The University of Nottingham celebrated the inaugural Higher Education Technicians’ Summit on Tuesday 30th June.
Papin Prizes, a series of awards that are said by the University to “publically celebrate the skills, talent and experience of technicians from M5 Universities”, were handed to technicians at the event, held in association with five research-intensive universities from the Midlands, and the Science Council.
The awards were based on seven strands of criteria, including ‘success’, ‘inspiration’, ‘innovation’ and ‘student experience’.
“celebrating the achievements, skills and expertise of university technical staff”
Kelly Vere, Conference Chair, said: “The Summit is the first of its kind – celebrating the achievements, skills and expertise of university technical staff”.
Victoria Wilson, a laboratory technician at the University of Nottingham, was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award. Her successes include a pivotal contribution to the discovery of DNA fingerprinting, working alongside Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys of the University of Leicester.
“I cannot think of anybody more richly deserving of this recognition”
Speaking of Victoria’s award, Sir Alec said: “I cannot think of anybody more richly deserving of this recognition. [She] contributed enormously to our research initially on gene evolution and then into and beyond the work that lead to the first DNA fingerprint”.
Further successful technicians from the University of Nottingham included Lisa Storer, who won an award for Contribution to Research, Mike Beard for Facility and Equipment Management, and Val Street for Working with Business. Aziza Alibhai and Neil Barnes were also presented with awards for Community and Outreach respectively.
Professor Sir David Greenaway, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham, was a keynote speaker at the event which attracted over 400 guests.
Tamsin Parnell
Image: Abd allah Foteih via Flickr
