EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 87/116

Thursday 12 March 2009

Better careers and more mobility: a European partnership for researchers

P6_TA(2009)0125

European Parliament resolution of 12 March 2009 on better careers and more mobility: a European partnership for researchers (2008/2213(INI))

2010/C 87 E/20

The European Parliament,

having regard to the Commission Communication of 23 May 2008 entitled Better careers and more mobility: a European partnership for researchers (COM (2008)0317) and the accompanying Commission staff working documents, namely the impact assessment (SEC(2008)1911) and the executive summary thereof (SEC(2008)1912),

having regard to Council Decision 2006/973/EC of 19 December 2006 concerning the specific programme ‘People’ implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) (1),

having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 3 December 2008 (2),

having regard to the Commission Communications of 20 June 2001 entitled A mobility strategy for the European Research Area (COM(2001)0331), and of 18 July 2003 entitled Researchers in the European Research Area: one profession, multiple careers (COM(2003)0436), and the Commission Recommendation 2005/251/EC of 11 March 2005 on the European Charter for Researchers and on a Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers (3),

having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

having regard to the report of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and the opinions of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on Culture and Education (A6-0067/2009),

A. whereas Europe needs more researchers with, inter alia, capacity to develop frontier research, as they are indispensable for its increased productivity and competitiveness, and contribute to the achievement of the Lisbon strategy goals,

B. whereas in order to help make up the shortfall in researchers there is a need to encourage the return of European scientists working outside the European Union and to facilitate the entry of scientists from third countries who want to work in the European Union,

C. whereas facilitating attractive careers for researchers within the European Union is of the utmost importance in order to ensure the availability of highly skilled human resources and to attract such resources from third countries,

D. whereas there is a need for the European Union to combat negative economic trends by focusing on education and research and to do everything possible to ensure employment, security and mobility for researchers, so that they stay in the European Union,

E. whereas researcher mobility is one of the main factors in ensuring full implementation of the European Research Area (ERA),

F. whereas, in order for Europe to be able to ensure satisfactory development of the research sector, free movement of researchers must be guaranteed; whereas harmonised cooperation in this regard between Member States, as well as among the public and private sectors, is therefore crucial,

G. whereas the availability of information about employment opportunities for researchers is in many cases limited as many competitions take place internally within research institutes,

H. whereas the research workforce in Europe is ageing and initiatives for making research careers available and attractive to young people, especially women, are therefore urgently needed,

I. whereas the system of scientific promotion in many research institutes is still rigid and based on seniority rather than on the achievements of the researchers,

J. whereas complicated application procedures and a lack of administrative skills, in connection with matters such as filling in forms in a foreign language and registering patents, discourage researchers from participating in mobility projects,

K. whereas the importance of sharing knowledge with industry, the business community and society is not yet recognised by many universities, which leads to a lack of connections with the business world and weakens competitiveness in the European Union,

L. whereas language skills play an important role in researcher mobility, encouraging mobility towards countries with more widely spoken languages, and thus leaving other countries fewer opportunities to benefit from the work of mobile researchers,

M. whereas mobility is an essential part of doctoral education since it allows for wider research experiences and career development opportunities,

N. whereas mobility is important in enabling some Member States to overcome their difficulties in training their own young researchers in areas without a critical mass of doctoral students or adequate research infrastructure,

O. whereas cooperation among research institutes, businesses and industry should be improved in order to ensure exchanges of knowledge, improved innovation and more efficient use of funding,

P. whereas participation in EU research programmes is an excellent way to promote researchers’ careers, because it allows competition at international level, access to multinational research networks and increased funding for the improvement of their own research facilities,

Q. whereas women are still under-represented in most scientific and engineering spheres and in managerial positions,

Open recruitment and portability of grants

1. Welcomes and supports the Commission’s initiative for a European Partnership for Researchers and considers that the measures proposed should be effective in removing the main obstacles to the creation of an ERA;

