· Three technicians from the University of Warwick have been nominated for a prestigious award called the ‘Papin Prizes’ out of 20,000 technicians in the UK

· They will find out in June if they have won the awards

· Their work includes election microscopy, x-rays and support in Life Sciences

Three technicians from the University of Warwick have been nominated for the prestigious Papin Prize out of 20,000 technicians from Universities across the UK.

Three technicians from the University of Warwick has been shortlisted for a national award at the Higher Education Technicians Summit (HETS) which is taking place in Birmingham this summer.

The three University of Warwick technicians nominated for the Papin Prize are Steve Hindmarsh who works for the Electron Microscopy Research Technology Platform, Steve Huband from the X-ray Diffraction (XRD) Research Technology Platform, and Ian Portman who supports the Life Sciences team.

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 in a select number of technicians out of 20,000 across universities in the UK.

Named after Denis Papin, a famous 17^th 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 25^th 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 –including the University of Warwick, Aston, Birmingham, Cranfield, Keele, Leicester, Loughborough and Nottingham in partnership with the Science Council and the Technician Commitment.

Professor Pam Thomas, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at the University of Warwick, comments:

 “I am proud to see not one but three technicians nominated for such a brilliant award, they are key to keeping the University going and pursuing the research, and to even be nominated is a great compliment to them.”

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

ENDS

21 MAY 2019

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Midlands Innovation
Midlands Innovation is a world-class research and innovation partnership, combining the collective excellence of eight leading universities in the heart of the UK – Aston, Birmingham, Cranfield, Keele, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham and Warwick. It unites the power of university research with the unique strengths of Midlands industry to drive cutting-edge research, innovation and skills development.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Alice Scott
Media Relations Manager – Science
University of Warwick
Tel: +44 (0) 2476 574 255 or +44 (0) 7920 531 221
E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwick.ac.uk

Or

For more information about the HETS conference, contact Kelly Vere at the Science Council email: K.Vere@sciencecouncil.org

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Alice Scott
Media Relations Manager – Science 
University of Warwick
Tel: +44 (0) 2476 574 255 or +44 (0) 7920 531 221 
E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwick.ac.uk

Or

For more information about the HETS conference, contact Kelly Vere at the Science Council email: K.Vere@sciencecouncil.org