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£6000 to develop outreach activities

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 13:52:00 GMT

Do you have an idea for a hands-on STEM activity that showcases your technical expertise? The TSN ROKS Outreach Fund is now open for applications - offering up to £6,000 to Research Technical Professionals (RTPs) to develop outreach demonstrator units that inspire and engage young people.

Previous funded activities include:

A magic show exploring chemistry and physics through illusions
A portable Raman spectrometer for hands-on analysis
A tabletop particle accelerator demonstrating fundamental physics
A light-tracing maze to explore optics and light paths
A 3D printed microscope for use in schools and public events

If you’ve got an idea that can bring science and technology to life – we’d love to hear from you.

👉 Apply for funding here: Outreach Demonstrator Fund - UK ITSS

Higher Education Technician Takeover Summer 2026

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 15:23:00 GMT

Outreach opportunity for UK technical professionals

Inspire the next generation of technicians at a Higher Education Technician Takeover week at the Science Museum, London, summer 2026.

This high-profile outreach and careers event will bring together 50 UK technical professionals who work in science, encouraging secondary school age students to choose a future technical career in science.

Technical professionals with a passion for outreach are encouraged to volunteer throughout the four-day week. We're looking for a diverse range of individuals who have come from a range of career paths and disciplines.

Everything you need to know:

Location: The Science Museum, David Sainsbury Gallery, London.
When: Dates to be confirmed in June or July 2026. The dates with the broadest range of expertise and disciplines will be selected (Please refer to expression of interest form below)
Timings: The four-day event will run from Tuesday - Friday between 10am - 2pm (The specific week will be finalised based on the level of interest)
The event is expected to welcome around 2,000 - 3,000 secondary school age students
School visits during the takeover week can be from across the UK, but likely to be schools based in south of the country
Volunteers can express their interest for one, or all four days

Benefits of taking part

Help shape a future and have engaging conversations with young people about your technical career
Promote your institution, team or technical project
Collect evidence for your personal career development and institution’s Technician Commitment action plan

I’m interested – what next?

Click here to complete form: Higher Education Technician Takeover - Expression of Interest – Fill in form

Timelines

Register your interest by 7 December 2025
Selected participants will be contacted by 24 January 2026
A virtual briefing meeting will be held week commencing the 9 February 2026 for all confirmed participants.

Contact Jo Hartley-Metcalfe at jo.hartley-metcalfe@itss.org.uk

This event is delivered by the UK Institute for Technical Skills and Strategy in collaboration with The Gatsby Foundation

National T-Level Week

Thu, 16 Oct 2025 11:16:00 GMT

This National T-Level Week, we’re proud to celebrate our commitment to developing the next generation of engineers through industry placements. WMG was the first department at the University of ��TV to launch T-Level industry placements, making ��TV one of the first UK universities, alongside Liverpool, to adopt the initiative. Today, more than 35 universities and research institutes are actively collaborating.

Since introducing T-Levels in Engineering and Manufacturing, WMG has hosted 24 students on industry placements, with the first joining in April 2023. Of these, 20 have completed their studies, and three have progressed into WMG’s technical apprenticeship programme.

Students have come from WCG (Rugby and Trident) and WMG Academies for Young Engineers (Coventry and Solihull), gaining experience through both day and block release placements, working closely with our automation, intelligent vehicles and student project teams.

WMG is now preparing to welcome another 8 students in the coming academic year.

WMG Welcomes New Technical Apprentices

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 10:10:00 GMT

Welcome to our newest 2025 Technical Apprentices!

We’re delighted to welcome Oliver Powell, Luke Wakelin, Aymen Tagelsir, James Clark, Raheem Ogundapo and Mohamed Bushra as the latest cohort of Technical Apprentices joining the University of ��TV’s Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine (SEM), working within WMG and the School of Engineering.

They are embarking on a 4-year Technical Apprenticeship on the Engineering Manufacturing Technician standard, delivered in partnership with ��TVshire College Group (WCG).

We’re especially pleased to welcome back two of the apprentices, who previously completed their 315-hour industrial work placement for their T Level with us — it’s fantastic to see them return to continue their development here at ��TV!

We’re excited to see them grow, learn, and contribute to the innovative work happening across our departments — welcome to ��TV! 💙⚙️

To learn more about our technical apprenticeships visit WMG Technical Apprenticeships | Start Your Career

Jack Woolley receives his RSC Award for Technical Excellence

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 08:10:00 GMT

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 ��TV, 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.

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 brochure.

25/26 Technical Specialist Promotional Pathway Key Dates

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 15:46:35 GMT

The key dates for the 25/26 Technical Specialist Promotional Pathway have been published, with further information here. 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.

Dr Jack Woolley - Winner of the 2025 Technical Excellence Prize

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 12:06:44 GMT

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 ��TV 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 ��TV 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 ��TV 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 ��TV and a local art gallery.

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

The University of ��TV: Meet the Researcher

Mon, 24 Feb 2025 13:01:45 GMT

Dr Saskia Bakker Advanced Bioimaging RTP facility manager was featured in the University's Meet the researchers page.

You can read the full story here.

Sarah Bennett shortlisted for Times Higher Education Outstanding Technician of the Year!

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 13:07:08 GMT

Dr Sarah Bennett has been shortlisted for the “Outstanding Technician of the Year” award.

Sarah, Head of Bio-Analytical Shared Resource Laboratories at The University of ��TV, said: “I am honoured to be recognised as a finalist for Outstanding Technician of the Year. This nomination reflects not only my personal efforts but also the hard work and dedication of my team, as well as the trust and support from senior management.”

Drop-in Sessions

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 15:23:47 GMT

We will be hosting drop-in sessions for both feedback on our Technical Specialist Promotional Pathway and also our Technician Commitment. These will be a mix of online and in person sessions.Click here for more information.

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