A national leadership programme designed for women technical professionals in higher education and research has received the highly acclaimed Princess Royal Training Award.
The Herschel Programme for Women in Technical Leadership has been recognised for outstanding training and skills development, resulting in exceptional benefits for participants.
1140 women from more than 120 different organisations have completed the six-month programme since it launched in 2021, which is delivered by the UK Institute for Technical Skills & Strategy, hosted by the University of Nottingham.
Funded by Research England, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the leadership programme was developed to improve workforce diversity and address the lack of women in technical leadership and management roles.
The programme’s impact during five years has been undeniable:
- Over 90% of participants felt the Herschel Programme had increased their confidence in leading and communicating effectively
- 87% felt more empowered in their role
- 89% felt more positive about their career as a technical professional
- 41% had had a promotion or role grade increase since starting the programme
- HESA data analysis indicates the percentage of technical leaders who are women had increased from 31% to 45% between 2019 and 2024.
Dr Kelly Vere MBE, Co-Director for the UK Institute for Technical Skills & Strategy and University Director of Technical Strategy for the University of Nottingham spearheaded this programme which was co-designed by the learning and development team from University of Nottingham, the Midlands Innovation TALENT programme and technical professionals. She said:
“As a woman technical leader, I’m incredibly proud to have worked with colleagues across the sector to develop and deliver the Herschel Programme in response to the underrepresentation of women in technical leadership roles across higher education and research.
“Technical professionals are fundamental to the success of research, innovation and education, yet often lack access to leadership development opportunities. Herschel was created to address this gap.
“Hearing the impact on participants is incredibly inspiring. We hear time and again how Herschel has strengthened confidence, developed leadership capability and supported women to take the next steps in their careers. Five years on, we are also beginning to see a real shift, with more women progressing into senior technical leadership roles across the sector.
“That is testament to every single Herschel participant and alumna, and to the fantastic team behind the programme whose commitment, expertise and belief in what we are trying to achieve have made Herschel what it is today. This Princess Royal Training Award is wonderful recognition of that collective effort, and I am enormously proud of what we have achieved together.”
The Herschel Programme for Women in Technical Leadership is one of 56 training programmes recognised in the 2026 Princess Royal Training Awards.
A prestigious award ceremony is being held to celebrate the winners with the Princess Royal in January 2027.
Read more about the 2026 Princess Royal Training Award winners
UK technical professionals in higher education and research institutes can register their interest to find out more about future programme dates. Click here
Notes to editors:
The award is run by the City & Guild’s Foundation and rewards organisations which make a positive and measurable impact through learning and development.
The Princess Royal Training Awards were launched in 2016. Since then, 527 Awards have been presented to 336 organisations, who have collectively trained over 900,000 people.
Applications are assessed by a team of independent and experienced assessors via a robust and rigorous application process, which includes evidence backed written application and online interview with an assessor and City & Guild’s representative.
The award was launched in 2016 and over 470 awards have been awarded to over 280 organisations, ranging from large global organisations to smaller not-for-profit and public sector organisations. Recent past participants from the HE and Research sector include; Advance HE Aurora Programme, Catapult Cell & Gene Therapy, Durham University, and University of York. Recipients from other sectors include; Lloyds Banking Group, IBM, JCB, Asda, Balfour Beatty, HMRC, Metropolitan Police, Scope, and London Zoo.