C 99/172
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
1.3.2022
Thursday 8 July 2021
32.
Stresses that the ERA should prioritise access to excellence, the mobility of researchers and the free flow of knowledge, promote inclusiveness and spread opportunities throughout the whole territory of Europe, strengthening links and synergies between different R&I communities, thereby contributing to the full use of Europe’s R&I potential; highlights that by prioritising excellence, the ERA can play a central role in reducing disparities within the Union and help bridge the research gap that still exists; 33.
Stresses that societal needs and interests should be at the centre of R&I and that the engagement of citizens, local communities and civil society should therefore be at the core of the new ERA in order to facilitate societal uptake and thereby achieve greater societal impact and increased trust in science; calls, therefore, for enhanced science communication and awareness-raising campaigns, as well as the close involvement of civil society and end users from the beginning of the R&I processes, including representative organisations of groups at higher risk of exclusion such as persons with disabilities and other under-represented groups in society, in order to address critical issues related to their exclusion in the R&I, as well as to make sure that the subsequently developed technologies and innovations indeed serve society and not the other way around; 34.
Welcomes the Commission’s plans to improve access to institutions of excellence and infrastructures for researchers from across the EU; underlines, however, the need for more targeted support aimed at helping to close the R&I gap in the Union; 35.
Underlines the importance of reducing fragmentation in access to research data and recognises the importance of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) in the context of the ‘new ERA’ aimed at bringing together institutional, national and European stakeholders, initiatives and data infrastructures in order to develop an inclusive open science ecosystem in the EU; asks that participation in open science and data sharing initiatives be promoted by improving European data sharing infrastructures and fostering the use of data standards;
Careers 36.
Stresses the importance of empowering women and girls to enter STEM careers and asks the Member States and the Commission to draw up measures to improve the conditions for women to pursue research careers and reduce the leaky pipeline effect; calls for the attractiveness of employment opportunities for young researchers and under-represented groups to be improved, also in the light of the crucial contribution of women to scientific and R&D activities, while decreasing the gender pay gap in the sector; encourages the Member States and research organisations, including universities, to support flexible working conditions and arrangements for both women and men in R&I, including support for the equal sharing of care responsibilities, and to review the assessment of researchers’ performance in order to eliminate gender bias; insists, furthermore, on a better integration of the gender dimension in the R&I content and on improved collection of disaggregated data and results; 37.
Expresses its appreciation for the ERA4You initiative of targeted mobility measures aimed at supporting researchers in Member States with a low R&I performance to learn and develop excellence and to foster the mobility of researchers between industry and academia; 38.
Takes note of the launch of the ERA Forum for Transition to support Member States in the coordination and prioritisation of national R&I funding and reforms; 39.
Notes that talent circulation and R&I opportunities vary greatly between Member States; believes that the Commission and the Member States should strive for talent circulation as a balanced circular movement of researchers, thereby tackling the problem of the ‘brain drain’; considers that achieving such a balance requires action at European level through policy measures and instruments; 40.
Highlights the importance of incentive schemes encouraging the mobility of researchers (ERASMUS+, Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions, European Research Council); recalls, in this context, the study on support measures for researchers to return to the Union and to their country of origin within the Union, provided for in Horizon Europe, which can be a useful tool to demonstrate the need for measures to promote the return of researchers; 41.
Calls on the Commission to develop further instruments and measures to attain this aim, such as through the ERA Hubs and ERA4You, the Widening Actions and support instruments, in order to design and implement reforms in the national R&I systems, such as the Horizon Policy Support Facility;