News

Jack Woolley receives his RSC Award for Technical Excellence

Earlier this year, we shared the news that Jack Woolley had been awarded a 2025 RSC Award for Technical Excellence. Now that he’s had the chance to collect it, we caught up with him to hear about the experience.

First of all, congratulations! Can you remind us what the award was recognising?
Jack: Thank you! I was nominated by someone external to Warwick, who I have worked with for a number of years. The nomination was for my work pushing change, encouraging sign-ups, and securing commitments from companies and institutions.

How was the day itself?
Jack: It was fun! The event was held at Burlington House, the Royal Society of Chemistry in London during a Technician Commitment relaunch event. I gave a short presentation on the work that I do and then received my award from Dr Kelly Vere MBE and Dr Helen Pain MBE, CEO of the RSC. The location was great, there were really interesting statues of famous chemists and there was a drinks reception afterwards where I got a chance to network with all the other technical staff attending the event.

And what did it mean to you personally to collect the award?
Jack: It was great to be part of the event and to see the momentum building across the sector. Being acknowledged in this way really reinforces the importance of the work we’re doing and it felt really rewarding that my efforts had been recognised.

RSC Award

Picture of Dr Jack Woolley

Congratulations again to Jack on this well-deserved achievement! You can read more about this, and the work Jack does in his case study in our latest Technician Commitment brochureLink opens in a new window.

Wed 01 Oct 2025, 09:10

25/26 Technical Specialist Promotional Pathway Key Dates

The key dates for the 25/26 Technical Specialist Promotional Pathway have been published, with further information hereLink opens in a new window. Please contact your HoD and DA to find out departmental deadlines for submissions.

Key Dates

29th October 2025 – Explainer session dedicated to technical specialists and finalised process guidance published

1st December 2025 - Departments to notify Academic Processes of anticipated technical specialist applications

5th January 2026 – Deadlines for technical specialists submission of paperwork

Spring/summer 2026 – Consideration of applications.

End of Summer 2026 – Outcomes communicated to applicants.

1st August 2026 - Date from which promotions are effective.

Mon 15 Sept 2025, 16:46 | Tags: technicians; technicians commitment

Dr Jack Woolley - Winner of the 2025 Technical Excellence Prize

Jack W

Dr Jack Woolley has been awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry's (RSC) 2025 Technical Excellence Award for providing outstanding technical and scientific support to users of the Warwick Centre for Ultrafast Spectroscopy (WCUS).

Jack has been the platform manager since the foundation of the WCUS Research Technology Platform (RTP) in 2021, and his role includes everything from managing finances, purchasing, and health and safety, to training users and designing experiments. He works with a wide range of researchers from master’s students to postdocs and PIs, both at Warwick and from other institutions. He also helps users run experiments, analyse data, and often teach them how to operate the equipment themselves.

Apart from the day to day practical aspects of his job, Jack also invests time in promoting the research capabilities of the facility to academics and supervisors here at Warwick as well as in public outreach engagement activities. He demonstrates the use of his laser at events including the live lab Christmas lectures, Resonate Festivals at Warwick and a local art gallery.

On hearing about the award, Jack said 'There are so many brilliant technicians here at Warwick and across the UK, so to be recognised like this is a real honour'.

Fri 27 Jun 2025, 13:06 | Tags: technicians; technicians commitment