Tag: professionals

  • REF should be about technical professionals too

    REF should be about technical professionals too

    Every great discovery begins long before a headline or journal article.

    Behind every experiment, dataset, and lecture lies a community of highly skilled technical professionals, technologists, facility managers, and infrastructure specialists. They design and maintain the systems that make research work, train others to use complex equipment, and ensure data integrity and reproducibility. Yet their contribution has too often been invisible in how we assess and reward research excellence.

    The pause in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) is more than a scheduling adjustment, it’s a moment to reflect on what we value within the UK research and innovation sector.

    If we are serious about supporting excellence, we must recognise all those who make it possible, not just those whose names appear on papers or grants, but the whole team, including technical professionals whose expertise enables every discovery.

    Making people visible in research culture

    Over the past decade, there has been growing recognition that research culture, including visibility, recognition, and support for technical professionals is central to delivering world-class outcomes. Initiatives such as the Technician Commitment, now backed by more than 140 universities and research institutes, have led the way in embedding good practice around technical professional careers, progression, and recognition.

    Alongside this, the UK Institute for Technical Skills and Strategy (UK ITSS) continues to advocate for technical professionals nationally to ensure they are visible and their inputs are recognised within the UK’s research and innovation system. These developments have helped reshape how universities think about people, culture, and environment, creating the conditions where all contributors to research and innovation can thrive.

    A national capability – not a hidden workforce

    This shift is not just about fairness or inclusion, it’s about the UK’s ability to deliver on its strategic ambitions. Technical professionals are critical to achieving the goals set out in the UK Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy and to the success of frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum, engineering biology, advanced connectivity, and semiconductors. These frontier sectors rely on technical specialists to design, operate, and maintain the underpinning infrastructure on which research and innovation depend.

    Without a stable, well-supported technical professional workforce, the UK risks losing the very capacity it needs to remain globally competitive. Attracting, training, and retaining this talent necessitates that technical roles are visible and recognised – not treated as peripheral to research, but as essential to it.

    Why REF matters

    This is where the People, Culture and Environment (PCE) element of the REF becomes critical. REF has always shaped behaviour across the sector. Its weighting signals what the UK values in research and innovation. Some have argued that PCE should be reduced (or indeed removed) to simplify the REF process, ease administrative burden, or avoid what they see as subjectivity in the assessment of research culture. Others have suggested a greater emphasis on environment would shift focus away from research excellence, or that culture work is too challenging to consistently assess across institutions. But these arguments overlook something fundamental, that the quality of our research, the excellence we deliver as a sector, is intrinsically tied to the conditions in which it is produced. As such, reducing the weighting of PCE would send a contradictory message, that culture, collaboration, and support for people are secondary to outputs rather than two sides of the same coin.

    The Stern Review and the Future Research Assessment Programme both recognised the need for a greater focus on research and innovation environments. PCE is not an optional extra, it is fundamental to research integrity, innovation, and excellence. A justifiably robust weighting reflects this reality and gives institutions the incentive to continue investing in healthy, supportive, and inclusive environments.

    Universities have already made significant progress on this by developing new data systems, engaging staff, and benchmarking culture change. There is clear evidence that the proposed PCE focus has driven positive shifts in institutional behaviour. To step away from this now would risk undoing that progress and undermine the growing recognition of technical professionals as central to research and innovation success.

    Including technical professionals explicitly within REF delivers real benefits for both technical professionals and their institutions, and ultimately strengthens research excellence. For technicians, recognition within the PCE element encourages universities to create the kind of environments in which they can thrive – cultures that value their expertise, provide clearer career pathways, invest in skills, and ensure they have the support and infrastructure to contribute fully to research. Crucially, REF 2029 also enables institutions to submit outputs led by technical colleagues, recognising their role in developing methods, tools, data, and innovations that directly advance knowledge.

    For universities, embedding this broader community within PCE strengthens the systems REF is designed to assess. It drives safer, more efficient and sustainable facilities, improves data quality and integrity, and fosters collaborative, well-supported research environments. By incentivising investment in skilled, stable, and, empowered technical teams, the inclusion of technicians enhances the reliability, reproducibility, and innovation potential of research – ultimately raising the standard of research excellence across the institution.

    From hidden to central

    REF has the power not only to measure excellence, but to shape it. By maintaining a strong focus on people and culture, it can encourage institutions to build the frameworks, leadership roles, and recognition mechanisms that enable all contributors, whether technical, academic, or professional, to contribute and excel.

