Research Career Framework
This is an easy-access tool for the exploration of
Council Recommendation on a European framework to attract and retain research, innovation and entrepreneurial talents in Europe
brought to you by project SECURE.
Pillar 1Researchers, Research Managers, and Research Technicians in the European Research Area
Recommendation 1
Researchers’ means professionals engaged in the conception or creation of new scientific knowledge based on original concepts or hypotheses. They conduct research and improve or develop concepts, theories, models, infrastructures, techniques, instrumentation, software or operational methods. Researchers may be involved fully or partially in different types of activities – such as basic or applied research, experimental development, operating research equipment in any sector of the economy or society and disseminating and valorising research results. They may also be partially involved in, among others, project management, teaching, mentoring, supporting evidence-informed policy making, open science practices, knowledge and technological transfer activities, and science communication. Researchers identify options for new research and development activities, and plan for and manage them by using high-level skills and knowledge developed through formal education and training or from experience
Recommendation 2
Researchers can conduct their activities with equal relevance in all sectors performing research and innovation, including academia, industry, business, public administration and the non-profit sector, where their skills, knowledge and attitudes can be beneficial to European society, the research and innovation system, and the economy
Recommendation 3
Research management careers can be undertaken by researchers and other professionals to manage and support research and innovation activities. Research management careers should be adequately framed and recognised at the level of the Union, by defining relevant skills and competences, in order to strengthen research managers’ professional capacity, to enable the development of relevant training, and to foster comparability. Research managers can perform different tasks, for example:
(a) streamlining or facilitating the planning, development, management, FAIR data management, administration, monitoring, communication and valorisation of research and innovation;
(b) ensuring compliance with policy objectives, funding programme requirements, financial rules and legal regulations;
(c) improving the efficiency and effectiveness of research and innovation projects or systems;
(d) enhancing the impact of research and innovation on policy and society;
(e) supporting the design and implementation of research and innovation policies, programmes and projects
Recommendation 4
Research technicians are professionals whose main tasks require high levels of technical knowledge, training, and experience in one or more fields of engineering, the physical and life sciences, or the social sciences and humanities. They participate in scientific and technical tasks involving the application of concepts and operational methods and the use of research equipment, normally under the supervision of researchers. Research technicians have a crucial support role in the performance of high-level research and innovation. Member States should consider adequately framing and recognising research technicians’ careers at national level
Recommendation 5
All researchers, regardless of their status and sector of employment, should be framed in the following profiles:
(a) R1 – First Stage Researcher: Researchers doing research under supervision up to the point of a PhD or equivalent level of competence and experience;
(b) R2 – Recognised Researcher: Researchers with a PhD or equivalent level of competence and experience who have not yet established a significant level of independence in developing their own research, attracting funding, or leading a research group;
(c) R3 – Established Researcher: Researchers with a PhD or equivalent level of competence and experience who are able to independently develop their own research, attract funding, and lead a research group;
(d) R4 – Leading Researcher: Researchers with a PhD or equivalent level of competence and experience who are recognised as leading their research field by their peers
Recommendation 6
For the purposes of this Recommendation, R1 and R2 profiles should be considered early-career researchers, and R3 and R4 profiles should be considered senior researchers.
Member States are recommended to encourage the use of references to the profiles in all vacancies specifically addressed to researchers or, where relevant, to invite higher education institutions and research organisations to do so.
Profiles should not necessarily be considered as stages on a progressive career path.
