The UK Institute of Technical Skills and Strategy (ITSS), funded by Research England, will be hosted by the University of Nottingham working in partnership with a network of organisations, including Gatsby, and institutions across UK higher education and research.
The new institute builds on two initiatives which have begun to address the challenge of the technician skills shortage in academia and research.
The Gatsby-funded Technician Commitment has seen universities, research institutes, professional bodies, learned societies and funders sign up to the initiative, which aims to increase the visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability of technical skills, roles and careers. It has established recognition of the challenges facing the technical community, started to build a national community of practice, and initiated a commitment from more than 110 organisations. The Technician Commitment will be hosted at the new institute upon its inception.
The TALENT programme, awarded by Research England to the Midlands Innovation consortium in 2020, has begun to build sector wide strategic insight into the UK’s HE and research technical skills base through its TALENT Commission. It has also designed, developed and piloted practical interventions to address the challenges highlighted by the Technician Commitment.