    In doing so, REF can help normalise good practice, embed openness and transparency, and ensure that the environments underpinning discovery are as innovative and excellence driven as the research itself.

    Technical professionals have always been at the heart of UK research. Their skill, creativity, and dedication underpin every discovery, innovation, and breakthrough. What’s changing now is visibility. Their contribution is increasingly recognised and celebrated as foundational to research excellence and national capability.

    As REF evolves, it must continue to reward the environments that nurture, develop, and sustain technical expertise. In doing so, it can help ensure that technical professionals are not just acknowledged but firmly established at the centre of the UK’s research and innovation system – visible, recognised, and vital (as ever) to its future success.

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  • How Healthcare Professionals Can Thrive in a Digital Era

    How Healthcare Professionals Can Thrive in a Digital Era

    Dr. Adam Goodcoff | Photos courtesy of MedFluencers

    Influencer and emergency medicine physician Dr. Adam Goodcoff shares insights on embracing AI and evolving career pathways to help healthcare professionals stay adaptable and future-ready.

    As someone who has successfully merged clinical practice with digital innovation, how do you believe emerging healthcare professionals can best position themselves to thrive in this evolving landscape?

    I think the best thing someone who’s coming up or even someone actively practicing now could do is keep an open mind and have a hunger for new skills and knowledge. Look at the way machine learning has come into our lives in the last two or three years. If you had asked a clinician three years ago if they found AI helpful, I don’t think they could even tell you where AI was in the mix. Today, there are tools like the ambient AI scribes and various platforms that are now making their way into healthcare. We need to have hunger and interest in the discovery of these new tools and consider how we could integrate them into our day-to-day workflow. I think having an open mind is the best way to do that. 

    What key skills or mindsets do you think are essential for those entering healthcare today?

    I think the mindset is really one of growth and opportunity. We’re entering a really interesting era, as I mentioned, with AI and medicine and tech enabling the workforce for healthcare providers. Even five years ago, it was an analog specialty. I mean, we were interacting with computers and using some dictation software, but nothing really advanced. In that short time span, we’ve accelerated that so much already. 

    What I would say to the learners and those coming into this career is to be hungry and be open to change. Medicine is well known for being slow to change and slow to adopt, and there are reasons for that; there’s safety and security in the way that we’ve done things. However, now at a time when innovation is so rapid, I think it’s important to consider the ways we might be able to integrate that into our workflow.

    Can you share some examples of how social media and digital platforms have created new career pathways within healthcare that might not have existed a decade ago? 

    I think the beauty around social media in healthcare is that we’ve now created an opportunity to educate our peers and patients in a direct-to-consumer space in a way that is faster and more direct than ever before. It’s really democratized health education. I think it’s an exciting time where real value can be brought and exchanged on social platforms.

    Healthcare workforce shortages are a pressing concern. How can innovative career models like those involving digital health communication help address these gaps while also enhancing patient care? 

    I’d be a bit biased answering this, but I think social media brings visibility to healthcare careers and brings some of the fun and discovery back into a career in healthcare. We have physicians and folks of all degrees really showing what life can be like in various career pathways. I found a lot of success in my own content by creating ways for learners to engage and test their skills and to feel rewarded in a friendly learning environment, where there was no pressure to formally study. That’s what we see at MedFluencers: These physicians and healthcare professionals are excited about reaching the next generation of learners, driving the adoption of new technologies and therapies faster, and getting that information in the right hands.

    Looking forward, what trends or opportunities do you foresee that healthcare students should be preparing for to maximize their impact and career satisfaction?

    I think healthcare careers are changing. From a technology side, there’s tremendous enablement, but also the way that the healthcare system works is constantly evolving. There are certainly things about the system that are broken, but there are things that are being fixed, and I think that goes back to my concept of keeping an open mind and being fluid or open to change around the way that a career looks. When I was in high school and thinking about being a physician, it’s different today than it was then. In an equal amount of time, it will be radically different again. We’re at such a quick evolutionary pace here.

     I’d invest in your own learning, especially understanding a bit more about machine learning and AI. I think it’s become a part of all of our lives, and there are so many folks who just quickly label it AI and write it off. What is the AI doing? Why is it different than traditional search? What are we doing differently with these tools?

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  • Job Descriptions – Research Professionals

    Job Descriptions – Research Professionals

    Job Description Index

    Research Professionals

    Developed with the help of volunteer leaders and member institutions across the country, The Job Descriptions Index provides access to sample job descriptions for positions unique to higher education.