A non-exhaustive list of examples of occupations for researchers across sectors along the R1-R4 profiles is set out in Annex I
Recommendation 1
Member States and the Commission are recommended to promote and support a full recognition of researchers’ careers as well as an equal esteem and reward of the different paths regardless of the sector of employment or activity, and to take supportive measures to allow for their full interoperability and comparability across Member States, sectors and institutions
Recommendation 2
Non-linear, multi-career and hybrid paths could be encouraged and supported by Member States, and should be recognised on a par with linear career paths with multiple professional outcomes
Recommendation 3
Member States are recommended to implement new versions and updates of the European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations classification, with specific regard to researchers’ occupations and skills
Recommendation 4
Member States are recommended to encourage human resources offices in all sectors to map career structures for researchers against the profiles referred to in point 5 of this Recommendation
Recommendation 1
Member States are recommended to promote and support open, transparent and merit-based selection and recruitment of candidates, without penalisation for career breaks or non-linear, multi-career, and hybrid paths
Recommendation 2
Member States are recommended to encourage respect of collective agreements and effective social dialogue, and to take support action so that employers and funders provide attractive, inclusive and competitive research and working conditions, where researchers are valued, encouraged and supported. Such support action could include:
(a) providing commensurate remuneration, work-life balance and flexible working conditions that help bring together personal life, family, caring, health, safety, and overall wellbeing, without prejudice to careers;
(b) ensuring gender equality, gender balance, equal opportunities and inclusiveness for researchers from all backgrounds including under-represented and marginalised groups, and promoting among research performing and funding organisations the use, implementation and monitoring of instruments of institutional change, such as inclusive gender equality plans open to intersections between genders and other social categories, in line with the new European Research Area framework and the European Strategy for Universities;
(c) safeguarding the freedom of scientific research from any possible limitation or interference, including from foreign actors;
(d) offering dedicated support at institutional level to researchers in relation to the fulfilment of administrative duties;
(e) taking resolute action to counter the phenomenon of precarity and to support job security and stability. This could, on a voluntary basis, incentivise the establishment of a maximum threshold for the number of fixed-term contracts per organisation in researcher human resources overall. Whenever permanent, long-term or highly recurrent research tasks are being fulfilled, permanent or open-ended contracts are recommended as the appropriate instrument. Researchers under fixed-term contracts should benefit from specific measures – as referred to in point 29 of this Recommendation – that promote their career development and continuity;
(f) considering the use of different funding models – e.g. baseline, life-cycle, or project-based –, to allow research organisations to develop more long-term research strategies and engage in more stable commitments towards employees;
(g) providing access to adequate social protection irrespective of the form of employment, without prejudice to the right of Member States to define the fundamental principles of their social security systems. Such measures could pertain to the following branches, insofar as they are provided in the Member States:
(1) unemployment benefits;
(2) sickness and healthcare benefits;
(3) maternity leave, paternity leave and parental leave and related benefits;
(4) invalidity benefits;
(5) old-age benefits and survivor benefits;
(6) benefits in respect of accidents at work and occupational diseases
Recommendation 3
Member States are recommended to ensure researchers’ access to updated, comprehensive, user-friendly and clearly understandable information on their social protection rights and obligations, and to ensure that entitlements – whether they are acquired through mandatory or voluntary schemes – are preserved, accumulated and/or transferable across all types of employment and self-employment statuses and across borders, economic sectors, throughout the person’s working life or during a certain reference period and between different schemes within a given social protection branch
Recommendation 4
Member States that aim to enhance saving in defined contribution supplementary schemes are recommended to promote the use of the solutions provided by the RESAVER pension fund which guarantees the absence of a vesting period and asset transfer fees
Recommendation 5
Member States are recommended to encourage specific measures in support of early-career researchers, corresponding to the R1 and R2 profiles referred to in point 5 of this Recommendation. Taking into account national circumstances, such specific measures could include:
(a) providing First Stage Researchers with social protection and working conditions applicable to researchers in other career stages and with adequate income;
(b) providing early-career researchers with financial and social protection incentives;
(c) promoting the use of, and supporting, incentives for the recruitment of early-career researchers by employers in all sectors, in particular with permanent or open-ended contracts;
(d) promoting and recognising interinstitutional, intersectoral, interdisciplinary and geographical mobility, including virtual mobility;
(e) promoting cooperation between academia, research funders and other relevant ecosystem actors, notably industry and other businesses as well as public and non-profit organisations, with regard to skills needed and skills provided, so as to foster recruitment of highly-skilled researchers meeting the targeted skills needed in the sectors concerned;
(f) promoting involvement of early-career researchers into research teams avoiding the demand of tasks unrelated to their scientific training
Recommendation 1
The goal of the first-stage researcher is to cultivate the research mindset, to nurture flexibility of thought, creativity, and intellectual autonomy through an original, concrete research project. Member States are recommended to take appropriate steps to encourage that doctoral training is geared towards those goals, and furthermore compatible with interoperable careers in all relevant sectors and for the practice of Open Science, including by making use of ResearchComp, the Principles for Innovative Doctoral Training, the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, and of any other future initiatives taken for the purpose of strengthening the transversal skills of researchers
Recommendation 2
The Commission is recommended to take action to support and facilitate the use of ResearchComp, promote the exchange of good practices, and consider future revisions of the Competence Framework where needed on the basis of the evolution of the research and innovation system and of the labour market
Recommendation 3
Member States are recommended to place emphasis on schemes aiming to strengthen the transversal skills needed by researchers to engage in knowledge valorisation activities and entrepreneurship. Such schemes could include awareness raising activities and trainings on relevant topics, including intellectual assets management, standardisation, industry-academia, academia-public administration sector collaboration, including science for policy activities, and engagement with society
Recommendation 4
Member States and the Commission are recommended to encourage interaction and cooperation, including partnerships, between academia, industry, other businesses, public administration, the non-profit sector, and all other relevant ecosystem actors, and to ensure that doctoral training and targeted training are developed or co-developed on the basis of the actual skills needs of the parties concerned, including by building on best practice examples implemented under existing programmes at Union and Member State level.
