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Rubele Renzo, Convenor, Euroscience Career Development Work Group
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Career Development of Young Researchers
Presentation
The working group Young 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.
Overall Aim of the Young Researchers Work Group
- In lines with the aim of Euroscience, the Young Researchers work group aims to:
- Be the voice of young researchers in Europe
- Provide a platform where young researchers, politicians and other stakeholders can discuss
- To bring members together to contribute to ongoing projects on issues of interest to young researchers
- To produce statements, position papers etc with the support of the Governing Board concerning the situation of young researchers
- To address vital challenges for young researchers
- To raise awareness of research and science related issues to young persons
- To work with and support Euroscience in order to achieve the organisation’s mission and goals
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.
- Maintaining the role as an observer, contributor and guardian of EU policies in this field, that Euroscience has gained through its historical role at the beginning of the Millennium in pushing for them and discussing their contents
- Keeping researchers’ communities connected via specific social network instruments
Activities
Special activities
Euroscience would like to hear the Voice of Young Researchers on their career development! Please find the questionnaire at:
N.B.:
The questionnaire is currently in a trial phase, we would appreciate if your comments to improve it. Your opinion on the practical navigation to the European cultural differences, any suggestion would be welcome. To do so, please use the following dedicated form:
Feedback on the Eurocience questionnaire on Young researchers career development
We would appreciate if you do not diffuse the present version as it is a test version.
ERA policies in the field of the career development of researchers will continue to be developed, and implemented in partnership with EU member states, according to the timing and the decisions taken under the aegis of the so called Ljubljana Process. We will seek to remain informed on the development of these policies, and we will keep the Governing Board abreast of them, in particular with a view to taking positions and starting initiatives. We will maintain our contacts with the Commission (DG Research and DG Education and Culture) on these issues, and we will take part in the forthcoming Conference “Career and Mobility of the Researcher” in the calendar of the Belgian Presidency of the EU:
http://www.researcherscareer2010.be/
We will contribute to a round table on “Shaping the future of Marie Curie actions” at a Marie Curie Conference organised by DG Education and Culture in Brussels on the 9-10 of December 2010:
http://europa.eu/eucalendar/event/id/164069-marie-curie-conference/mode/window
A specific position of Euroscience on a piece of EU policy under development is already planned, regarding the issuing of comments to a “European Research Career structure” document prepared by a WG of the Steering Group for Human Resources and Mobility meeting at the Commission (in the context of the ERA Governance and policy work). Deadline is fixed for the 1st of February 2011.
Information on the ERA policies in this field will be provided to those members asking for it; general references will be given in the web pages of the WG.
We will also touch upon issues related to the wider scope of the WG, namely research evaluation and researchers appraisal, pursuing activities depending on situations - an invitation as speaker/discussant at a Seminar in Oxford on 9 November 2010 has been already accepted:
http://www.efc.be/News/Pages/ResearchEvaluationWorkshop.aspx
Contacts with other stakeholders in the field (ESF, EUA, Eurodoc, MCFA, etc.) will be maintained and further strengthened.
We will propose and promote the setting up of a forum for young researchers in the form of a social network meeting place, aimed at young researchers, people working with issues related to young researchers, and young persons interested in research, to share ideas and information (see attachment for more detailed information).
We will propose and discuss the possibility of setting up of a specific Fellowship programme for researchers, to educate and inform researchers on the process of policy making and to support policy makers with scientific expertise and analysis which will result in more evidence based policies (see attachment for detailed information).
We will seek to contribute to the Career Programme of ESOF 2012, including of its organisational phase.
We will try to involve more grass-root members in discussions/opinions via the mailing-list, and publish something on the web pages of the WG, and for the Euroscientist.
During 2010 we have mostly been following the European policies in this field, namely the European Research Area’s single market for researchers, including the activities promoted by the European Commission under the scope of the “European Partnership for Researchers” and of the “Human Resources Strategy for Researchers Incorporating the Charter & Code” aiming at an effective institutional implementation (or consideration) of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their Recruitment:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/areas/researchers/researchers_en.htm
http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/index.cfm/rights/indexA sub-section of the European policies in this field regards the area of doctoral education, which is a specific element of ERA policies and programmes (in particular of the Research Framework Programme) but also a topic dealt with in the Bologna Process/EHEA political cooperation.
We have also been following the activities by other European stakeholders in the field.
We attended the launch events by LERU (League of European Research Universities) of its position papers “Harvesting talent: strengthening research careers in Europe”, held in Brussels on 4 February 2010, “Doctoral degrees beyond 2010: Training talented researchers for society”, on 3 March 2010, and of its advice paper “Improving the social security of internationally mobile researchers: Analysis and recommendations” on 29 April 2010.
We have been following various sessions of the ESOF Career Programme in Turin, keeping contacts with young researchers. We maintained our relationships with Eurodoc and with MCFA. We also established contact with the ERC and have followed relevant activities in this field by EUA and ESF.
We gave an interview to a freelance journalist (Nic Fleming) writing an article for Research*EU on the topic of pensions arrangements for mobile researchers (beginning of September).
We attended an EURAXESS event on its current initiatives and prospects, held in Brussels on 5 October 2010.
With a view to our future projects, we established a loose network of people that would like to contribute to the young researchers’ forum, and tested different platform options for it.
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
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