The UAB once again is awarded the HR Excellence in Research

08/01/2021

The consolidation of the European Research Area (ERA) implies the development of a unified research area open to the world, based on an inner market in which researchers, and scientific and technological knowledge can flow freely. The ERA must also be useful as a means to attract the best talent interested in developing their professional career in Europe.

The Euraxess-Researchers in Motion initiative was concieved under this framework, offering access to a series of information and support services aimed at researchers interested in working in Europe and wishing to continue collaborating in European research activities. One of the objectives of the Euraxess is to improve the professional career and working conditions of researchers across the continent, and at the same time boost the interest in building a research career in Europe. In order to achieve this, the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers were created as implementation tools.

In 2008, the EURAXESS Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R) came into being to provide support to the institutions in process of implementing the principles included in the charter and the code of conduct in their practices and policies. The institutions that managed to implement these guidelines obtained the HR Excellence in Research award, and made the commitment to provide a continuous improvement of the policies related to professionals and researchers.

In 2014, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona became one of the first universities in Spain to begin this implementation process. It periodically writes up follow-up reports and puts into practice the initiatives included in the HR Excellence in Research web space. On 18 December 2020, this progress was evaluated by three experts who met with the representatives of different university community groups (members of the governing team, executive administrator's office, senior, junior and predoctoral researchers, as well as technical and management personnel). The result of the evaluation was fully satisfactory and concludes that the implementation process has been adequately fulfilled, which leads to the renewal of the HR Excellence in Research seal for the next three years.