    Descriptions housed within the index are aligned with the annual survey data collected by the CUPA-HR research team. To aid in the completion of IPEDS and other reporting, all position descriptions are accompanied by a crosswalk section like the one below.

    Crosswalk Example

    Position Number: The CUPA-HR position number
    BLS SOC#: Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation classification code
    BLS Standard Occupational Code (SOC) Category Name: Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation category title
    US Census Code#: U.S. Census occupation classification code
    VETS-4212 Category: EEO-1 job category title used on VETS-4212 form

    ***SOC codes are provided as suggestions only. Variations in the specific functions of a position may cause the position to better align with an alternate SOC code.

    Sample Job Descriptions

    Instructional Lab Manager

    Medical Sciences, Research Assistant

    Medical Sciences, Research Associate

    Physical Sciences, Research Associate

    The post Job Descriptions – Research Professionals appeared first on CUPA-HR.

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  • Technical professionals can offer more than support

    Technical professionals can offer more than support

    UK universities are under financial strain. As institutions look to restructure, reduce costs and rethink delivery, there’s a clear need to make better use of the talent that already exists within them.

    Technical professionals – highly skilled, deeply embedded and often misunderstood – are key to this. While often grouped under ‘professional services’, technicians occupy a distinct space in the university workforce. Their work spans research, teaching and operations, often in highly specialised or safety-critical environments. Recognising this distinction isn’t about drawing divisions, it’s about making sure roles are properly understood, supported and used to their full potential.

    At a time when universities must become more agile, efficient and sustainable, the contribution of technical professionals has never been more important.

    Technicians as problem-solvers in a time of reform

    Too often, technical teams are brought into conversations late, after decisions have been made, spaces reallocated, or budgets set. But these are the people who manage the infrastructure, operate the systems, and know what’s really happening on the ground.

    At the University of Nottingham, we’ve taken a different approach, bringing technical leaders into strategic planning early. This is already helping us avoid duplication and develop smarter, more joined-up technical support across the institution. By involving technical leaders from the outset, we’re able to align services more effectively and make better-informed decisions about how we support research and teaching activity.

    These aren’t just operational wins. They’re strategic enablers, unlocking resource savings, reducing risk and supporting more sustainable delivery of core activity.

    Smarter sharing, greater efficiency

    One of the clearest opportunities lies in how we share and manage resources, whether research labs, creative studios or teaching equipment. Technical professionals are central to this.

    We understand how facilities work, how to optimise them, and how to adapt usage models across disciplines. In some institutions, this has led to the creation of “research hotel” models – shared lab spaces managed by technical teams, improving access and utilisation while reducing the need for new investment.

    Nationally, the UK Institute for Technical Skills & Strategy is supporting this through initiatives like the ITSS Capability Showcase, which maps institutional technical facilities and strengths and promotes collaboration across the sector. It’s a model that supports smarter decisions – both within and between institutions.

    A distinct role in shaping what comes next

    Technical professionals sit at the intersection of research, teaching, innovation and operations. They lead facilities, deliver teaching, train students, and increasingly contribute directly to research outputs – from papers and software to exhibitions and datasets.

    In the face of restructuring, universities have a chance to rethink how these roles are supported. Fragmented structures and inconsistent career pathways don’t just affect individuals – they weaken our ability to plan for the future.

    A more strategic approach brings clarity, fairness and future-readiness. It supports succession planning, skills development, and the protection of specialist knowledge. It also helps retain exceptional people – many of whom could thrive in industry, but choose to stay in universities because of their commitment to education and discovery.

    The opportunity now

    Technical professionals aren’t simply support staff. They’re a distinct group within the wider university workforce – working at the intersection of research, education, innovation and operations. Their roles are different from those in professional services but not separate. Both are essential, and both must be recognised for their unique contributions.

    At a recent Technician Commitment event held at Queen’s University Belfast, representatives from institutions across the UK shared practical and strategic actions they believe could help universities weather the current financial crisis. Ideas ranged from income generation through technician-led consultancy and external training, to resource efficiency via equipment sharing and pooled maintenance contracts. Delegates highlighted the importance of breaking down institutional silos, promoting cross-disciplinary technical training and enabling technicians to access internal funding schemes.

    There was also a strong call for structural advocacy – recognising technicians as research enablers and challenging default organisational models that position technical teams within professional services by default. The message was clear: technicians are not a cost centre. They are a strategic asset in how universities respond to financial and operational challenges.

    In a sector facing difficult choices, the opportunity is to harness the full breadth of talent available. Technical professionals are ready – not just to support change, but to help lead it.

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