Whether it’s developing artificial-intelligence tools, clean technologies or medical treatments, governments around the world are seeking to leverage their research institutions and workforces to compete strategically with other nations.
The strategy behind one of the most successful labs in the world
Through our decades of leadership in research and development (R&D) in corporate settings, national laboratories and research universities, we’ve seen at first hand how one crucial acknowledgement — recognizing non-conventional career paths or roles — strengthens workforces1. Yet, too often, one group remains overlooked: skilled technical staff. The technicians who devise the instruments, techniques and materials that go hand in hand with scientific discoveries are often the unsung heroes of research. Numerous studies2–4 and historical cases5–7 in leading labs show how close collaborations between researchers with PhDs and technicians often lie behind major breakthroughs.
Today’s trailblazing research increasingly relies on technological advances, such as gene editing, high-performance computing or nanofabrication, creating a growing demand for technicians with specialized training, practical experience and the ingenuity to solve problems with complex instruments, equipment and software. In many areas, however, this demand exceeds supply. In the semiconductor industry, for example, only about 1,000 technicians enter the field in the United States each year8 — too few to supply the predicted 75,000 extra technicians needed for all manufacturing and research operations between 2024 and 2029 (see ‘Don’t take technicians for granted’).
Source: Ref.8
The boundaries between science and technology are increasingly blurring, and so, too, should those between doctoral-level researchers and technicians in research institutions. We urge leaders of institutions to remove conventional occupational boundaries between these groups. To achieve excellence, leaders should take three steps.
Learn from successful labs
Innovative research labs around the world have long orchestrated team-management synergies between doctoral-level researchers and technicians. We urge leaders to foster cultures — the shared values, assumptions, beliefs, norms and expectations that impact how their members think, behave and perform9 — that cultivate a sense of belonging in which all individuals, including technicians, are valued.
Examples of such institutes include: Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia2,3; the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK5; the original incarnation of Bell Labs2,3,6,7 in Murray Hill, New Jersey; and US National Science Foundation-funded Engineering Research Centers4,10,11 — a network of research hubs across US universities that work in partnership with industries.
Technicians at Janelia Research Campus are integral to the research process.Credit: HHMI Janelia Research Campus
Janelia, founded in 2006 by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, fosters close collaborations between life scientists, physicists, engineers and technicians. When it comes to recruitment, practical research experience can substitute for academic degrees, according to chemist Luke Lavis, who leads the molecular tools and imaging group at Janelia. For example, engineer Dan Flickinger “doesn’t have a PhD but is the brains behind many of the microscopes developed at Janelia. He is an expert optical engineer who simply makes things work”, Lavis told us.
Leaders can learn from Janelia’s approach, which includes a strategic focus on projects that require patience and sustainable financial resources, encouraging commitment by personnel to be physically present at Janelia at least 75% of the time, and prioritizing collaborations between researchers and technicians for tool building. One example of its success involved major developments in protein biosensors, which required technicians who could carry out painstaking work over long periods, and support through deep financial resources2.
Want to speed up scientific progress? First understand how science policy works
Cambridge’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology has an exemplary history of facilitating a feedback loop between scientists and technicians. Principal investigators act as interpreters to translate scientific terms into technical engineering requirements to develop research instruments5. Cryo-electron microscopy, for example, a technique to create 3D images of biological molecules, was developed by integrating software and advanced cooling techniques. Rather than being supervised by one individual, this work was carried out by a self-organized multidisciplinary team of scientists and technicians who collaborated in iterative steps and adjustments.
