What challenges and measures are involved in implementing the European Research Career Framework?

FCT and INESC TEC, in cooperation with the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD), promoted a European workshop within the framework of Action 4 –Research Careers of theERA Policy Agenda, focusing on the existing package of measures and instruments to support the necessary cultural and institutional changes. At this workshop, the EC announced that it will open Calls research careers across Europe for the first time, under the WIDERA funding program of Horizon Europe.

The Call – Talent Ecosystems for Attractive Early Careers in Research (or in the original version Talent Ecosystems for Attractive Early Careers) – is a €20 million pilot project that aims to support organizational change and coordinate measures in academic and non-academic organizations. This measure will enable the creation of a talent ecosystem with a wide range of R&D-related positions and will provide cross-sector career opportunities for talent in this area.

The facilities of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto brought together institutional leaders, research executives, researchers, managers, human resources management specialists, and representatives of Action 4 to provide information on existing and planned measures in the new European framework. The welcome was given by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of INESC TEC, João Claro, Jaime Cardoso, also from INESC TEC and Vice-President of the Scientific Council of FEUP, Manuel Aleixo, Director at the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG R&I), Madalena Alves, President of FCT, and Luísa Henriques, also from FCT, who served as host.

This workshop—the third organized in Portugal on the topic of the European Research Career Framework since the beginning of 2023—was attended by 307 representatives from universities, ministries, research institutions, the European Commission, and European associations representing 17 Member States, two countries associated with Horizon Europe, and two third countries. National participation covered the entire country, with a wide variety of institutions represented.

There were four sessions, which resulted in several conclusions and suggestions for future action and a series of conclusions.

The European framework for scientific careers

The first session, on the European framework for scientific careers, began with a general presentation of the framework approved by the European Commission, moderated by Eugénio Campos Ferreira, vice-rector of the University of Minho, and testimonials from Dario Capezzuto, Policy Officer at DG R&I, and Luísa Henriques. The second part focused on sharing experiences in the adoption of the new framework by Member States and was moderated by João Claro. Data from 2022 revealed that there were 2 million researchers in Europe—57% in the business sector, 32% in academia, and 10% working for government entities—an increase of 45% compared to 2012, representing 1% of the total European workforce.

Given the current context of fierce global competition for talent, the first session focused on the main European measure to respond to this competition by making research careers in Europe more attractive and sustainable. The EU Council Recommendation adopted in December 2023, with the new European framework for research careers, although not legally binding, has a strong political orientation for the work of the European Commission, particularly for the Horizon Europe Program and the future Framework Program that will succeed it in 2028, as well as for Member States. This is therefore having a strong impact on the shaping of initiatives being taken around research careers across Europe.

One of the main messages of the session was that, given its scope, the operationalization of this new framework can only be successful if it results from the collective action of all relevant actors, since its implementation will bring about cultural and institutional changes which, given their structural nature, will take time to achieve. The presentation of examples from Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium showed the diversity of approaches and results already achieved, particularly in terms of reducing precariousness or structuring careers and new approaches to evaluating researchers.

Seal of Excellence in Human Resources

The second session was dedicated to presenting the Human Resources Strategy for Research(HRS4R) and its implementation tool, the HR Excellence Label, where senior managers from various European research centers (including Portugal's i3s) shared their experiences with this scientific evaluation tool. This process is voluntary and intelligent in terms of certification, with specific characteristics that are fundamental to enabling quality validation.

The European Commission's recommendations focus on four thematic areas: working conditions and social security, recruitment, training and career development, and ethical and professional aspects. In 2023, 114 organizations applied for HRS4R, an increase of 80% compared to 2022—in Portugal, there were only 8.

During the session, the importance of both the European Career Framework and the new Researchers' Charter targeting the entire research and innovation system was highlighted in a very positive light, i.e., involving both the public and private sectors and non-profit organizations, as well as the entire range of disciplines. The cases presented by the Politecnico di Torino (Italy), the University of Galway (Ireland), and I3S (University of Porto) demonstrated the impact that this process has had on their organizations, not only as a learning mechanism, but also as a necessary path to better quality human resource management, both for researchers and for those who perform research support activities, such as management and technical and technological support, who generally do not have specific careers.

Official presentation of the pilot project “Talent ecosystems for attractive early-stage research careers”

The third session was essentially devoted to the first-hand presentation of Call new Call Talent Ecosystems for Attractive Early Careers for the promotion of research careers and a balanced circulation of talent across the European Research Area, as well as all the talent support instruments that exist in the Horizon Europe Program, such asERA Talents,MSCA Calls, andCOST Actions calls.

Closing remarks and key conclusions

The fourth session was led by Ricardo Migueis, head of INESC Brussels Hub, and focused on exploring and consolidating the experiences shared throughout the day, with an emphasis on possible paths forward.  This session gave rise to several suggestions for creating greater awareness of new funding models to support research careers, namely to bridge the information gap between different geographical levels, from local to national, or the proposal for greater involvement of researchers, or even the discussion on the necessary instruments to be included in the future framework program to support the development of research careers.

The INESC TEC researcher mentioned in the news article is affiliated with INESC TEC and UP-FEUP.