Driving change together
The University of Portsmouth has backed a pledge to support our technical staff by joining the Technician Commitment, an initiative aimed at ensuring visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working across all disciplines in higher education and research.
As a Times Higher Education top ten young university in the UK, we deliver high quality teaching and learning, and our research and innovation makes a difference globally. We were ranked third of all modern UK universities for research power in Research Excellence Framework 2021 - which measures the quality and quantity of our research.
The sector-wide initiative led by the Science Council, and supported by the Gatsby Foundation, has grown to include over 110 signatory and supporter organisations since it started in 2017. More than 1.5 million technicians currently work in the UK, which is expected to rise by around 70,000 each year. The Commitment recently announced an international pilot that saw University of Sydney join the Commitment as the first international signatory.
Professor Graham Galbraith CBE, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Portsmouth, said: “Our Technicians are a vital part of our community and make a significant contribution to all of our activities. We could not function effectively in providing the highest quality education research and innovation without their expertise and support. Their work is integral to our success.
“Joining the Technician Commitment visibly reinforces our strong commitment to support, develop and nurture our technicians, to enable them to be the best they can be.”
Kelly Vere MBE, Programme Director, Technician Commitment said: “We’re delighted to welcome the University of Portsmouth as a signatory. By joining the Technician Commitment, Portsmouth is recognising the huge contribution their technical staff make to their world class teaching and research and committing to work with them to drive positive change. We look forward to supporting them in their journey.”
As a signatory, the University has collaborated with our technical staff to self-assess and develop an action plan to deliver greater visibility, recognition, sustainability and career development for technicians.