University of York part of £1.5m investment in opportunities for technology specialists

Announced by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the project is part of a £16m investment across the UK to provide opportunities and development activities for the research technical professional (RTP) community and the UK Technology Specialist Network (TSN).

Led by the University of Warwick and with co-leads at the Universities of Bath, Edinburgh, Manchester, Newcastle and Southampton and the Natural History Museum, the project will drive new training and development opportunities for RTPs. This will include creating RTP talent pipelines, bespoke skills and training sessions and work to increase knowledge exchange and visibility for RTPs.

Peter O’Toole, Director of the Bioscience Technology Facility and co-lead of the project, said: “York has a remarkable community of technical specialists that are essential to our research and innovation.

“We’re delighted to be part of this project as it will help to broaden and support the technical specialists in York and nationally through the TSN. We want to ensure the support offered is as inclusive as possible, with funding for travel, accommodation and carer responsibility bursaries to help us benefit RTPs at a range of career stages.”

Dr Ian Hancox, Director of Research Technology and Technical Strategy at the University of Warwick and the project lead, said: “It is fantastic to see such large investment from EPSRC in a staff group that is essential in enabling a broad range of research.

“This funding will provide opportunities for RTPs nationally that would otherwise not be possible, building on the complementary activities of TALENT and the UK Institute for Technical Skills and Strategy (ITSS). I look forward to working with our project partners to deliver opportunities that make a real difference to RTPs careers.”