The working group on the career development of researchers was set up from the beginnings of EuroScience, under the name of “Young Scientists”. It takes into consideration the issues regarding the conditions and the circumstances that make a researcher’s career attractive in Europe, from its early stages.

It has been a priority for EuroScience to look into the general features and the problems concerning the structure and the development of a career in science and technology in today’s Europe. The importance of the human factor in research is evident to everybody, and concerns all disciplines, branches and sectors. The working conditions, the rights and the duties, the intellectual freedom, the material environment for the conduction of a fruitful scientific inquiry: they are all common elements for the profession of researcher, irrespective of the specific career and field chosen.

Europe is diverse in terms of political and economical backgrounds, and this affects obviously also the situation of researchers and the perception of their role and the social relevance of their work. The different conditions across Europe may give rise to the well known “migration” of scientists, and of other highly skilled professionals, within or outside Europe. This phenomenon should be considered in the context of the wider issue of the mobility of researchers – both geographical and sectoral – which is usually considered a positive element in the development of a researcher’s career, notably during the first stages. However, a one-sided mobility between countries, when considering statistical data, is a factor that manifests weaknesses in some systems and threatens the development of a sound and diffuse research base across the whole continent.

EuroScience, as a grassroot organisation of researchers, science managers and journalists, will dedicate specific efforts to the understanding of the factors affecting the career development of researchers in Europe and to improve the situation, within the scope of its influence and the boundaries of its activities.

The working group pursues several lines of activities, trying to come to specific results in terms of the understanding of the subject and the of elaborating EuroScience’s position:

• Explore the situation of the careers of researchers across Europe, with the help of EuroScience’s members and through the collection of official data and documents

• Special focus on the issues of mobility of researchers in Europe and the situation of young researchers

• Liaise with the EU institutions – and notably with the European Commission – in matters regarding the European policy for human resources in research and innovation

• Liaise with other European organisations active or interested on the same subject, like the European University Association, the European Science Foundation, Eurodoc, the Marie Curie Fellows Association

• Elaborate EuroScience’s position on the subject, preparing documents and specific studies

• Organize public events, promoting EuroScience’s stance on the subject