The support of such interaction and cooperation is particularly recommended in areas where specific skills are necessary for operating with state-of-the-art research and technology infrastructures
Recommendation 5
Member States and the Commission are recommended to take action to foster an innovation and entrepreneurial mindset in researchers, including the necessary skills for investment-seeking, with the objective of allowing those who undertake an entrepreneurial career path to couple their knowledge production capabilities with knowledge valorisation proficiency, turning innovative ideas into business and fostering innovation and progress.
A specific focus should be put on the promotion of entrepreneurship and innovation among women and on the creation of women-led spin-offs. The same approach should be envisaged for minority and marginalised groups.
Member States could consider measures to mitigate the potential risks for researchers undertaking an entrepreneurial career, including through the possibility to return to their previous career path
Recommendation 6
Member States are recommended to take action to support the development and provision of targeted training, to encourage up-skilling and re-skilling opportunities for researchers with a lifelong perspective and to foster intersectoral and interdisciplinary mobility. Member States are also recommended to take the necessary steps to promote a fair and transparent validation procedure of formal and informal training opportunities, including on-the-job training
Recommendation 7
The Commission is recommended to take the following action in the context of the development of initiatives fostering cross-sectoral circulation of talents:
(a) supporting mutual learning for Member States on the basis of models of intersectoral mobility schemes established by the Commission, in three priority areas:
(1) strengthening academia and non-academia cooperation;
(2) improving training and lifelong learning for researchers, innovators, and other research and innovation talents;
(3) boosting entrepreneurship, transversal skills and engagement among researchers in activities increasing social impact;
(b) reinforcing intersectoral mobility components in existing instruments for researchers’ mobility, and complementing them with new instruments, where deemed necessary;
(c) creating awareness on intersectoral mobility schemes, via a branch of the ERA Talent Platform referred to in point 33 of this Recommendation
Recommendation 8
Member States are recommended to consider establishing national schemes promoting intersectoral mobility in one or more of the three priority areas referred to in point 22 of this Recommendation
Recommendation 9
Member States are recommended to undertake all necessary effort to promote the elimination of existing structural and administrative barriers which can hamper or obstruct mobility between sectors, including by supporting researchers in overcoming family and personal barriers to mobility, by supporting the interoperability of careers, where applicable, and by facilitating temporary or permanent mobility, without hindering linear research career paths
Recommendation 10
Member States and the Commission are recommended to promote interdisciplinary mobility of researchers, including by adequately taking into consideration and addressing hurdles such as lack of recognition and difficulties in securing funding from traditional sources
Recommendation 1
Member States are recommended to support the recognition of the value of geographical, intersectoral, interinstitutional, inter- and transdisciplinary mobility as important means of enhancement of scientific knowledge and professional development at any stage of a researcher’s career. Virtual mobility has been proved as a valid asset and can also be considered. The assessment and reward system should not penalise non-linear, multi-career and hybrid paths
Recommendation 2
Member States and the Commission are recommended to promote and support systems for the assessment and reward of researchers that:
(a) are based on qualitative unbiased judgement provided by peers and other pertinent experts, supported by the responsible use of quantitative indicators;
(b) reward quality and the various potential impacts of their research on society, science and innovation;
(c) recognise a diversity of outputs, inter alia publications, datasets, software, methodologies, protocols, patents; a diversity of activities, inter alia mentoring, research supervision, leadership roles, entrepreneurship, FAIR data management – following the principles of Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable –, peer review, teaching, knowledge valorisation, industry-academia cooperation, support for evidence informed policy-making, interaction with society; and a diversity of practices, inter alia Open Science, early knowledge and data sharing, and open collaboration, in addition to all mobility experiences referred to in point 26 of this Recommendation;
(d) ensure that the researcher’s professional activity meets high standards of ethics and integrity, applies appropriate conduct of research, and values good practices, including open practices for sharing research results and methodologies whenever possible;
(e) use assessment criteria and processes that respect the variety of research disciplines and national contexts;
(f) support a diversity of researcher profiles and career paths, and value individual contributions, but also the role of teams, collaborative work, and interdisciplinarity;
(g) ensure gender equality, gender balance, equal opportunities and inclusiveness.
