On 4^th July, Warwick hosted 500 technicians at UK’s biggest conference dedicated to technicians in academia and research which featured an inspiring keynote speech delivered by Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam MBE. This was the fifth UK Higher Education Technicians Summit (HETS) delivered by Midlands Innovation, in partnership with MI TALENT, Technician Commitment, Science Council and sponsored by UKRI.

Professor Chris Ennew, Provost for University of Warwick opened HETS and presented the prestigious national Papin Prizes. Read the full list of winners here.

Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam MBE, Senior Strategy Advisor in Medicine for the University of Nottingham delivered an insightful keynote speech, sharing his reflections on science and leadership during the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. He recognised that many of the technicians in the audience took a role in the Covid-19 crisis and he thanked them for doing so, as the UK “really punched above its weight” in its medical response to the pandemic.

Dr Ian Hancox, Director of Research Technology and Technical Strategy at Warwick said: "We are proud to have hosted this prestigious event at Warwick, and it was fantastic for the technical community UK wide to hear the support we have from our senior staff in the opening speech from Chris. A massive congratulations to the Papin Prize winners, we had over 350 nominations this year, so this is a huge achievement."

Technicians who attended the event said:

Fabulous day at the Higher Education Technicians Summit today that included some great workshops and an inspirational talk from Prof. Jonathan Van-Tam on his experience of science, policy and leadership during COVID-19

Had a great day today at #HETS23 Have had a wonderful day at #HETS23 at Warwick Uni, met lots of new people and connections made.

Really enjoying #HETS23, including the mesmerising talk from the excellent Jonathan Van Tam about lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic, so excited to be in the presence of such a legend! Congratulations to all those who were shortlisted and those who won Papin prizes

The sound of so many Technicians networking is a joy! Great to be at #HETS23 500 #technicians networking and sharing experiences is an exciting place to be.

The event featured 30 workshops, more than 50 posters were displayed from technical teams and there was a unique art exhibition of technicians, by a technician.