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European Charter and Code
Background
The European Commission adopted a recommendation in March 2005 on a 'European Charter for Researchers' and a 'Code of Conduct for the recruitment of researchers', which provide a set of general principles and requirements that specify the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders with regard to research careers.
These are built on the basis that enhanced career prospects provide:
- an incentive for individuals to remain within research careers and stay in Europe
- a more content and motivated workforce that incurs economic benefits to employing organisations and to Europe more widely
- a positive public attitude towards the researchers' profession, and therefore encourage more young people to embark on careers in research.
The European Commission HR Excellence in Research badge
The European Charter for Researchers
The Code of Conduct for the recruitment of researchers
Charter & Code implementation becomes part of EURAXESS services
UK joins European Institutional Human Resources Strategy Group (July 2009)
Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (November 2008)
Charter and Code survey (May 2007)
Charter & Code UK gap analysis (November 2006)
Follow-up conference on the Charter and Code, Vienna (June 2006)
Proceedings of the UK Presidency Conference on the European Charter and Code (September 2005)
The European Charter for Researchers
The European Charter for Researchers is a set of general principles and requirements which specify the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers as well as of funders and/or employers of researchers. The aim of the Charter is to ensure that the nature of the relationship between researchers and funders/employers is conducive to successful performance in generating, transferring, sharing and disseminating knowledge and technological development and to the career development of researchers. It also pays tribute to all forms of mobility as a means for enhancing the professional development of researchers.
The Code of Conduct for the recruitment of researchers
The Code of Conduct for the recruitment of researchers includes a set of basic principles that should be followed by funders and/or employers when appointing or recruiting researchers.
These principles should ensure values such as transparency of the recruitment process and equal treatment of all applicants, in particular with regards to the European dimension of a research labour market, and are as such complementary to the European Charter for Researchers.
Institutions and employers adhering to the Code of Conduct will openly demonstrate their commitment to be a fair, responsible and respectable employer with a clear intention to contribute to the advancement of the European Research Area.
UK HEI alignment with the European Charter and Code and use of European Commission ‘HR excellence in research' logo (updated July 2011)
A UK-wide process enables UK HEIs to gain the European Commission's ‘HR excellence in research' badge, which acknowledges their alignment with the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for their Recruitment. The UK process incorporates both the 'QAA Code of Practice for Research Degree Programmes' and the 'Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers' to enable institutions that have published Concordat implementation plans to gain the ‘HR excellence in research' badge. The UK approach includes ongoing national evaluation and benchmarking.
For UK HEIs data from the ‘Higher education institution's strategic response to the Concordat' is presented alongside links to published Concordat implementation strategies or action plans.
The first ten institutions (Aston, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Exeter, Heriot-Watt, Newcastle, Queen Margaret University (Edinburgh), Reading, Salford and York) to gain the European Commission badge were announced in September 2010 at the Vitae Researcher Development Conference.
The second 13 UK institutions to achieve this recognition (Aberdeen, Aberystwyth, Bristol, Cambridge, De Montfort, Glasgow, Hertfordshire, Leeds, London School of Economics, Loughborough, Edinburgh Napier, Swansea and the Institute of Cancer Research) were announced at the end of 2010. They joined just 13 other European universities which had gained the formal recognition from the European Commission at that time.
The next tranche of UK submissions need to be received on Friday 28 October.
Charter & Code implementation becomes part of EURAXESS services
The EURAXESS ‘Researchers in Motion' site is a one-stop shop for researchers seeking to advance their careers and personal development by moving to other countries. In addition to the information on training and jobs, this electronic gateway is the entry point to a wealth of practical information on living, working and relaxing in the European countries involved.
The EURAXESS web-site is composed of four main sections devoted to four specific initiatives for researchers - jobs, services, rights (which now includes the European Charter and Code) and links.
Further information about EURAXESS http://www.vitae.ac.uk/policy-practice/1704/Researchers-mobility-portals.html
UK joins European Institutional Human Resources Strategy Group (July 2009)
The European Commission have created a new group to support the implementation of the C&C at institutional level (this replaces a European Charter and Code promoters networks which ran between October 2008 and April 2009). It will meet for the first time in Warwick on 7 September 2009.
Vitae (on behalf of and in liaison with RCUK, UUK, the British Council and UK HEIs) intends to take part in the 'Human Resources Strategy Group'.
(declaration of participation)
The UK is committed to agreeing a process which acknowledges that implementation of the Code and Charter will be through UK practice and initiatives, particularly the QAA code of practice for research degree programmes and the UK ‘Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers'. We are committed to a process which will be equivalent to, and ensures UK HEIs' alignment with, the objectives of the ‘HR Strategy for Researchers Incorporating the Charter and Code' by 2010. We anticipate that this process will include full dialogue with the Commission.
Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (November 2008)
The 'HR Strategy for Researchers' is a mechanism to support the implementation of the Charter & Code by research institutions. This aims to help by increasing their attractiveness to researchers such that they would then be identified as a stimulating and favorable working environment.
The mechanism sets out a five step process through which institutions can gain recognition from the Commission for their HR strategies. It also states that where national process already exist (as for example, the 'UK Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers' ), these mechanisms may be considered as equivalent to the 'HR Strategy for Researchers', provided that they serve the same purposes with respect to the Charter & Code and some key requirements are met. In particular, in addition to the formal endorsement of the C&C principles, these initiatives should include an institutional internal analysis relating to the C&C, the results of which (including the planned actions) should be made public; the implementation of the planned actions is self-assessed and then every 4th year an external evaluation should take place.
Charter and Code survey (May 2007)
The European Commission launched a survey targeted at researchers to explore the progress on implementation and the level of awareness of the Charter and Code across Europe. Less than a half of respondents were sufficiently aware of the European Charter and Code and two thirds say that unless the Charter and Code were legally-binding it was unlikely to be implemented.
Read more about the consultation
Charter & Code UK gap analysis (November 2006)
Universities UK and Research Councils UK together with a sector working group published the results of a mapping exercise of the European Charter and Code against existing legislation, guidelines and good practice in the UK in order to provide a comprehensive gap analysis.
The working group included wide stakeholder representation and the analysis demonstrated that the UK broadly meets the requirements of the European Charter and Code for Researchers. The resultant UK gap analysis of the European Charter and Code uses a 'traffic-light' system to help institutions to identify actions to take to align themselves with the Code and Charter.
The gap analysis was used to develop the revised UK Concordat for the career development of researchers.
Follow-up conference on the Charter and Code, Vienna (June 2006)
The Austrian Presidency hosted a follow-up conference to the UK GRAD Programme London conference on the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the recruitment of researchers called: 'A Researchers' labour market: Europe a pole of attraction?'. Janet Metcalfe from the UK GRAD Programme presented an update of the UK's progress in mapping the Charter and Code against UK legislation, guidelines and practice. Read the Vienna Charter and Code conference report (June 2006).
Proceedings of the UK Presidency Conference on the European Charter and Code (September 2005)
This conference was one of the events in the programme of the UK Presidency of the European Union (July to December 2005). It was organised by the UK GRAD Programme in collaboration with the, then, UK Office of Science and Technology (now DIUS), the UK Research Councils, and the European Commission, Directorate General for Research.
The conference was an opportunity to review and discuss the implementation of the Charter and Code, and identify ways to move the agenda forward. Read the European Charter and Code conference report (2005).
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