From: daliaga@ucalgary.ca   
      
   Science Next Wave Magazine European Gateway   
      
   American Association for the Advancement of Science   
      
      
   A Researchers' Charter: A Paradigm Leap?   
      
      
   Anne Forde   
   EUROPE   
   22 APRIL 2005   
      
   On a hot summer's day in Rome in July 1991, Canadian anthropologist   
   David Aliaga sat at the Italian Ministry of Universities and   
   Technological Research, nervously waiting for his Ph.D. oral   
   examination to begin. The examiners never showed.   
      
   Nearly 13 years later, Aliaga still hasn't been awarded his Ph.D.,   
   and despite his unrelenting campaign, he has not been given the   
   right to an appeal. During his doctoral studies in Italy he received   
   little supervision, only 8 months of funding, and an examination   
   process that in his eyes was completely unfair. Aliaga has been   
   in professional limbo ever since.   
      
   His supervisor's reaction: "I'm sorry, David."   
      
      
   Worldwide, working conditions for researchers—from doctoral to   
   faculty members—vary greatly, and can at best be described as   
   arbitrary. In Europe, the situation is complicated by heterogeneous   
   educational and funding systems and the lack of a regulatory framework   
   that researchers can depend on as they build their careers.   
      
   A strong signal on researchers' rights   
      
      
   In an effort to address this issue, last month the European Commission   
   (EC) published a recommendation, "The European Charter for Researchers   
   and a Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers". Although the   
   document has no legislative power, many stakeholders perceive the   
   document as a strong signal to member states that they need to pull up   
   their socks when it comes to researchers' rights. The EC staff, along   
   with stakeholders ranging from researcher's representatives, to university   
   rectors, to trade unions, hammered out the content of the Charter and Code   
   over a discussion period of 9 months. As the EC's Sigi Gruber explains,   
   prior to the formulation of this document "the [professional] status of   
   researchers was not defined."   
      
   Even though the document has no legislative power, it has been welcomed   
   by most interest groups as a necessary and positive change. Yet the burning   
   question remains: Will employers take its recommendations seriously?   
   The Charter and Code comes 18 months after The EC issued a communication   
   entitled, "Researchers in the European Research Area: One Profession,   
   Multiple Careers", the first serious indication that the EC was finally   
   addressing the professional needs of the researchers themselves. The   
   central goal of the policy- makers was to meet the European Council's   
   goal of spending 3% of the Gross Domestic Product on R&D and to make   
   the continent the "most competitive and dynamic knowledge based economy   
   in the world by 2010."   
      
   The EC estimates to reach this target, an additional 700,000 researchers   
   will be needed. A strategy to both retain researchers in Europe and make   
   the profession an attractive one to new recruits was on the agenda.   
   "One Profession, Multiple Careers" called for the development of a   
   Researchers' Charter "as a framework for the career management for   
   human resources in R&D." Gruber explains, "There was a fragmented   
   position [across Europe] and no reference point." A consensus was   
   clearly needed.   
      
   The Researchers' Charter defines itself as a "is a set of general   
   principles and requirements which specifies the roles, responsibilities,   
   and entitlements of researchers as well as of employers and/or funders   
   of researchers." It applies to researchers throughout their careers   
   and equally to research activities in industry and academia.   
      
   Researchers, says the Code and Charter, have obligations related   
   to research freedom, professional responsibility, accountability,   
   healthy research practices, and relationships with supervisors.   
   On the employers' side, a wide range of good practices are discussed,   
   including both individual issues like working conditions, stability   
   and permanence of employment, career development, funding, salaries,   
   and collective issues like gender balance.   
      
   It is hard to estimate accurately the extent of ill treatment of   
   researchers in Europe, but Gruber claims that, based on consultations   
   with organisations representing researchers, such as the Marie Curie   
   Fellowship Association (MCFA) and Eurodoc, it isn't rare for researchers   
   to encounter difficulties.   
      
   In an effort to get representative viewpoints, the Charter and Code   
   were drafted by a consortium of stakeholders including the MCFA, Eurodoc,   
   Euroscience, the European University Association, the European Industrial   
   Research Management Association and the trade unions EUROCADRE and the   
   European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE), among others.   
      
   According to Gruber, a key point the Researchers' Charter is making is   
   that "if you want to be treated as a professional, you have to act   
   professionally." Euroscience president Jean-Patrick Connerade, who was   
   also involved in the round table discussions, agrees: "It is a two-way   
   process."   
      
   Implementation of the Charter and Code will be a challenge, since they   
   are "policy instruments," which member states may choose to adopt--or   
   not--on   
   a voluntary basis. Alexandre Quintanilha, Director of the Institute for   
   Molecular and Cell biology in Porto, Portugal--and a member of this   
   stakeholders group--believes that for the Charter and Code to be effective,   
   "we have to develop pressure [on all levels], but with the cultural   
   differences there is no single recipe."   
      
   Some proponents of the Charter and Code think it may be endorsed by   
   institutions, which would provide some incentives for other organisations   
   to adopt it. Connerade imagines it could be "similar to the U.S., when   
   organisations have an equal opportunities endorsement [on their official   
   documentation] and [thus] may give a better deal to employees."   
   Quintanilha agrees, and personally he hopes that institutes that support   
   the Charter and Code might get "some brownie points for it."   
      
   A more daring approach would be to tighten the funding purse strings   
   through the Charter and Code. Gruber explains that the Commission   
   intends to propose (to member states) its endorsement as a criterion   
   for securing funding for the 7th Framework Programme.   
      
   Aliaga--along, probably, with many other researchers who have had   
   experienced the kinds of difficulties the Charter and Code aim to   
   address--welcomes their arrival. "I'm very pleased," says Aliaga.   
   "I firmly believe it is a good step forward, meeting the objective   
   of implementing some sorely needed standards across universities   
   and academia in the EU."   
      
   Italian scientist Andrea Raccanelli, who has taken his former employer,   
   the Max Planck Society (MPG) to court claiming discrimination on the   
      
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