Contract Research Staff
Background
A UK HE sector working group co-ordinated by RCUK, with a membership largely drawn from within the HE sector and representing the interests of employers, employees and funders, worked to create a new framework for the management of research staff. This workstream was endorsed by the UK Research Base Funders' Forum, which represents all the major public and private funders of public good research in this country.
This document explains the background to this project and the wide consultation and engagement with the sector during development of the concordat.
Background
In 1996, the UK Research Councils, the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (CVCP, now Universities UK), the Standing Committee of Principals (SCOP) and several other bodies signed a 'Concordat on Contract Research Staff Career Management'.
The Concordat set standards for the career management and conditions of employment of researchers employed by HEIs on fixed-term or similar contracts and funded through research grants or analogous schemes. It has been used as a general reference point for good practice across the UK higher education sector.
Since the Concordat was signed, researchers' expectations of their career development and working conditions have grown. The interests and responsibilities of research funders and HEIs have also changed in response to new legislation affecting staff on fixed term contracts, amendments to UK Research Councils harmonised grant terms and conditions and the publication of the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers (alignment with which could, in time, be linked with research funding from the European Commission).
Development by the Working Group
The Concordat should provide a clear, high-level statement of each signatory's expectations for the support and management of researchers; an explanation of the purposes for which it has been developed; and a small number of key principles. It should provide an operational framework within which institutions could consider the effectiveness of their individual approaches to the management and support of researchers. It would be modelled on the "Code of Practice for the assurance of academic quality and standards in higher education, section 1: Postgraduate Research Programmes", giving principles on a wide range of topics, supported by explanations and illustrations of effective practice. It could include advice about the rights and responsibilities of employers and researchers.
Benefits
By adopting the principles of the Concordat and implementing the Code, institutions should expect to fulfil the expectations of all funders.
The main benefit of the revised Concordat would be to provide a single, unambiguous statement of the expectations and responsibilities of research funders and institutions with respect to the management of researchers. The Concordat would also demonstrate internationally - including to researchers considering coming to work in the UK - the high standards of management and support that can be expected by UK researchers. It would provide details of effective practice for the support and management of research staff and a single reference point for institutions seeking to meet the expectations of a number of different funders within the UK as well as the European Commission.
Consultation
The working group published a draft revised Concordat on 2 July 2007, and a number of consultation events were held.
RCUK and Universities UK (UUK) received a number of responses to the Consultation on the draft revised Concordat to support the Career Development of Researchers:
Universities: 21 responses
Sector Organisations: 13 responses
Principal Investigators: 2 responses
Researchers and Researcher Groups: 8 responses
Research Council Institutes and Groups: 5 responses
RCUK and Universities UK (UUK) worked with the UK Higher Education sector working group to analyse the responses to the consultation on the draft revised Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers; a short overview of the responses is available.
The Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers
The Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers sets out the expectations and responsibilities of researchers, their managers, employers and funders. It aims to increase the attractiveness and sustainability of research careers in the UK and to improve the quantity, quality and impact of research for the benefit of UK society and the economy.
The Concordat will ensure today's researchers are nurtured and supported during their career development. By setting out clear expectations for researchers, research managers, research institutions, and funders of research, the Concordat aims to enhance the research workforce and thereby sustain research excellence in the UK, bringing benefits to the health, economy and well being of our nation.
The Concordat consists of a set of key principles for the future support and management of research careers, and under each principle, an explanation of how it may be embedded into institutional practice.
The Concordat's key principles:
- Recognition of the importance of recruiting,selecting and retaining researchers with the highest potential to achieve excellence in research.
- Researchers are recognised and valued by their employing organisation as an essential part of their organisation's human resources and a key component of their overall strategy to develop and deliver world-class research.
- Researchers are equipped and supported to be adaptable and flexible in an increasingly diverse, mobile, global research environment.
- The importance of researchers' personal and career development, and lifelong learning, is clearly recognised and promoted at all stages of their career.
- Individual researchers share the responsibility for and need to pro-actively engage in their own personal and career development, and lifelong learning.
- Diversity and equality must be promoted in all aspects of the recruitment and career management of researchers.
- The sector and all stakeholders will undertake regular and collective review of their progress in strengthening the attractiveness and sustainability of research careers in the UK.