Our institute fully endorses the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers.
Strengths and weaknesses of the current practice
As of November 2024, we have identified the following strengths and weaknesses of the current practice under the four thematic headings of the Charter and Code:
Ethical and professional aspects
Strengths:
The current practice at the institute under this heading of the Charter is adequately complying with the Charter, with the exceptions of the elements identified below.
Weaknesses:
Since our research is externally funded, researchers are bound by the legal and contractual provisions associated to the funding contracts. While project directors are granted independence in their activity, within the limits of the legal obligations and contractual obligations associated with the financing of projects, the other members of project teams are subordinated to project directors.
An appraisal system is established for all employees in the internal regulations of the institute, according to labor law. However, since our researchers are typically employed for fixed-term, this system has been seldom used. The new law adopted this year establishes that appraisals happen no more often than once every 3 years, however the typical project duration is 2 or 3 years, and most employees are employed for the project duration, which implies that for most researchers it will be legally impossible to organize appraisals.
Recruitment and selection
Strengths:
The current practice at the institute under this heading of the Charter is adequately complying with the Charter, with the exceptions of the elements identified as weaknesses below.
Euraxess has been used to advertise all open researcher positions. Since we are a small institution, the share of applicants from outside the institution since its start was 100%. In the period 2017-2021, our institute was most likely the research organization in Romania with the highest percentage of researchers from abroad. We have had an adequate representation of underrepresented groups such as women, minorities, LGBTQ+ persons, even if there have been no formal regulations or guidelines on this topic.
Weaknesses:
There have been no formal regulations or guidelines regarding:
- facilitating access for disadvantaged groups or for researchers returning to a research career, including teachers (of any level) returning to a research career;
- an adequate gender balance for the selection committees;
- recognizing as valuable contributions all mobility experiences, including a change from one discipline or sector to another.
Working conditions
Strengths:
The current practice at the institute under this heading of the Charter is adequately complying with the Charter, with the exceptions of the elements identified below as weaknesses.
Maintaining the administrative burden for researchers as low as possible is a core value of our institute, however sometimes national regulations or contractual constraints prevents us to reach an optimal level.
Flexible working hours and tele-working are often adopted within the institute.
Weaknesses:
The research environment provided by our institute is constrained by the available funding and the associated contractual and legal provisions.
Since the activity of our institute is typically funded by fixed-term projects, employment contracts are typically fixed-term, which prevents stability and permanence of employment and career development within the institute.
There have been no formal regulations or guidelines on providing career advice and job placement assistance to researchers.
Training and development
Strengths:
The current practice at the institute under this heading of the Charter is adequately complying with the Charter, with the exceptions of the elements identified below.
Weaknesses:
There have been no formal regulations or guidelines regarding:
- regular assessment of measures for the continuing development of skills and competencies for their accessibility, take-up and effectiveness in improving competencies, skills and employability;
- clearly identifying to whom early-stage researchers can refer for the performance of their professional duties, although in practice project directors fulfilled this role.
Action plan
The following actions will be undertaken to address the weaknesses or strengths identified in the above analysis:
Update of internal regulations
The internal regulations represent the main regulations of the institute that, by law, are binding to all employees. The internal regulations will be updated in order to account for the weaknesses observed in the gap analysis.
Timing: first quarter, 2025. Responsible: Steering committee.
Adoption of a methodology for recruitment and promotion of the research personnel
At the national level, the recruitment of researchers is regulated by Law no. 183/2024 regarding the statutes of research, development, and innovation personnel. This law was published on June 12, 2024, replacing the previous corresponding law, which had been in force since 2003. Following the new law, the regulation of the procedures for organizing competitions for research positions is to be established through methodological norms approved by a Government decision (Article 21, paragraph (4) of Law no. 183/2024). So far, these methodological norms have not been adopted. Following the adoption of the new methodological norms, our institute will have to define its methodology for recruitment and promotion of the research personnel, in agreement with the methodological norms.
The institute methodology for recruitment and promotion of the research personnel will have to be defined in agreement with the new national regulations. It will include provisions that will account for the weaknesses observed in the gap analysis.
Timing: Second quarter, 2025 (depends on the government’s adoption of the methodological norms). Responsible: Steering committee.
Periodic assessments
Periodic assessments of compliance with the Charter and Code will be performed yearly.
Timing: Last quarter, 2025 and onwards. Responsible: Steering committee.
OTM-R recruitment toolkit
The institute will use the OTM-R recruitment toolkit as a reference for all recruitment decisions. Its principles will be implemented in the new institute methodology for recruitment and promotion of the research personnel, within the limits permitted by the national regulations.
For future research projects that need to recruit, the institute will organize information sessions with the project director and the recruitment committee members in order to ensure that they are informed about the relevant regulations and policies, including the OTM-R policy. When the number of recruitments will be more than 10 yearly, a quality control system for OTM-R will be put in place.