To ensure coherence in the implementation of the recommendations listed in this point, Member States are encouraged to foster continuous training for the actors involved in the assessment and reward process
Recommendation 3
Member States are invited to encourage organisations to join coalitions, alliances or initiatives set up to evolve assessment systems in line with the recommendations listed in point 27 of this Recommendation. Member States are also encouraged to tackle, within their area of competence, national administrative or legal barriers to such evolution of research assessment and help prevent any contradictions or incompatibilities that might exist in the application of the recommendations listed in point 27 of this Recommendation, between the assessment of research, of researchers and of research organisations
Recommendation 4
Member States are recommended to promote measures, including advisory and mentoring mechanisms, that make researchers, in particular early-career ones, aware of opportunities available in all relevant sectors and to promote a culture of diversification of careers for better personal and professional development. In this regard, Member States and the Commission are recommended to support the provision of career advisory and support services, e.g. EURAXESS, to stimulate intersectoral, interdisciplinary and geographical mobility, as well as the creation and development of entrepreneurial activities
Recommendation 5
Member States are recommended to promote a fair, equal, inclusive, transparent, structured and gender-equal career accession and progression system for researchers in academia, up to the top positions. In this respect, Member States are recommended to consider developing tenure-track-like systems, to be understood as defined frameworks where a fixed-term contract has the prospect of a progression to a permanent position, subject to positive evaluation
Recommendation 1
Member States are recommended to take resolute action to put in place favourable, attractive and competitive conditions for conducting research and innovation activities, and for the return of researchers from abroad. Such measures could include, but not be limited to:
(a) incentives to make research activities more attractive, taking into consideration the need for a fair competition for talents;
(b) simplification of legal and administrative requirements for researchers;
(c) investments in the research and innovation system, including support to networking within and beyond the Union, to connect and integrate national research and innovation systems to European research networks and provide higher visibility of national capabilities and high-level research and technology infrastructures;
(d) the exchange of best practices with regard to creating an attractive, safe, inclusive, gender-equal and competitive research and innovation environment, even as regards the improvement of remuneration, working conditions and services, and the reduction of administrative and language barriers for foreign and internationally mobile researchers;
(e) return and career reintegration grants and attractive positions for returning researchers;
(f) the possibility of having dual positions in institutions established in different Member States, thereby fostering knowledge transfer, skills development, collaboration, and preventing talent drain;
(g) exploring options for a common approach for the staff of the Research Infrastructures, especially in the case of a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC).
The Commission is recommended to support Member States in their endeavours, including by enabling the implementation of synergies among Union programmes, and Union and national programmes
Recommendation 2
The Commission is recommended to take the following actions fostering a more balanced circulation of talents:
(a) supporting mutual learning for Member States in view of the reform of their research and innovation systems, including through calls for expression of interest to create a community of practice with training and guidance for Member States on the basis of successful pathways and solutions enabling more balanced talent circulation;
(b) monitoring mobility flows, within the Union and with third countries, through an interactive talent circulation map in the observatory on research careers referred to in point 40 of this Recommendation;
(c) facilitating transnational ties with the research and innovation diaspora and third country communities and facilitating the attraction or return of talents, via a branch of the ERA Talent Platform referred to in point 33 of this Recommendation;
(d) promoting a balanced talent circulation of researchers at Union level, by strengthening the human capital base with more entrepreneurial, managerial and better-trained researchers and innovators
Recommendation 1
The Commission and Member States are recommended to take appropriate measures to strengthen the EURAXESS portals, services, as well as the international dimension, and to develop the ERA Talent Platform as an online one-stop-shop for researchers and institutions in all sectors, with a new governance framework and a coordination role of relevant national bodies and institutions involved in service delivery.
