Overview of the Technician Commitment

In May 2017 the University of Warwick, along with over 30 other UK universities, backed a pledge to support technicians. The Technician CommitmentLink opens in a new window is a sector-wide initiative led by the Science Council and the Gatsby Foundation, aimed at addressing key challenges facing technical staff. The number of signatories has since grown to over 90 universities and research institutes.

The commitment identifies four target areas, which we have committed to in order to safeguard vital technical skills. The commitment will ensure greater visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians across all disciplines.

Our Stage Three Self-Assessment & Action Plan

To ensure impactful progress is made across all the themes outlined above, the Technician Commitment Steering Group, chaired by the Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor (Research), Professor David Leadley, initially worked on a 24 month action plan, and subsequent a 36 month stage 2 action plan. In January 2024, we submitted the progress self assessment against our stage 2 plan, as well as our plan for the next 36 months. These were signed by Professor Stuart Croft, Vice-Chancellor & President of University of Warwick, and for transparency they are published in full in the links below.

Our Technician Commitment Self-AssessmentLink opens in a new window

Our 36 month Action Plan 2024Link opens in a new window

We see the 36 month action plan as a living document, much like our original action plan. We will periodically update and republish this here, but we are also eager to incorporate the ideas our technical community has across the broad range of themes. We believe this input is vital to ensure the work we put into this plan makes a real difference to our technical staff. We will continue to host events, have regular focus groups and reach out to our technical community, but if you have an idea you would like the Steering Group to consider, please do feel free to send it to technicians@warwick.ac.uk.