Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R)

Charter and code – what does it stand for?

In 2005, the European Commission issued the recommendation The European Charter for Researchers and The Code of Conduct for recruitment of Researchers. The Charter & Code is aimed at researchers at all different stages of their careers – from doctoral students to professors – and covers all research areas.

The Charter & Code consists of 40 principles that determine roles, responsibilities and rights of researchers and employers. The principles are divided into four areas:

1. Ethical and professional aspects
2. Recruitment and selection
3. Working conditions and social security
4. Training and development

The overall purpose is to make research careers in Europe more attractive. It is about creating an open and sustainable European labour market for researchers, encouraging increased mobility, increasing female researchers’ participation and encouraging more young people to choose a research career.

By choosing a university that has chosen to sign the Charter and Code you can, among other things, be sure that:

• there is an interest in internationalisation and diversity and knowledge about mobility
• the recruitment process is transparent and merit-based
• your rights as a researcher are recognised
• a good working environment is a prioritised focus

It will also give you access to a pan-European network (Euraxess) consisting of research organisations and researchers offering career support etc.

Open transparent and merit-based recruitment (OTM-R)

Open, transparent, and merit-based (OTM-R) processes ensure that the best person for the job is recruited, thereby achieving greater equality, enhancing the competitiveness of national research systems, and strengthening international collaboration and cooperation.

OTM-R is a cornerstone of The European Charter for Researchers and The Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers.

The OTM-R policy of Halmstad University consists of two documents that incorporate the content of the OTM-R checklist:

• The Appointments Procedure is intended to provide a general description of the University’s eligibility requirements, assessment criteria and recruitment ethics for both appointments and promotions.
• The document Guidelines for Recruitment and Promotion clarifies eligibility requirements and assessment criteria and describes recruitment and promotion processes.

HRS4R at Halmstad University

In 2020 Halmstad University received the right to use the HR Excellence in Research award. The initial “gaps”, in relation to the principles, where identified through dialogue in various academic forums and committees. Some room for improvement were found in the areas of career development, access to career advice, judging merit and gender balance.

In 2022 an interim assessment of the HRS4-R was conducted and sent to the European Commission. The evaluators were satisfied with the ambitions and work conducted this far. Besides some minor changes the most important message was summarised in this comment taken from the Implementation Phase Interim Assessment – EC Consensus Report:

Since then the University has focused on conducting the planned actions, spreading knowledge about the HRS4R and the principles within the organisation and getting better at using the seal HR Excellence in research in external contexts.

A second internal review will be conducted in October 2025, followed by a desk-based assessment to secure the work in practise. If the result is found satisfying the European Commission will conduct an on-site vision with the aim of refining the work and determining whether the institution may retain the HR Excellence in Research award.

The HRS4R process is described in the figure below.