RGU sign Technician Commitment pledge

The sector-wide initiative, led by the Science Council and supported by the Gatsby Foundation, aims to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for multidisciplinary technicians working in higher education and research.

By signing the Technician Commitment, RGU hope to ensure the role of technician is visible as a position of standing and value while also ensuring the future sustainability of technical skills for both research and teaching.

To kickstart the pledge a series of focus groups and workshops will be arranged at the University to develop an enhancement action plan. This will begin in summer and continue throughout the academic year.

Professor Steve Olivier, Principal and Vice-Chancellor at Robert Gordon University, said: “By joining the Technician Commitment, RGU is further recognising the need to support and value the contributions that technicians make to our wider University community.

“The Technicians here at RGU are highly-skilled and underpin the excellent research and student satisfaction that exists throughout the University. It’s therefore important that they’re also highly-valued, something we’re committed to ensuring.”

Simon Breeden, Technician Commitment Associate Lead said: “Having Robert Gordon University join the Technician Commitment community is testament to their willingness to empower their technical staff.

“RGU’s expertise in world-class research can be attributed to efforts by their technicians, and it’s thrilling to see another Scottish university join the Technician Commitment’s ever-growing ranks. We look forward to supporting RGU’s journey in ensuring visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability of its technicians.”

First established in 2017, the initiative has now grown to include over 110 signatory and supporter organisations in a bid to help represent the over 1.5 million technicians currently work in the UK.