The Council of the EU has reached a consensus on enhancing the support structure for researchers and research careers within the EU.
The adopted Council recommendation on a European framework to attract and retain research, innovation and entrepreneurial talents in Europe is to provide further support to researchers and research careers in the EU and to contribute to a more attractive, open and sustainable European labour market for researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs, also appealing to foreign talents. It is part of the foreseen activities under ERA Action 4 of the ERA Policy Agenda and updates the R1-R4 profiles for researchers. Furthermore, it 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 and encourages all organisations employing or providing funding for researchers to endorse the updated version.
While the 2005 European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers provided support for researchers and research careers in the Union over several years, persistent issues demand more targeted interventions. Researchers, especially early in their careers, often encounter precarious employment and varying salaries, social protection and working conditions depending on the sponsoring funding body. Narrow assessments based solely on peer-reviewed publications hinder researchers to engage in activities like open science, inter-sectoral mobility, and entrepreneurship, stalling transitions to diverse employment sectors. Additionally, the prevailing academic training for PhD candidates is not necessarily conducive to alternative careers in other sectors. Further issues include the asymmetric mobility of researchers from East to West and South to North, as well as gender inequalities.
The recommendation primarily targets retaining talented researchers within the Union while positioning Europe as an appealing hub for global research talent. It redefines the term ‘researcher’ and delineates their multifaceted roles, accommodating diverse career trajectories spanning academia, business, public administration, or the non-profit sector. More specifically, the recommendation aims at: I. Enhance researchers’ working conditions, striving to counteract precarity and ensure a balanced work-life equilibrium; ii. Promote comprehensive social protection measures, particularly focusing on early-career researchers; iii. Foster interdisciplinary careers, entrepreneurship, and innovation, acknowledging the significance of diverse career paths; iii. Mitigate persisting inequalities in research careers and market challenges, such as a lack of intersectoral mobility opportunities and disparities based on gender, ethnicity, age, or socio-economic status.
However, some argue that although the recommendation marks an important step, it falls short of establishing a monitoring system for research careers and neglects to endorse a pilot funding scheme within the Horizon Europe funding scheme.
As for additional resources, there is the new European competence framework for researchers. The website is a tool that helps researchers assess and develop their transversal skills and guides higher education institutions and training providers to adapt their offer to researchers and employers to be aware of the wide set of competencies of researchers.
Finally, the potential loss of pension entitlements can pose a challenge encountered by numerous mobile researchers. There’s a genuine concern that researchers might face financial hardship during retirement. This challenge is being addressed by RESAVER. The cross-border pension fund supported by the EC is active in multiple EU/EEA member states but must comply with the same legislation as a local pension fund. Researchers can participate if their employer is part of RESAVER.