An approved implementation of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers is rewarded the HR Excellence in Research Award from the European Commission. This signifies that a university utilises open, transparent and merit-based recruitment of researchers, offers good working conditions and supports career development for its researchers.
"The HR Excellence in Research Award is a signal to researchers that a university is an attractive employer and increases the possibility to recruit high quality researchers," says Deputy Vice-Chancellor Dieter Müller.
An inventory of the existing situation
In 2019, a project will be conducted to develop the application to join HRS4R. Central in this project is an inventory of existing rules, policies and ongoing development projects at Umeå University followed by an analysis of how these compare with the Charter & Code. The inventory includes conversations with researchers from different faculties and with representatives for personnel and research administration.
"The HRS4 process is a framework for collecting and displaying different initiatives regarding recruitment, working conditions and career development as well as for long-term development," says Lars Nordlander, Director of Human Resources.
The developing application will be discussed in existing meeting forums during 2019.
A national process
Presently, more than 480 higher education institutions and research organisations have received the HR Excellence in Research Award, including four Swedish universities (Jönköping University, Luleå University of Technology, Uppsala University, and Örebro University). In 2016, the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions (SUHF) called for Swedish higher education institutions to endorse the Charter & Code. Amongst other potential advantages for the institutions, SUHF emphasised development of knowledge and experience exchange in research, positioning as competitive employers as well as strengthened opportunities to receive EU funding. SUHF has also held seminar series on HRS4R and several Swedish universities are preparing for or have entered the application process.
Project page and project plan
If you have any questions, please contact:
Jessica Eriksson