Agnes Michalik RSci, Registrant Champion

Organising an event about professional registration

I prepared and delivered an interactive, professional registration workshop at our inaugural Technicians’ Conference at the University of Southampton. It was a one-day event for technicians to showcase their work, celebrate success stories, and celebrate the contribution made by technicians toward teaching, research, enterprise, and knowledge exchange.

The workshop included outlining the benefits of professional registration and discussing common problems. We discussed how to decide which professional body and which award is right for you. We looked at how to make an application, and where to look for more information and assistance with the process and competencies forms. Over 52 colleagues attended the workshop.

This conference allowed us to meet colleagues from all faculties and attend workshops about opportunities and projects led by technicians at Southampton. The conference also included a poster session to celebrate the work and raise the profile of our technicians.

We also celebrated the success of our technicians who achieved Professional Registration as part of the Science Council’s Employer Champion Programme, which was run at the University of Southampton for the first time. Alongside, the university was presented with the Science Council Employer Champion Award which is given to organisations that are actively promoting professional development through professional registration.

As I am a Science Council Common Application Process (CAP) Assessor, it was a pleasure to share my knowledge and experience with regard to the process of Professional Registration. I feel that our first conference was a success. We had no major technical issues, and the food was very good!