ETHICAL ASPECTS
RECRUITMENT
WORKING CONDITIONS TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
WHAT IS THE CHARTER AND THE CODE
The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers are the documents of the European Union that set out the guidelines for European universities and research centres to improve the employment and working conditions of researchers, making research more attractive in Europe.
The European Charter for Researchers addresses the roles, responsibilities and rights of researchers and their contractors. Its aim is to ensure that the relationship between the parties contributes positively to the process of creating, transferring and sharing knowledge and to the professional development of researchers. The Charter includes 40 principles describing the rights and duties of researchers and of organisations employing and funding research. There are 4 main areas:
Open, transparent, merit-based recruitment
Ethical and professional aspects
Working conditions and social security
Training and career development
The Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers aims to improve recruitment, and ensure that selection procedures are fair and transparent. It proposes several means of evaluating merits, taking into account not only number of publications, but a wider range of evaluation criteria, such as teaching, supervision of people, teamwork, knowledge transfer, management and scientific outreach.
