Thank you to Sara Fletcher from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) for writing this feature on our work with CERN. Sara is the International Industrial Liaison and connects UK businesses with the Big Science supply chain.
Our MD, Ian Watson, recently attended an STFC event at the Harwell Research and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire and had the opportunity to catch-up with Sara about the work we are doing with CERN.
CERN's Learning and Development group has responsibility for developing the knowledge and skills of CERN’s staff through the CERN training programme, including more than two hundred different courses across several domains (Electrical, Electronics, Mechanical and Civil engineering, Information Technology, Physics and Material Science), training over 2,000 people per year.
Python is a high-level programming language widely used by the scientific community, and CERN is no exception. In 2022 CERN issued a tender to provide a three year training programme to embed a deep understanding of Python across the organisation.
What did CERN need?
CERN needed a company to create a bespoke training programme covering a broad range of applications and levels of experience, from introductory to technical specialists, and for staff to be able to follow a structured pathway to develop their skills. It was also important that the lessons were hands-on, application-based learning so students could apply their skills directly to projects they were already working on.
Why were Framework Training best placed to help?
Framework Training | B Corp™ were introduced to CERN through STFC's UK Industrial Liaison Office (UK ILO). Their experience in providing training in both public sector and corporate environments combined with a practical, hands-on approach put them in a good position to tender for the contract. Framework Training subsequently worked with CERN to develop a tailor-made course to be delivered both remotely and onsite in Geneva, adopting a customised approach to accommodate the needs of individuals from no technical or programming experience to developers learning advanced topics.
What’s it like working with CERN?
Collaboration and continuous improvement are a core part of the ethos at CERN, and that was reflected as the training programme was rolled out. CERN’s L&D team carefully assessed the suitability of the courses for potential delegates and alignment with their requirements. Once expressions of interest were received, Framework worked with CERN to fine-tune the course description as needed and designed it to align with business needs.
Ian Watson is Framework Training's Managing Director. He says, “Following each training session, CERN actively seek feedback on areas including course content, delivery method and the trainer’s teaching ability, which is shared with us directly. This means we can draw out key themes and put actions in place to develop and refine the programme as we go along, ensuring participants get the most value out of our sessions, and improving our offering.”
What was the impact on Framework Training?
Before being approached by the UK ILO, Framework Training had not identified Big Science organisations as a potential market. Now the company is proactively looking for new opportunities, including working with CERN in a wider capacity than Python-specific courses.
“Working closely with CERN continues to provide a fantastic calling-card for Framework Training. Being able to say that we are a trusted supplier to one of the world’s leading scientific projects is a hugely effective endorsement of the quality of our training services and has certainly opened doors for us that would previously have been tightly closed.”
Ian Watson, Framework Training