The ERA Talent Platform should allow:
(a) researchers to manage their learning and training opportunities and their careers;
(b) research and innovation institutions, employers and funders to conduct networking activities, better manage their pools of talents, collaborate and exchange best practices, while facilitating talents’ attraction and retention and improving data for a better understanding of mobility trends across Europe and beyond.
Services could be broadened to include talent development and career management services, with a focus on researchers in all relevant sectors of society, including academia
Recommendation 2
The Commission is recommended to ensure links and interoperability between the ERA Talent Platform and other relevant Union and national initiatives, including Europass, ESCO and EURES, to provide for an improved governance model of the platform and the underlying network of service centres to better meet the needs of researchers and research performing organisations
Recommendation 3
Member States and the Commission are recommended to acknowledge the importance of the endorsement and implementation of the Charter for Researchers referred to in point 36 of this Recommendation
Recommendation 4
The new Charter for Researchers set out in Annex II to this Recommendation should replace the Charter and Code for Researchers set out in the Annex to Recommendation 2005/251/EC. Member States and the Commission are recommended to encourage the endorsement and implementation of the new Charter for Researchers by research employers and funders from all sectors, including through dedicated incentives, in view of making it a structural tool in support of researchers and research careers
Recommendation 5
The Commission is recommended to adjust the Human Resources Strategy for Researchers, or any future similar implementation mechanism, to the new Charter for Researchers, and to ensure continuity in respect of the institutions that have endorsed the principles of the old Charter and Code for Researchers and have adhered to the Human Resources Strategy for Researchers, notably by considering them as continuing to endorse the Charter for Researchers set out in Annex II to this Recommendation. The Commission is recommended to apply the same transitional measures to the institutions which started the Human Resources Strategy for Researchers process under the old Charter and Code for Researchers
Recommendation 6
The Commission is recommended to regularly review and adapt all tools in support of research careers, based on the actual needs of researchers, in coordination with Member States and relevant stakeholders
Recommendation 7
The Commission and Member States are recommended to encourage and support alliances of higher education institutions, such as the European Universities alliances, the whole European higher education, research and innovation sector and all relevant stakeholders, to pilot relevant actions foreseen by this Recommendation on the basis of a voluntary and bottom-up approach
Recommendation 1
In addition to the overarching European Research Area monitoring systems, the Commission and Member States are recommended to monitor relevant aspects of research careers in the Union and the implementation of this Recommendation through a dedicated Observatory, to the benefit of the research community, policy makers, public administration and relevant organisations at European and national level. The Observatory should support better understanding of challenges and opportunities by researchers, and it should also promote the attractiveness of Union research performing organisations for the best talents, while guaranteeing the protection of data privacy throughout implementation
Recommendation 2
The Observatory should carefully consider and identify the type of support data that would be relevant to observe research careers. Where possible, links to existing data should be considered and prioritised in order to reduce administrative burden for Member States and all relevant stakeholders. Member States are recommended to cooperate for the purpose of collecting data relevant for the implementation of the observatory in an efficient and sustainable way
Recommendation 3
The Commission is invited to propose – on the basis of the data provided by the Observatory on research careers – further measures that encourage and promote the development of research careers
Recommendation 4
The Commission, in collaboration with Member States, is recommended to consider relevant links between the Observatory on Research Careers and the European Higher Education Sector Observatory proposed in the European Strategy for Universities, where relevant, and thereby enhance synergies between the European Research Area and the European Education Area
Recommendation 5
Member States and the Commission are recommended to consider the adaptation to the data needs of the observatory referred to in point 40 of this Recommendation of the data collected in the context of Regulation (EU) 2019/1700