Council reaches political agreement on how to keep, attract and retain research, innovation

The Council has reached a political agreement on a recommendation to provide further support to researchers and research careers in the European Union and to contribute to a more attractive, open and sustainable European labour market for researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs, also appealing for

It is part of an array of EU acts that, for the past two decades, have been putting in place the European Research Area (ERA) and implementing the ERA Policy Agenda. Today’s political agreement updates the R1-R4 profiles for researchers, introduced in 2011, and introduces the European Charter for Researchers, which is a revision of the 2005 European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers.


With this act, we are setting up standards that will guide Member States, research organisations, funders and stakeholders in increasing stability and attractiveness of research careers in Europe. To reach this goal we need to better coordinate our national policies on Research and Innovation; and we also need to involve all talented researchers, regardless of gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, socioeconomic origin or any other circumstances by effectively addressing persisting inequalities in research careers.

Diana Morant Ripoll, Spanish Minister for Science, Innovation and Universities

Recommendation content

The recommendation aims at retaining talented researchers in the Union, and at making Europe an attractive destination for research talents from around the world. It revisits the definition of ‘researcher’ and the description of the activities that researchers undertake, ensuring that it encompasses the widest range of career options. It seeks to promote inter-sectorial and interdisciplinary careers, entrepreneurship and innovation by properly acknowledging the relevance of all the different career paths for researchers, including academia, business, public administration, or the non-profit sector.

More specifically, the recommendation aims at:

  • improving researchers’ overall working conditions and environment, ensuring a work-life balance, and countering precarity
  • promoting adequate social protection measures, with a particular focus on early-career researchers
  • fostering inter-sectoral mobility and a real flow of talents among sectors by equipping researchers with transversal skills, in addition to strong research skills and contributing to addressing the market demand for highly-skilled talents
  • addressing persisting inequalities in research careers (e.g. based on gender, age, ethnic, national or social origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, language, disability, political opinion, social or economic condition) and market challenges (e.g. lack of intersectoral mobility opportunities)

The recommendation also revises the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers, dating back to 2005, and encourages all organisations employing or providing funding for researchers to endorse the new “European Charter for Researchers” thereby introduced.

Finally, the recommendation frames the profiles of researchers under four profile groups and suggests examples of occupations across these profiles. Additionally, it brings forward the significance of research managers’ and research technicians’ careers and their key role in the performance of high-level research and innovation.

Background

The Council recommendation 2005/251/EC on the European Charter for Researchers and on a Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers provided support for researchers and research careers in the Union over several years. The Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers have been reference points for researchers and employers or funders of researchers, contributing to strengthening the European Research Area.

However, outstanding issues that require more targeted and effective measures remain. Across Europe, researchers (especially early-career researchers) often find themselves in a precarious position regarding employment and working conditions. Salaries, social protection and working conditions can vary significantly depending on the sponsoring funding body. Furthermore, there has been a lack of significant progress in supporting the transition of researchers to broader employment sectors outside academia, or towards the creation of own start-ups and innovation. This is largely due to the narrow means of assessing researchers based on exclusively peer-reviewed publications. As a consequence, it is difficult for researchers to engage in activities such as open science, inter-sectoral mobility and entrepreneurship, citizen science and outreach, as these activities will likely not be beneficial for an academic career. Moreover, most PhD candidates are trained in an exclusively academic environment, which is not necessarily conducive to alternative careers in other sectors. Other issues include the asymmetric mobility of researchers from East to West and South to North, as well as persisting gender inequalities.