2. Emphasises that in order to have a world class European research system through an inclusive partnership between the Commission and the Member States, all partners at regional, national and European levels need to contribute fully;

3. Emphasises the need to make a commitment to the proposed initiative by adopting concrete proposals, and to ensure the rapid continuation of the objectives of the above-mentioned specific programme ‘People’;

4. Calls for improved availability and transparency of information on recruitment opportunities for researchers and more openness in recruitment procedures by public institutions; considers that recruitment information should be published on the website of the respective research institutes and on the EURAXESS website;

5. Points to the need in the future to define and establish a single EU career model in the field of research and to introduce an integrated system for information on offers of employment and trainee contracts in the field of research in the European Union, considering this to be key to the creation of a single employment market for researchers;

6. Stresses furthermore, and in the context of the need for a contribution by all partners, the importance on the one hand of the determination of Member States to participate in the process, and on the other of the responsibility of the Commission to assist the process and action between all partners, by producing and disseminating support material, accurate information and enabling the exchange of best practices;

7. Urges the Commission and the Member States to develop standards for mutual recognition of research qualifications and, in particular, non-formal qualifications;

8. Reiterates the importance of the Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on the establishment of the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning (4) (EQF), and calls on the Commission to encourage and assist Member States in drawing up their own National Qualifications Frameworks in order to relate to the EQF by 2010;

9. Urges the Member States to renew their efforts to implement the principles set out in the above-mentioned European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers;

10. Encourages the Member States and public research institutions to provide the necessary support services for researchers by simplifying application procedures and facilitating researchers’ access to funding, inter alia by means of individual grants which promote freedom of researchers to pursue research topics of their choice; calls, in this respect, for the Member States and the Commission to guarantee uniform researchers’ mobility application forms;

11. Calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States to take account of the mobility and partnership programmes with third countries, such as Erasmus Mundus, in the context of the career interaction and mobility requirements of all participating researchers;

12. Encourages the Member States and the Commission to review the necessary conditions for introducing portability of individual research grants when this enables funding bodies to better meet their research needs and researchers to access research facilities not available in their home institutions; considers that the review should, in particular, address the consequences of portability for research institutions in Member States and the threat of the unequal allocation of researchers within the European Union, and from and to third countries;

13. Considers that increasing the mobility of researchers and strengthening the resources of those institutions which attract researchers from other Member States will encourage centres of excellence and will also spread that excellence around the European Union.

14. Highlights the importance of making the processes for the selection and promotion of male and female researchers completely open and transparent; calls on the Member States to ensure a better balance between men and women within the bodies responsible for hiring and promoting researchers;

15. Considers that the mobility of researchers in Europe should be given priority in order to ensure that knowledge is diffused and that innovative frontier research in various disciplines attracts dedicated and competent researchers and increased financial resources;

16. Calls for exchanges to be facilitated with scientists and researchers from third countries, and through the introduction of arrangements such as special visas for researchers;

17. Considers that increased mobility should be achieved by strengthening the interests and benefits for research institutions and universities to host researchers from other Member States by means of a ‘research voucher’ scheme; considers that these research vouchers should transfer money for researchers and follow those participating in research institutions in Member States other than their own; considers further that this added support for mobility of researchers should be additional to current funding schemes and that the research voucher will be an incentive for Member States and for research establishments to compete in attracting the most talented scientists;

Meeting the social security and supplementary pension needs of mobile researchers

18. Urges the Commission and the Member States to explore the possibility of creating a European Pension Fund for researchers, regardless of the duration of the research contract;

19. Recalls that only by including the views of researchers, national research institutions and stakeholders in research policy can a Member State draw up a comprehensive National Action Plan leading to a comprehensive European partnership;

Attractive employment and working conditions

20. Calls for Member States and public research institutions to provide the necessary support services for researchers from other countries, including access to lodging, schools and childcare facilities; considers that these services should be advertised in all researchers’ recruitment websites;

