Technical Platform for Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (T-PIKE)

Technicians play an essential role in university research, particularly in the sciences: they are responsible for maintaining and controlling highly-specialised equipment, planning and conducting experiments, collecting and analysing data, and interpreting results. It is through their work that discoveries are made, which are often developed by industry to benefit the UK's economy and its competitiveness in the world.
However, technicians are often not included in discussions between researchers and industry, and don't get the training or support they need to actively do so. Given the technical knowledge and skills they have within the discipline, universities and industry would benefit hugely if they were involved. It would also empower technicians so that they themselves could develop and lead on research and knowledge exchange ideas and activities.
The Technical Platform for Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (T-PIKE) will solve this by creating a training, secondment and placement programme for technicians. This will give them the knowledge and experience to engage fully with industry, but will also provide entry-level opportunities to bring new apprentices into the sector, which will ensure that the profession is sustainable, safeguarding the future of cutting-edge research in UK labs.
Importantly, technicians themselves will actively lead T-PIKE, working with academics and managers to make sure the programme is effective, efficient, and productive. It will start on a regional scale, with the Eastern Arc universities of Essex, East Anglia (UEA) and Kent forming the core of the programme. It will be an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of the training and exchanges, before opening them up on a national basis.
Being based in the Eastern Arc region is a significant plus for the programme, as the greater south east is leading the UK in virtual reality and carbon-neutral energy production. We will focus on these areas, building on our regional strengths to...