Technician Commitment

The Technician Commitment is a university and research institution initiative, led by a steering board of sector bodies, with support from the Science Council and the Gatsby Foundation’s Technicians Make It Happen campaign.

The Commitment aims to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education and research, across all disciplines. Universities and research institutes are invited to become signatories of the Technician Commitment and pledge action against the key challenges affecting their technical staff.

Our action plan can be found below and it is also available in PDF format.

Imaging is essential to driving life science research discoveries and requires significant support from lots of amazing technical staff, whose contributions often go unrecognised. BioImagingUK and the RMS represent the interests of the UK Imaging Scientist community and as such, are strongly supportive of any efforts to champion the important roles played by technicians who participate in imaging-related research areas. The Technician Commitment is an excellent initiative to both celebrate these achievements and improve the recognition, visibility and career development of all technicians. Ultimately, technicians are indispensable members of the multi-disciplinary teams involved in image-based discoveries, and by supporting the Technician Commitment we are hopefully taking important steps to acknowledge this.

Professor Maddy Parsons

BioImagingUK Lead

The technical community enables world leading research, teaching and knowledge exchange. Technical colleagues ensure accuracy, rigour and development of key technologies, particularly in imaging and microscopy. We’re delighted to welcome the Royal Microscopical Society and BioImagingUK to our community of Technician Commitment Supporters and Signatories and we look forward to working with them to advance visibility, recognition and opportunity for the technical community across UK research, education and innovation.

Kelly Vere MBE

Programme Director, Technician Commitment

Royal Microscopical Society and BioImagingUK: 3-year Technician Commitment Action Plan (2025-2028)

Pillar 1 - Visibility

Launch an enhanced webpage highlighting how microscopy skills and knowledge are used in a variety of careers, featuring technician profiles and career pathways
Conduct a comprehensive audit of RMS events and training opportunities to assess:
- where there are any gaps in microscopy training provision for technicians
- current technician participation rates and establish measurable targets for increased engagement over the next 36 months
Work with Global BioImaging to roll out the Imaging Facility Publication Guidelines Poster across the world, partnering with international, national and regional networks and translating the poster into different languages
Ensure technician representation on all RMS committees by formally embedding this requirement into governance structures and committee terms of reference.
Continue highlighting technician roles through our social media channels, using the #ImagingScientist hashtag

Pillar 2 - Recognition

Work with Global BioImaging to roll out the Imaging Facility Publication Guidelines Poster across the world, partnering with international, national and regional networks and translating the poster into different languages
Adapt the Publication Guidelines Poster to make it suitable for other core facilities beyond microscopy, increasing the impact for technicians
Increase visibility of the Vice-President's Award specifically targeting the technical community through targeted communications
Analyse results from the partnership with Global BioImaging on the international survey examining Acknowledgement and Authorship culture for technicians and develop and publish best practice guidelines

Pillar 3 – Career Development

Implement the RMS Registered Technician Status/Chartered Microscopist program with dedicated technician pathways
Continue Coaching and Mentoring Scheme aimed at supporting technicians' careers
Offer a presentation skills training course specifically for women, which is open for technicians
Implement a job shadowing program that supports technical specialist visits between facilities to share expertise and best practices
Compile a Glossary of Job titles, roles and salary bands in collaboration with Global BioImaging to create standardised terminology for technical positions and develop recommendations that can be used by HR departments for promotion or career advancement

Pillar 4 - Sustainability

Enable technicians to supervise summer students through the URKI-BBSRC funded program to enhance EDI in the BioImagingUK network (four out of eight selected supervisors are technicians)
Offer carers bursaries for parents and carers who are technicians to attend scientific meetings
Conduct an EDI survey of the BioImagingUK network to capture the experiences of technicians
Complete the 2024 follow-up survey of Imaging Scientists, with specific focus on technical career pathways
Expand the Microscope Activity Kits program to reach more schools across the UK
Continue the table-top Scanning Electron Microscope project in secondary schools highlighting technician career pathways

With this comprehensive action plan, we reaffirm our commitment to elevating the visibility, recognition, career development, and sustainability of technical roles within the microscopy and bioimaging communities. These initiatives represent our dedication to building a more inclusive and supportive environment where technicians can thrive professionally.