NTDC Technician Development Fund
Applications for the 2022/2023 round of funding are now closed
Successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified on 15th March
The NTDC Technician Development Fund (TDF) is one of many member benefits for Partner Affiliates (PAs). Please click here to see if your organisation is a PA. The Technician Development fund provides technical staff with an opportunity to access funding to support innovative technical initiatives. The National Technician Development Centre is pleased to announce the launch of two call-outs for technicians to access funding opportunities in 22/23. In the 21/22 funding, we had tremendous winning projects in the areas of digital technology, and outreach. For 22/23, we are pleased to be revisiting outreach for a second year alongside an exploration into reproducibility in research.
There are two funding opportunities available:
- Technicians Improving The Reproducibility In Research
- Promoting Technical Careers to the Next Generation
Applications opened on 5th Dec 2022 and closed on 28th Feb 2023. To find out more about each funding opportunity, see below.
Click here to read about the successful applications for our 2021/2022 funding.
Technicians Improving The Reproducibility In Research
In recent years the problem of reproducibility in research has been highlighted. There are various viewpoints on reproducibility, for example, generating the same data using the same methodology or coming to the same conclusion about a hypothesis using different methodology. Some solutions to this problem have already been proposed, such as more open research and this will no doubt help enormously. But what else can be done, and specifically, what can we do as a technical community to assist in making research more reproducible? Technicians and technologists are uniquely placed being “hands on” with the materials under investigation, the technology, the methodology, the infrastructure and of course the training of other colleagues. This surely means that we can be impactful in some way in this space.
The NTDC are partnering with the United Kingdom Reproducibility Network (UKRN) to explore this question further. We are offering to fund a technician-led project of up to £1000, that aspires to make a positive impact on reproducibility.
Applications will be judged on the following criteria:
Creativity and Innovation:
- This can be a totally new approach or using an existing idea in a new context
What impact will your project have on:
- The technical community
- The reproducibility of the methodology or technology
- Future training of colleagues
Applications will be reviewed by a panel of NTDC and UKRN staff, and the winners will be notified by the 15th March 2023. The project start and finish dates are required to be within 1st April 2023 and 31st Aug 2023 (including final presentation of project outcomes to the NTDC). The NTDC will require an end of project meeting which will take place in August 2023 where you will showcase the outcome and impact of your project. The NTDC will publish this on the website and the project may also inform part of a report. Winners of this funding will present their project outcomes at the NTDC Partner Forum, on September 6th 2023.
Promoting Technical Careers to the Next Generation
After the successful project of 21/22 funding winner Russell Wilson’s virtual exhibition, Technicians: The Next Generation, and Dr Karen Bailey-Smith’s Mini Open Day for Careers at Hallam we are thrilled to once again offer funding for a project within technical outreach. The NTDC is offering funding to the value of £500 (per project) to a technician or group of technical staff to design and develop an Outreach/Public Engagement activity, which supports the promotion of technical careers to the next generation, with a particular emphasis on recruiting individuals from underrepresented groups to technical careers. Applicants may wish to collaborate with technical staff outside of their team.
Applications will be judged on the following criteria:
- Transferability across disciplines
- Adaption of the delivery model to suit a wide range of audiences (children aged 6 years to 16 years and their families)
- Cost effectiveness of resources required and their availability
- Ability to reach a large audience
- Potential impact of the project
Applications will be reviewed by a panel of NTDC staff and the winners will be notified by the 15th March 2023. The project start and finish dates are required to be within 1st April 2023 and 31st Aug 2023 (including final presentation of project outcomes to the NTDC). The NTDC will require an end of project meeting which will take place in August 2023 where you will showcase the outcome and impact of your project. The NTDC will publish this on the website and the project may also inform part of a report. Successful project teams will be welcomed to present their project at the NTDC Partner Forum, on September 6th 2023.