University – something that continues to evolve in 2026.​

Current Steering Group members:​

  • Chair: Professor Richard Haley

  • John Dwyer – FHM Superintendent and IST fellow

  • Jess Fisher – FST Representative and Communications​

  • Alex Flahive – LICA Technical Manager ​

  • Tim Gregson – FST and Union Representative​

  • Marie Lawson – POE Representative​

  • Mags Powers – OED Representative and meeting servicing support​

  • Helen Quirk – FST Technical Director​

  • Dr Elisabeth Shaw – FHM Representative and Communications​

  • Lucy Wilson – FST and Apprentice Representative​

The early work from the first action plan focused on the Technician Commitment themes of Visibility and Recognition. ​

Visibility​

  • Creation of this website dedicated to technicians​
  • Increased involvement of technicians at all levels of University Governance.​

Recognition​

  • Increase in the number of technicians nominated for internal reward and recognition, and external awards – including more successes and winners!​
  • Agreement to include technicians on research proposals and outputs ​
  • Introduction and Implementation of LEAF, the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework, led by technicians. ​

Later in the timeline, the focus switched to Career Development and Sustainability.​

  • Secondments within and between departments have been encouraged and supported and this has directly contributed to career progression in some cases.​
  • Increased number of technical staff undertaking management and leadership programmes provided by Lancaster University.​
  • Introduction of career grades for technical staff – a role offered over two grades with a development plan agreed to facilitate a move from the lower to the higher grade.​
  • The Faculty of Science and Technology committed to a dedicated budget for Technicians CPD activities with oversight from the Faculty Technical Director​

In 2023 a Stage-2 Self-Assessment report was submitted detailing the achievements and improvements established through the first action plan. A highlight of this report was the Technician Career Framework. The framework is the culmination of a two-year project involving technical managers and staff across the University in collaboration with staff and organisations across the sector. Competencies and expectations were mapped to establish clear career progression pathways for technical staff. The new framework will make it easier to understand what is needed to progress in a technical career, helping to better identify training and development opportunities.​

The Technicians Career Framework Guidance gives more detail about the competency matrix and how it can be used to identify career paths and CPD activities.

In recognition of the submission, Lancaster University was presented with an Award of Impact in 2024.​​

The Stage 3 Action Plan was developed through 2023 and early 2024 by a Sub-Group of the Steering Group and with input from the wider technical community to gauge priorities. The action plan was developed to help the University meet the challenges laid out in the TALENT Commission report and the 16 recommendations, published in 2022. The actions are grouped into areas we consider important to technicians and vital to meet the aims of the Technician Commitment:​

  • Career Development​
  • Skills Development​
  • Succession Planning​
  • Recognition​
  • Technicians Voice​
  • Engagement with the wider sector, and​
  • Technicians as Partners in Research and Engagement​

Early achievements from the Stage 3 action plan were:​

  • Introduction of a Technician Seminar series – for Technicians, by Technicians. ​
  • Formation of the Technician Commitment Engagement Network, a wider group of technicians from across departments, helping to organise technician networking events, including regular Technician Forums and the seminar series and helping to promote and advance the work of the Technician Commitment Action Plan.​
  • Creation of the shared technician-commitment inbox. This is both a central point to receive queries and feedback and a consistent email address to share updates and communications about events. ​
  • The creation of organograms detailing departmental team structures helps Senior Technical Managers highlight gaps and make them accessible to technicians, enabling them to target CPD activities and progression routes.​

Back to Homepage

Return to technicians homepage

Lancaster Technicians