What is the Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R)?
The HRS4R supports research institutions and funding organizations in the implementation of the Charter & Code in their policies and practices. This implementation turns the research institutions more attractive to researchers looking for a new employer or for a host for their research project.
The European Commission recognizes with the ‘HR Excellence in Research Award’ the institutions that after an internal analysis (Gap Analysis) of compliance with the , define an Action Plan in order to align their human resources policies to these principles.
Certified organizations gradually implement the measures set out in the Action Plan, followed by an interim-assessment realized 24 months after the attribution of this certification, followed by successive renewal cycles valid for 36 months. Institutions that have been awarded the right to use the icon can use it to highlight their commitment to implement fair and transparent recruitment and appraisal procedures for researchers.
The HRS4R process at Técnico Lisboa
The Initial Phase (2023-2024)
Our application for HR Excellence in Research certification started on the 17th November 2023 with the submission of the Charter & Code Endorsement Letter:
Following the acknowledgment of the Endorsement Letter, IST established a Steering Committee, composed by the Human Resources Director, the Administrator, the President of the Scientific Council and one R3/R4 Researcher and a Working Group, defined in a multidisciplinary approach, integrating 3 elements from the Human Resources Direction (Rui Mendes, Ana Lucas and Sandra Borges), 1 Researcher (Beatriz Silva) and 1 element from the Planning, Studies and Quality Direction (Marta Pile).
As part of Gap Analysis development, 2 focus group sessions with researchers took place in July 2024. The focus group were organized according the researchers seniority, in the first group participated R1-R2 researches (a total of 34 researchers were invited to participate in the focus group, from which 25 replied to the invitation. 15 accepted to take part and 14 ended up participating in the focus group) and in the second group participated R3-R4 researchers (a total of 55 researchers were invited to participate in the focus group, from which 35 replied to the invitation. 14 accepted to take part and 12 ended up participating in the focus group).
The focus group experience was an added value to HRS4R application, it helped the team to understand that the researchers community is willing to take part and being directly involved in such processes considering that 67% of the invited researchers replied to the call which allowed the preparation of following-up actions, namely interviews to 8 of the participants in the focus group and the launching of a survey that will allow to have a deeper understanding of how our researchers position themselves and our Institution within the Charter for Researchers. The decision to deepen the data collection was based on the fact that many of the researchers that weren’t able to participate indicated that they were willing to cooperate if other actions were put in place.
The Working Group, supervised by the Steering Committee developed and submitted in the portal, on the 15th November 2024, the required documents: