HR Excellence in Research

SLU has received the European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research Award certification. This award indicates that SLU is an employer that implements fair and transparent recruitment and assessment procedures for career development and appointing researchers, has a good work environment and continually strives to develop these areas.

To be eligible for the award, a university must adopt and implement the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. They include recommendations and best practice for appointing and recruiting researchers regardless of where they are in their career. They include all research domains within both the public and private sectors. The Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R) forms a support tool for this process. It includes set templates and compulsory stages for implementing the charter and code of conduct. It is coordinated by the European Commission’s EURAXESS service.

Background

In the early 2000s, the EU initiated targeted efforts to strengthen and structure a research policy for establishing a powerful European research area, with the aim of making the EU the world’s most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy. In 2005, the Euopean Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers were adopted.

There are 40 elements to the charter and code of conduct that present the general principles, recommendations and best practice for the appointment and recruitment of researchers at all stages of their career. The roles, rights and responsibilities of researchers and employers are stipulated in four thematic areas:

1. researchers’ ethical and professional responsibilities
2. working conditions
3. doctoral studies and career development
4. recruitment.

The aim is to improve the conditions for independent research, increase mobility to facilitate an open labour market for researchers, combat all forms of discrimination, and facilitate access to and the exchange of ideas, promoting continual quality assurance procedures at European higher education institutions. Over 640 European organisations have adopted the charter and code, and as part of our increased internationalisation efforts, we have begun the systematic work towards its implementation.

The HRS4R process at SLU

The chart below outlines the entire HRS4R process.

On 14 October 2020, Vice-Chancellor Maria Knutson Wedel authorised SLU’s application for the HR Excellence in Research Award. A project team was established for the work with the initial phase – the activities necessary for an acceptable application. This work was integrated into the regular development and quality enhancement activities in cooperation between academia and administration. The project organisers included a project leader, steering group, project group and a number of internal reference groups. On 18 October 2021, the vice-chancellor approved the application and instructed Director of Human Resources Anna-Karin Olofsson to continue with the implementation of the charter and code of conduct by following the HRS4R process. The project ran from September 2020 until the successful application in July 2022.

The work will continue to be integrated into existing structures such as councils and boards. A new organisation has been created comprising a coordinator, steering group and people allocated responsibilities linked to the various activities to be implemented following the action plan.

The interim assessment will take place in the summer of 2024, as SLU has reported to Euraxess on the progress of the action plan. This will result in a revised action plan that will continue to be implemented until it is time to renew the application to retain the HR Excellence in Research Award.

• The application was approved on 13 July 2022 and SLU received the HR Excellence in Research Award.
• On 18 June 2024, SLU submitted the internal review for the interim assessment to Euraxess using the HRS4R tool.
• In 2027, we will apply to retain the HR Excellence in Research Award.

Project organisation

The project steering group consists of Anna-Karin Olofsdotter, Director of Human Resources, and Ylva Hillbur, Pro Vice-Chancellor for International Relations.

The coordinator for HRS4R is HR strategist Erika Bodlund.