Mobility is at the heart of EUGLOH. One of the alliance’s main goals is to enable its students and staff to experience stays at the partner universities.
One of the four freedoms in the ideal single market of EU is the free movement of people. To guard the recruitment of the best researchers and to retain them, EU has developed a HR Strategy for Researchers, HRS4R, described in 40 principles in the EU’s Charter Code. By endorsing the EURAXESS agreement, the research institution is incorporated in a time regulated programme for the securing of the HR principles. One of the focus areas in this plan is career development, including seamless movement in between institutions.
In 2023 the work documented by UiT was not approved by the EU commission, and the last academic year 23/24, all documents and HR Action plans have been revises in relation to the comments by the EU commission, and finally sent July 12 2024. Depending on the result which will be conveyed in the end of the autumn 2024, we will be allowed to keep the logo HR Excellence in Research.
International cooperation requires acceptance of other scientific perspectives in other countries. But it also requires that the research and teaching institutions also explain clearly the applicable rules and regulations. Especially scientific areas like medicine and law, and educational sciences, are regulated by national regulations which allows in a limited degree other approaches. EUGLOH may represent a positive development for overcoming these regulations. Which practices do we see in the partner institutions?
Introduction to the presentation of the practise at UiT related to EU’s HRS4R:
UiT experiences an increasing number of researchers from abroad. More than 25% of the researchers employed at UiT hold passports from 78 countries.
As a part of revising EU’s EURAXESS programme for EU’s Charter & Code, UiT in the beginning of 2024 sent a survey to all researchers at UiT and followed up the quantitative questions with qualitative focus group interviews to examine the working conditions for researchers at UiT. Based on the findings UiT sent documents describing HR-actions for researchers to the EU commission in July 2024.
In the UiT surveys, international experience and networks showed to be recognised as values in the employment process but does not appear in the established structure for career plans. The surveys and the process evaluating the HR situation showed to be a good way of presenting the need of actions for strengthening the areas of international recognition as improvements to already existing programmes and regulations. First and foremost, the survey reflects the importance of having vital information also presented in English.
In this workshop UiT will contribute by showing our findings and solutions, and invite the other EUGLOH partner universities to share best practises in