Up to £1,000 was available for projects that bring technicians together in support of the Commitment’s aims – ensuring visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for all technical staff in higher education and research.
As a sector-wide initiative, the Technician Commitment has always depended on collaboration to achieve our ambitions. The aim of the Collaboration Fund is to support projects that create better outcomes for technicians through activities, strengthening networks of collaboration in innovative ways.
This year, the Collaboration Fund received a high calibre of applications, and we were unfortunately unable to fund them all. The five successful projects are:
De Montfort University and Manchester Metropolitan University – Placement Exchange Scheme pilot
De Montfort University applied for funding to support their Technician Commitment Action Plan objective to deliver a placement exchange scheme for technical professionals. It intends to launch a pilot placement exchange scheme with Manchester Metropolitan University. The project aims to share best practice, foster networking and mentoring and help upskill technicians across both institutions. The Collaboration Fund will enable this by supporting travel and accommodation costs for participating technical professionals.
John Innes Centre, Sainsbury Laboratory, Quadram Institute Bioscience and Norwich Biosciences Institutes (NBI) – Research Software Engineer (RSE) & Women in High-Performance Computing (WHPC) Meeting East Anglia 2026
The RSE & WHPC Meeting – East Anglia 2026, organised by NBI and co-hosted by the RSE Society East Anglia and Women in HPC Cambridge & East Anglia Chapter, is a one-day event connecting technical professionals, researchers, and software specialists across East Anglia. This year, the event will be hosted outside Cambridge for the first time at the NBI Conference Centre and focus on lightning talks, interactive sessions and meaningful networking. The Collaboration Fund will help cover venue hire, catering and a networking session to ensure accessibility and inclusivity for all participants.
Oxford Brookes University and Association of Technical Staff in Psychology (ATSiP) – PsychoPy Training Workshop: Bridging Technical and Academic Expertise for Psychological Research
This project will deliver a one-day intensive PsyOp workshop, bringing together technical and academic staff in a single focused training environment. The aim is to break down the traditional silo between technical and academic staff and promote recognition of technical professionals as expert collaborators in research excellence.
Oxford Brookes University, Manchester Metropolitan University and East Cheshire NHS Trust – SimTech Symposium
The SimTech Symposium is a free-to-attend national event providing simulation technicians with opportunities to network, showcase their work and attend learning and development workshops, as well hosting the National SimTech Awards. This year’s Symposium will take place at Manchester Metropolitan University. The Collaboration Fund will be used to support travel costs for organisers and facilitators.
University of Stirling and University of Edinburgh – Technically Scotland
This collaboration will expand University of Edinburgh’s technician-led “Technically Edinburgh” podcast into “Technically Scotland" a Scotland-wide platform for technical professionals to share experiences, insights and opportunities across institutions. The vision is to help build a stronger, more connected technical community across Scotland whilst raising the visibility and recognition of the technical profession. The Collaboration Fund will be used not only to support essential hosting costs, but also to facilitate in-person engagement at conferences and events to grow the podcast’s reach.
Clare Stevenson, Technician Commitment Associate Lead and Chair of the Collaboration Fund panel, said:
This year, we are really pleased delighted to award five grants to signatories driving meaningful progress for the technical community through collaboration. The calibre of applications continues to grow, and it is a pleasure to see such a strong commitment to collaboration across our signatory community. Thank to you everyone who took the time to submit an application for this technician ledgrassroots fund. These projects exemplify the Technician Commitment’s vision of advancing visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for the technical community. We look forward to seeing the impact of these initiatives over the coming year."
