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We deliver world-class research that impacts the people living in our communities.
We aim to cultivate a vibrant and inclusive research ecosystem and entrepreneurial culture by developing the skills of our people whilst empowering and celebrating our diverse community.
We benefit our region’s population by better understanding the challenges they face and improving citizen engagement in our activity.
Midlands Innovation delivers initiatives to develop the skills of our people, from Early Career Researchers (ECRs), PostDocs, to technicians and research enablers. Through research and training the workforce of tomorrow, our universities improve the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of people in the Midlands, the UK and globally.
We have a rich and diverse workforce. Our partners collectively employ 7% of the UK’s academic workforce and 10% of the UK’s postgraduates (16,125 academics and 11,310 research students). There are 33,978 people employed across our eight universities and our university partners support 6% of all UK undergraduate students. (2021-22 HESA).
We tackle systemic challenges through collaboration (e.g. to improve research culture, support Early Career Researchers, develop research leaders) by securing new project investment and piloting novel approaches.
Since 2015 Midlands Innovation has helped to increase the visibility of our technical workforce, to recognise its excellence and support career development. Our eight universities were founding signatories of the Technician Commitment initiative and the UK Higher Education Technicians Summit (a biennial conference for the technical community and Papin Prizes).
The transformational programme launched in 2020 to advance status and opportunities for technicians in UK higher education and research. The TALENT Commission report has gathered new strategic insights into the UK’s technical workforce in higher education and research. Midlands Innovation universities have collectively committed to implementing the employer recommendations within their institutes, improving future technical skills, roles and careers for the 2,100 technicians in the Midlands Innovation community. Learn more at www.mitalent.ac.uk @MI_TechTALENT
C-DICE aims to build and sustain the advanced skills base required to create a pipeline of world-class talent for the Infrastructure, Cities and Energy (IC&E) sectors, and accelerate progress towards a net-zero society by 2050. The programme brings together the collective expertise of the UKCRIC universities with the partners of the Energy Research Accelerator, working alongside research associations, institutes, and many leading industrial partners. Learn more at https://www.cdice.ac.uk/ @CentreDice
ERA Skills provides a holistic energy-related skills provision to develop high-quality energy workforce; to create a diverse talent pipeline to secure the UK’s position as a leader in energy research and innovation; and to facilitate knowledge transfer between researchers and industry to help accelerate the downstream impact of ERA-related research. Learn more https://www.era.ac.uk/skills/
The roles that technicians do, usually behind the scenes, are vital in ensuring the success of our universities and research institutes, providing academic, research and student colleagues with the essential technical expertise that they need to enable their research and teaching.
Dr Kelly Vere MBE
University Director of Technical Strategy, University of Nottingham
‘Midlands Innovation nationally champions the critical role of technicians in higher education research and teaching. I am proud to represent Aston University on the MI Technical Managers Committee, and for the opportunity to represent the UK technical community as a Commissioner on the landmark TALENT Commission.’
Jiteen Ahmed
Head of Technical Service, Aston University
Commissioner, TALENT Commission
Collectively there are 16,125 academics (7% of the UK’s academic workforce) ,11,310 research students (10% of the UK’s postgraduates) and a technical community of around 2,100. Our eight universities support 121,190 undergraduate students (6% of the UK’s undergrads) and employ 33,978 (2021-22 data).
Our eight university partners are Technician Commitment signatories. They were founding signatories of the Technician Commitment, along with several other university partners, when the initiative launched in 2015.
By delivering ambitious, place-based initiatives, Midlands Innovation helps to tackle the region’s biggest challenges. Our collaboration works to champion and strengthen the region’s research and innovation ecosystem.
We catalyse new research collaborations across the Midlands Innovation membership, creating research communities for a purpose. We generate new ideas in partnership with regional stakeholders.
Our collaborative approach influences future prospects for the region. We shape and inform national and local policy through research and innovation projects we deliver together.
We deliver ambitious, large-scale collaborative research projects and develop renowned research programmes that create opportunities for the Midlands.
