Senior technicians and technical specialists who participate in this initiative as ‘Technical Demonstrators’ will deliver technical training sessions to other technicians across the institution. Each training session will last for a maximum of half-a-day but may be shorter should time or resource dictate. After consultation and discussions with participating Technical Demonstrators, a list of training sessions along with the summary of the content of the training will be published and made available to technical staff. Technical Demonstrators will also set any prerequisites for attendees & specify the max number of attendees for each session. Those willing to attend these sessions will then be able to apply for and attend their chosen session(s). All technical staff grades 6 and above are able to put themselves forward as a Technical Demonstrator. All technical staff regardless of their grade will be able to apply to attend one or more of the training sessions.

For Technical Demonstrators, this would be an opportunity to build your confidence in delivering training sessions and sharing your skills and experience with other staff members. It is anticipated that this will lead to enhanced job satisfaction for helping to develop other technicians. You will grow your networks within the University by participating in this scheme.

Example: A senior technician based in the School of Chemistry and experienced in mass spectrometry (MS) participates in this initiative as a Technical Demonstrator. He agrees to deliver a maximum of two half-day training sessions:

1) on the fundamentals of MS and how to process a sample on their MS system;

2) on MSD troubleshooting and maintenance.

He carries out a risk assessment and sets the maximum number of participants in each session to 3.

Prerequisite:  1) Session # 1 open to any technician working in science or engineering and interested in MS. 2) Session # 2 open to any technician with at least one month experience of using MS.

Once training sessions’ schedule is published, technicians interested in attending one (or both) of the sessions apply for a place.  

Timeline:

February 2023: Applications open for senior technical staff wishing to participate as a Technical Demonstrator. Application will remain live for 3 weeks.

March 2023: A panel will compile the list of technical demonstrators and will meet them to understand the training sessions on offer as well as discuss and agree training session dates.

March-April 2023: The panel will publish the finalised list of technical training sessions and will circulate it to all technical staff. Those interested in attending one or more training session(s) will then be able to apply for a place.

April 2023: Training sessions start and will take place over the next 6 months. Technical Demonstrators are expected to offer at least 2 training sessions over 6 months.

If you wish to participate in this programme as a Technical Demonstrator, please seek approval from your line manager prior to submitting your application. Participating Technical Demonstrators would need to specify learning outcomes, carry out risk assessments, seek area H&S supervisor’s approval before commencing training session(s).

The Technician Commitment Steering Group will carry out an evaluation of this pilot scheme once it has concluded to establish if/how it will be taken forward in the future years.

First published: 20 January 2023

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