Presentation given at the seminar "How to attract and retain excellent researchers?" that took place in Oslo on 19 January 2011. The seminar was organised by the Research Council of Norway together with the Association of Higher Education Institutions, Norway. For more details see http://www.forskningsradet.no/en/Event/How_to_attract_and_retain_excellent_researchers/1253963126263?lang=en.

1. 1
Researcher Mobility and Careers:
Update on Recent EU Policy
Initiatives
Dr. Dagmar Meyer
European Commission
DG Research and Innovation
Unit B2 - “Skills”
Seminar “How to attract
and retain excellent
researchers?”
Oslo, 19 January 2011

2. 2
Europe 2020 and the
Innovation Union
• COM Communication (2010) “Europe 2020 - A strategy
for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”
 Big Societal Challenges - Climate, Energy, Health,
Security, Resource Efficiency…
 Need an integrated and strategic approach
 7 Flagship Initiatives: Innovation Union, Agenda for New
Skills and Jobs, Digital Agenda, Youth on the Move, etc.
• COM Communication (2010) “Europe 2020 Flagship
Initiative - Innovation Union”
 Innovation overarching policy objective
 Main obstacles: unfavorable framework conditions &
fragmentation of effort

3. 3
The Innovation Union
Commitments (I)
• Over 30 Action Points (“Commitments”) proposing
initiatives in key areas, including:
 #1: By end 2011, MS to have strategies in place to
train enough researchers to meet their national
R&D targets and to promote attractive
employment conditions in public research
institutions.
#2: In 2011, COM will support an independent
multi-dimensional international ranking system
allowing the best performing European universities to
be identified. Further steps to be proposed in 2011 in a
Communication on modernisation of higher education.

4. 4
The Innovation Union
Commitments (II)
#4: Completing the ERA: In 2012, COM will propose an
ERA framework and supporting measures to remove
obstacles to mobility and cross-border cooperation
(to be in force by end 2014), addressing among others:
- quality of doctoral training, attractive
employment conditions and gender balance in
research careers;
- mobility of researchers across countries and
sectors, including through open recruitment in public
research institutions and comparable research
career structures and by facilitating the creation of
European supplementary pension funds.

5. 5
The Innovation Union
Commitments (III)
#30: By 2012, EU and MSs to put into place
integrated policies
- to ensure that leading academics,
researchers and innovators reside and
work in Europe and
- to attract a sufficient number of highly
skilled third country nationals to stay in
Europe.

6. 6
Five dossiers related to
these Commitments:
• Charter & Code – HR Strategy for Researchers
• Supplementary Pensions for Researchers
• Quality of Doctoral Training
• European Framework for Research Careers
• Monitoring of Progress

7. 7
Charter & Code – HR
Strategy for Researchers
• Continuation and intensification of ongoing
activities
• Operational support and evaluation of impact
through external contractor
• Preparations for an ERA framework and supporting
measures (IU Commitment #4) related to
“Researchers” topic strongly based on “Charter
and Code logic”

8. 8
Supplementary Pensions
for Researchers
• Feasibility Study on setting up of pan-European
Pension Funds for Researchers (Report 2010)
• Support for the creation of such funds (pilot schemes)
by employers of researchers (e.g. Universities)
• Info Days 2011 – Guidance for setting up such
schemes
More broadly:
• Expert Group on Social Security and Supplementary
Pensions for mobile researchers (Report 2010)
• Green Paper on Pensions (2011) addressing mobility
as a key issue

9. 9
Quality of Doctoral
Training
• Work on Doctoral Training coordinated by ERA
Steering Group Human Resources and Mobility (WG
“Skills” with Stakeholder involvement).
• Aim: Coherent set of Principles for Doctoral
Training (including adherence to Principles of Charter
& Code, critical mass, “triple I”: international,
innovative, intersectoral)
• Based on mapping exercise of existing practice (to
be completed within next two months), followed by a
feasibility study
• Possible take-up in future EU and MS funding
schemes (FP8, LLL, Structural Funds…? Pilots in FP7?)

10. 10
European Framework for
Research Careers
• Work coordinated by SGHRM WG “Skills”
• Aim: Provide researcher competency classification
independent of a particular career path or sector
• Expected impact: facilitate communication across
sectors and countries of competencies that a researcher
has and an employer expects
• Benchmarking tool for career management within
institutions
• Voluntary transparency tool to improve
comparability of career structures
• Consultation ongoing – feedback requested by end of
February 2011

11. 11
Monitoring of Progress
• Steering Group Report on implementation of the EPR
(2009/update 2010 ongoing)
• EPR Monitoring Tender, including:
Annual Integrated Reports on the Researcher
Profession in Europe (2011 – 2013);
Assessment of implementation and impact of the
“Scientific Visa Package” (2011)
Support to and monitoring of HR Strategy
implementation (2011 – 2013); and
Support to and monitoring of the implementation
of pan-European Pension funds (2011 –
2013)

12. 12
Thank you for your attention!
dagmar.meyer@ec.europa.eu