ASE Summer 2025 Technicians Conference

An interactive session where attendees can experience observations with fruit flies with regard to genetic inheritance.

Based on our successful ASE Leadership Programme, this session will go through some key aspects to start you on developing your leadership skills as a science technician.

The session will look at leadership skills, working with others, difficult personalities and influencing others!

Links to the ASE Online Technician modules un autumn term '25 can be found on the ASE Events page

Come along and have a go and making some simple glass items to gain confidence when heating and bending glass.  You can keep everything you make, options will include delivery tubes, stirring rods, glass spreaders and U bend tubes amongst others.  If you have a glass cutter in your department – bring it with you!

My thanks go to the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers, without whose sponsorship this session may not have been possible.

This session will be a make and take where attendees will make their own bead box indicator which will then be used to explore the relationship between bonding and conductivity.

A chance to look at and try a variety of ways to adapt practical equipment and resources for students with different SEND. Some of these can also be beneficial to all learners. The session will comprise a short presentation followed by an opportunity to have a go - learn some science BSL, try using equipment with vision impairment glasses, and much more...!

Physics Round Robin – Power Up Your Physics Skills
Join us for an interactive Physics Round Robin workshop hosted by Alex Wu of Philip Harris. This hands-on session is designed specifically for science technicians. Whether you’re new to the role, returning to Physics, or a seasoned expert looking for fresh ideas.

Led by experienced Electronics Engineer and passionate STEM Ambassador Alex Wu, this workshop brings key Physics concepts to life through practical experimentation and peer-to-peer learning. You'll explore three stimulating activities: investigating energy stored in a capacitor, building and testing an electromagnet, and visualising a standing wave.

Each practical is chosen for its relevance to the Physics curriculum and ease of use in a school lab setting. Giving you the confidence to support and deliver exciting Physics practicals back in your own school. You'll move through the practicals in a round robin format, giving you time to get hands-on, ask questions, troubleshoot, and share best practice with fellow technicians. Whether you’re a Physics specialist or supporting across all sciences, this session offers practical tips, confidence-building experience, and the opportunity to connect with a community of like-minded colleagues.

Come along to boost your practical toolkit, swap ideas, and rediscover the spark that makes Physics exciting for learners of all levels.

Plants are a must in any thriving science department but they can be difficult to cultivate in the confines of the prep room.  Come and grab some useful tips on cultivation, propagation and general care to keep your plants lush and ready for lessons.  Bring any surplus cuttings for a plant swap too.

This session will explore the RPs for combined science and separate chemistry. There will be hints and tips for better outcomes and some alternatives you might use. There will also be an opportunity for attendees to share their own tips.

Join us for a presentation, workshop and Q&As all about LabLogger – the UK’s premier requisitioning platform. We’ll explore what LabLogger is all about, what makes it so popular, and how it can transform your department. We will then do a deep dive into LabLogger’s main features and how to get set up. The demonstration will be followed by Q&A.

This session aims at helping new technicians to develop their skills and knowledge to feel more confident and useful in delivering practical work to students and teachers. It will give participants a grounding in key areas to start their professional career pathways, covering what technicians should, and should not do, and how to develop core skills.

Embark on a hands-on adventure and join marine biologists in their quest to uncover the mystery of Luna's father! Meet Luna, an adorable whale calf, and become part of a passionate team determined to solve this heart-warming puzzle using gel electrophoresis and DNA fingerprinting where you will pour, load, and run a gel, capture gel image, analyse the results, and deduce a probable conclusion for a whale of a forensic mystery.

A hands-on session  that will showcase some KS3 and KS4 microscale practical favourites including food tests, electrolysis and testing for ions. Delegates will learn about the vast multitude of benefits that are felt by staff and students when taking this approach to practical work.

Open evening season is the time of year that we want our science departments to really shine, inspire and impress the public, but it can potentially also be a time where there is the more risk than usual. In this workshop we will look at the risks of having members of the public in our science labs, how best to manage that risk and keep everyone safe and implement demonstrations that will safely wow parents and students alike. I will present hands-on practicals that will aim to motivate and encourage those interested in what it can be like to learn science in a secondary or college setting.

This is a hands-on interactive session looking at the Physics Required Practical’s which teachers are reluctant to carry out since they are often wary of how they are set up, carried out and used to produce results.

We will focus on Force and Acceleration, Ohm’s Law and Specific Heat Capacity, although resources will be available to look at the other Physics Required Practical’s and it will also be a good opportunity for the sharing of ideas and best practices.