ESIB STATEMENT ON THE EUROPEAN CHARTER
FOR RESEARCHERS AND
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR THE RECRUITMENT
OF RESEARCHERS

On March 11th 2005 the European Commission adopted a European Charter for
Researchers and a Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers with the
intention to help counter the fact that research careers in Europe are fragmented at
local, regional, national or sectoral level, and to allow Europe to make the most of its
scientific potential. The Charter and Code of Conduct are intended to give individual
researchers the same rights and obligations wherever they may work throughout the
EU.

ESIB generally welcomes the adoption of the two documents and sees them as a
strong signal to member states towards improvement of researcher's rights. In this
sense ESIB welcomes the set of principles and requirements which specify the roles,
responsibilities and entitlements of researcher as well as employers and/or funders
of researchers, especially: research freedom, professionalism, public engagement,
gender balance promotion, continuous career development, evaluation/appraisal
systems.

When it comes to defining what a researcher is, ESIB sees the definition given in the
Section 3 as limiting, as too much focus is given on time, rather than research
experience and competences. ESIB further believes that the definition in Section 3
overlooks the fact, that research activity is already carried out in the 1st and 2nd cycle
of Higher Education and is a prerequisite for a positive attitude towards research and
a research career as well as the successful further development of early stage
researchers. ESIB therefore stresses that the integration of research activity in the 1st
and 2nd cycle is crucial to allow Europe to make the most of its scientific potential.
Connected to this, should be the consideration of protection of co-authorship in the
1st and 2nd cycle.

A cornerstone to include research in 1st and 2nd cycle studies of Higher Education as
well as to structure scientific research and foster transmission is teaching. We
therefore welcome the inclusion of teaching in the European Charter for Researchers.
Nevertheless we stress that teaching must not be seen as hindrance to research
activity, but as integral part, since the transmission of its findings is an integral part
of any research project. Furthermore the exchange of knowledge and the
transmission of research is an important instrument for the development of a positive
attitude towards research and research careers. The importance of female role
models in achieving gender equality in teaching and research must not be
underestimated in this respect.

ESIB represents doctoral students in more than half of its member countries and
therefore is also very concerned about the overall situation of doctoral studies and in
particular about the conditions for doctoral students. Therefore ESIB welcomes the
fact that the Charter addresses the social status (social security and rights) of a
researcher, regardless of the country he/she comes from and the country in which
he/she conducts research. However ESIB believes that the formulation used is still
too weak and dependent on national legislation.

ESIB welcomes that the Charter recognizes the value of all forms of mobility,
however still feels that the focus is primarily given to the recognition of the academic
experience, and when it comes to portability of grants and social security provisions,
these are too dependant on the national legislation and therefore could represent
obstacles to mobility.

One of the key elements of the Code of Conduct is the Recognition of Qualifications,
and ESIB especially welcomes the fact that the Code takes into consideration also
"non-formal" qualifications, together with academic and professional qualifications,
however sees the formulation on promoting the recognition process as weak, too
dependant on national legislation and demanding for the researcher. ESIB believes
that the recognition of qualifications for researchers should be in line with the
European Qualifications Framework.

ESIB recognizes the effort to provide a common framework for dealing with conflicts,
which are very common, especially between supervisors and early-stage researchers,
and which may be a reason for frustration and an unsolvable obstacle to a
researcher's career. However, there is an obvious need for a more concrete defining
of the position of the "impartial person", as well as the effects of its decisions.
ESIB reiterates its conviction of the Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct as
positive contribution in the context of creating the European Research Area. The
implementation of its objectives remains a future challenge for national states and
further concrete efforts will be needed in the direction of harmonization of national
systems Europe-wide.