SECURE – Improving research careers and reducing career precarity
The Sustainable Careers for Researcher Empowerment (SECURE) project will develop coordination and support measures to create, trial, implement, and mainstream a common Research Career Framework that offers a suite of options to support organisations in the recruitment, employment, training, development, progression, and mobility of researchers with the aim of improving research careers and reducing career precarity.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE
RESEARCH CAREER FRAMEWORK
The SECURE Research Career Framework will provide a comprehensive suite of options for organisations to improve the attractiveness of research careers and reduce precarity with recommendations on the recruitment, employment, training, development, and progression of researchers as well as support for researchers to be mobile and transition to positions in/outside academia. The RCF will link the training and development of skills and competencies to researcher profiles as well as career progression from one researcher profile to the next and mobility in terms of transitioning to other positions in and outside academia. The draft RCF will be shared in public consultation with the stakeholder community via surveys and interactive feedback sessions to test and refine and validate the RCF.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE TENURE TRACK-LIKE MODELS
SECURE will provide a range of Tenure Track-Like Models models including recommendations on funding schemes, recruitment, employment, training, development, and progression to implement TTL models for researchers at organisations. The draft TTL models will be shared with the stakeholder community via an open consultation involving surveys and interactive feedback sessions with invited stakeholders. The consultation will ensure co-design and validation of the TTL models by the community as well as drive interest and future uptake of the TTL models.
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
RESEARCH CAREER FRAMEWORK
SECURE will test aspects of the RCF and TTL models in trials in four RPOs (namely Plocan, UCY, UNIRI, and UNL), one RFO (namely UEF), and one recruitment agency (namely ADOC). The trial organisations will first conduct a scoping exercise to map the RCF onto their existing policies and activities for research careers before developing integration plans on how the RCF could be adopted into their existing policies and activities. The trial organisations will develop action plans, selecting relevant aspects from the integration plans, to test and implement during the trials.
SECURE will mainstream the RCF and TTL models through a series of policy briefs and a summit and policy roundtable that explain key aspects of the RCF and TTL models to relevant organisations employing researchers. The RCF and TTL models will be further promoted through key partner organisations in the project targeting researchers and companies.