The oft-forgotten workforce...

Not to come over all Life of Brian, but what have the technicians ever done for us?

I could spout on here about how they are the unsung heroes, the hidden workforce, the backroom army – there are so many well-trodden clichés, each an attempt to, linguistically at least, recognise the vital role technical staff play in science – but it’s not really good enough is it?

We have to do more – much more – not only to recognise the pivotal position of technicians in the ecosystem of scientific work, but also to bolster their numbers. They are in danger of becoming a dying breed. We need more young people to understand this is a career – not just a job – and an incredibly worthwhile and rewarding one at that. No longer should technical staff be treated as second class scientific citizens.

Actually I have a very personal take on what exactly technicians have done for me, and if you’ll indulge just a smidgen of nostalgia…

It was a technician who taught me how to remove oocytes from an African clawed frog, (pretty certain I could still do this…I mean I won’t, but I could – and that makes me feel strong).

A technician showed me how to make precise and delicate glass electrodes for electrophysiological investigations – without stabbing myself repeatedly in the face.

Then there was the ‘intervention’ which prevented me from destroying a vastly expensive electron microscope – again by a technician. The very same who later helped me when I actually destroyed a vastly expensive diamond knife.

It was the same laboratory, but a different technician who reminded me, in clear and forceful terms, that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea – “you know, from a health and safety perspective” – to store my lunch in the same fridge in which we kept tissue sections of mouse brain.

Now I appreciate this says more about me as a scientist than it does of the brilliant and varied roles of a technician – so much more than simply babysitting an ungainly and bungling student – but it does highlight a simple but often forgotten point. The real reason I offer my humble but genuine thanks to all the lab technicians that I have crossed paths with, and those that I haven’t, is that nothing – absolutely nothing – in laboratory science will happen without you.

And so here is a salute to you. To all the work you have done; but much more importantly perhaps to all the work you will do. It’s time science as a whole was much more overt about the pride with which you are regarded; and of course the pride you should feel over your many and varied roles.

So it is with complete pleasure that we at Lab News are throwing our support behind the Technicians make it happen campaign. Set up by the Gatsby Foundation, the campaign reminds young ambitious people that there has never been a better time to be a technician. And in conjunction with the careers resources and professional registration schemes for technicians offered by the Science Council this really is the case. It should be made clear to all what a great career path technical staff in science can embark on.

In this month's Big Ask we hear from senior technician Kelly Vere on why it is time for technicians to step into the limelight, and why we need to showcase technical roles in science to young people. Also please do have a look at our Technicians make it happen page which you will find under the ‘campaigns’ section of labnews.co.uk.

Phil Prime