21. Calls for more flexibility in working conditions both for female and male researchers in order to allow them to combine work with family life, and calls for elimination of the gender pay gap for researchers;

22. Calls on Member States to take measures to facilitate the reunification of families when both spouses are researchers;

23. Urges the Member States, in order to avoid a ‘brain drain’ within the EU, to better exploit the opportunities offered by the funding schemes of the above-mentioned specific programme ‘People’; calls on the Member States to make returning to their home institutions more attractive for researchers by increasing their salaries or offering additional benefits to ensure that economic conditions are comparable to those enjoyed during the mobility period;

24. Calls on the Member States and public research institutions to improve researchers’ careers by promoting reforms to make the researchers’ labour market more competitive and less constrained by institutional affiliations; considers that, upon appointment, researchers should be able to obtain recognition of their period of research at the foreign educational establishment;

25. Expresses its concern at the lack of flexible contracts for experienced researchers and researchers at the end of their careers, a circumstance which obstructs their mobility and inhibits the proper exchange of knowledge and experience; regrets that the private sector sometimes lacks arrangements similar to those in the public sector for the treatment and management of personnel;

26. Calls for the Member States to facilitate participation in the Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007-2013) (5) by ensuring efficient support services, in particular national contact points, in order to make better use of co-financing opportunities;

27. Calls for the Member States and public research institutions to provide incentives for mobility such as mobility being regarded as a strong recommendation upon appointment and career advancements for researchers after their return from stays in other Member States;

28. Considers that the Member States must continue to increase the budgetary resources allocated to research, as a means of creating quality jobs that comply with basic ethical principles and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;

Enhancing the training skills and experience of European researchers

29. Encourages the Member States to recognise the experience of researchers in the industrial sector as a valuable asset for their career advancement in order to improve mobility between the private and public sectors;

30. Calls on the Member States to invest in applied research, in such a way as to ensure closer collaboration between universities, research establishments and the private sector;

31. Urges the Member States to improve career opportunities for young researchers, for example in terms of increased funding and allowing career advancement on the basis of achievements rather than seniority, such as innovation capacity and internships in enterprises;

32. Urges the Commission and the Member States to review the legal status of PhD students in Member States in order to explore the possibility of introducing uniform PhD student status under Member States’ employment legislation;

33. Urges Member States to promote the enhancement of the career prospects of young researchers by inter alia supporting interdisciplinary training as well as recognising the value of interdisciplinary mobility;

34. Calls on Member States to facilitate innovation by promoting the interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and international mobility of senior researchers, inter alia as a way of contributing to progress in the teaching of young researchers;

35. Strongly recommends better training for researchers throughout their careers so as to improve their employability and chances of promotion;

36. Stresses that the foundations for outstanding research in a knowledge-based society are laid at school; calls on Member States therefore to honour their budgetary promises in the field of education;

37. Calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States to raise the profile of scientific research in the general budget, in accordance with the undertaking given to achieve 3 % growth and to train 600 000 more researchers, on average, by 2010;

38. Stresses that particular attention should be paid to PhD students as in general this represents the starting point of research careers; considers that the mobility of young researchers, especially in networks of excellence, would increase their potential to contribute to the development of European research;

39. Urges the Member States to support better links and mobility of researchers and managers between the academic community and industry by promoting dedicated schemes such as the ‘Conventions Industrielles de Formation par la Recherche’ (CIFRE) scheme in France;

40. Takes the view that an intensification of exchanges within the framework of the relevant EU higher education programmes, with the focus on research, will prepare generations of future European researchers and make the research sector more dynamic;

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41. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission and to the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

(1) OJ L 400, 30.12.2006, p. 272.

(2) OJ C 175, 28.7.2009, p. 81.

(3) OJ L 75, 22.3.2005, p. 67.

(4) OJ C 111, 6.5.2008, p. 1.

(5) OJ L 412, 30.12.2006, p. 1.