HR Excellence in Research Award: the European Commission process

In order to gain the European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research Award, organisations are required to follow a five step process:

1. The institution conducts an internal analysis to compare practice against the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers (Charter and Code). Comparisons are made in areas such as ethics, training and recruitment
2. The institution publishes an action plan for implementing their strategy to fully adopt the principles of the Charter and Code
3. The Commission acknowledges the strategy. Once acknowledged, institutions can use the HR Excellence in Research logo
4. The institution carries out a self-assessment at least every two years to assess progress and update their action plan
5. At least every four years an external evaluation will take place. External reviewers can recommend improvements needed in order to retain the acknowledgement.

UK institutions can submit to the Award using the UK process.