Final Report Summary - E*CARE (European career of researchers)
Executive summary:
The E*CARE project's overall goal was to substantially contribute to 'the enhancement of the overall performance of the EURAXESS services network and stimulate cooperation between EURAXESS members on operational and strategic issues', thus addressing the overall strategic objective of the 'People' specific programme which is 'to make Europe more attractive to the best researchers'. Specifically, E*CARE was aiming to improve the services of EURAXESS services centres in support of researchers' mobility, and enhancing the collaboration amongst service centres with different backgrounds on the basis of shared experience, practices and tools. The planned activities focused on identifying remaining mobility obstacles at national level, developing up-to-date national reports on mobility trends, sharing good practices and improving the overall coherence and quality of services offered to researchers and their families. Finally, the E*CARE project sought to improve the collaboration amongst service centres, strengthen their expertise and knowledge base, and raise their visibility at national and European level among a large number of stakeholders. The project started on 1 August 2008 and ended on 31 July 2011. The E*CARE project was implemented by a multi-partner consortium of nine EURAXESS service centres from eight European countries (GR, BU, AT, SK, CH, CY, CS, HU). The consortium involved experienced partners with complementary competences so as to ensure the fulfilment of the project objectives and the success of the planned activities.
The project included a group of interrelated activities focused on:
1. Implementing parallel surveys on obstacles for researchers' career and mobility in Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia and Switzerland. The aim of the survey was to get feedback from researchers, research and industrial organisations, and other stakeholders on:
- remaining obstacles for researchers' career and mobility;
- the available actual support, different from SCs support, to the transnational and intersectoral mobility of researchers;
- the role of EURAXESS services centres in support of researchers.
The survey was carried out in the period of October 2008 - January 2009. The results of the surveys were incorporated into the comparative survey analysis report which provided a good input to the international and national dialogue on researchers' career and mobility. A significant finding of the comparative survey analysis was that the researchers from the eight European countries investigated have a strong willingness and professional motivation to participate in international mobility programs. Additionally, most respondents acknowledge the international mobility as an important factor for future career development in field of research.
The greatest problems concerning this kind of mobility turned out to be in the following spheres: research funding, housing and accommodation, bureaucratic procedures at the host institution, employment services and employment legislation, immigration services and legislation. Further, the survey results revealed that mobile researchers demonstrate satisfaction rather than dissatisfaction with their stay abroad.
Another finding is that the most significant outcomes of international mobility are the increase and diversification of research knowledge and experience, the improvement of networking with other researchers, the facilitation of researchers' career, improvement of their language competencies, and the increasing of their scientific output (i.e. number of publications, patents).With regard to the specific initiatives of the European Union (EU) in fostering the mobility of European researchers, the results show that the EURAXESS jobs portal and EURAXESS service centre are not sufficiently popular amongst the research community.
2. Developing eight national reports on issues related to researchers' career and mobility on the basis of the survey results, as well as on additional information gathered at national level. The reports provide an overview of the landscape related to researchers' career and mobility of the countries involved, updated information about the trends in the participating countries, but also provide a set of recommendations considered as necessary in order to facilitate the mobility and career development of researchers in the specific countries.
3. Collecting national best practices on researchers' mobility support so as to create the best practices guide.
4. Developing 'mutual learning' tools to support the exchange of service centres experience and knowledge (i.e. workshops, twinnings, E*CARE Think-Tank).
5. Disseminating and promoting the project's results (website: www.ecare-project.eu national seminars, final conference, promotional material).
The project's activities had a great impact to the partners in terms of improving the services provided to researchers, increase the level of experience and knowledge on remaining mobility obstacles, establish long-lasting collaborations and, finally, enhancing the networking effect of such projects.
Project context and objectives:
In June 2004 the ERA-MORE network was established in order to offer mobile researchers and their families, whether incoming or outgoing, comprehensive and up-to-date information and personalised assistance in all matters relating to their professional and daily lives. The European Commission (EC) provided initial support to implement the new structures all around Europe. Effective training activities on a national as well as a European level allowed the mobility centres to successfully finalise their start-up phase, becoming a known structure for supporting researchers on a national level. In June 2008, EURAXESS researchers in motion initiative was launched in a rebranding effort of the ex-ERA-MORE network.
Over the last few years new and essential tools and instruments have been developed to assist the EURAXESS service centres to map, research and analyse mobility and promote mobility at national and EU level as a central element for the establishment of the European Research Area (ERA). EURAXESS has consistently implemented its goals: It has provided mobile researchers with reliable information and targeted assistance, and has resolved a great number of questions for them. However, several challenges still remain to be solved to further improve mobility conditions.
Despite the progress and notable initiatives, conducted in the spirit of the European Partnership, despite better argumentation launched to convince of the needs and benefits of mobility schemes, EURAXESS members still must mobilise resources to advocate for the removal or flexibility of barriers that continue to hamper the movement of persons and works in the scientific sector. The EURAXESS service centres are aware that signs of significant change are continuously emerging in the researchers' mobility environment, driven by globalisation and the convergence of academic, social, political, economic, technological and environmental forces. Society is changing and the EURAXESS service centres need to constantly adapt themselves and their services to the new trends. They must support the contemporary research community in translating emerging opportunities into sustainable growth and a better future for Europe. It is the task of the EURAXESS service centres to facilitate and assist the 'mobile researchers and scholars' in meeting the challenge of mobility, to encourage their host institutions, organisations, companies and by extension their host country to improve the research mobility throughout Europe and by that establishing excellent research projects in Europe.
All services centres must sustain their position and services, extend them and more distinctively demonstrate their value to a large group of stakeholders - researchers, research organisations, industry, policy makers. The EURAXESS members are also in the particular position to support the EU efforts for building an open European researcher's labour market, to promote the European charter for researchers and the code of conduct for the recruitment of researchers, and to support the policy and practice for removing the remaining obstacles for researchers' training, mobility and career development in Europe. In their everyday work they face actual problems of researchers moving from one country to another or from academia to industry, and resolve different obstacles of researchers' professional work and everyday life. Therefore, the EURAXESS service centres can build upon this experience, grasp the opportunity to exchange knowledge in a more structured way and learn from each other.
In light of the above, the E*CARE project's overall goal was to substantially contribute to 'the enhancement of the overall performance of the EURAXESS services network and stimulate cooperation between EURAXESS members on operational and strategic issues'. Specifically, the project activities aimed at improving the services of EURAXESS services centres in support of researchers' mobility, and enhancing the collaboration amongst service centres with different backgrounds on the basis of shared experience, practices and tools.
Thus, the E*CARE objectives were to:
- Gather structured information on remaining and emerging obstacles concerning researchers' career and mobility, and on recent trends at national level. In particular, the main goal was to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of each participating country in the project through a careful examination of the practical implementation of the European policy initiatives related to the enhancement of the researchers' mobility and the development of the researchers' career so as to enrich the knowledge spectrum of the E*CARE partners, improve the quality of services provided to stakeholders and assist policy and decision makers to overcome specific problems.
- Develop a guide for best practices related to services provided to mobile researchers so as to exchange good practices and promote the services provided by the partners to the whole EURAXESS services network.
- Strengthen the competences of EURAXESS service centres' staff through twinnings, meetings and workshops aiming at increasing the level of interaction between less experienced and more experienced EURAXESS service centres, gain knowledge and exchange good practices.
- Raise the awareness on EURAXESS and the EURAXESS service centres among a wide group of stakeholders through a set of dissemination activities, such as the organisation of workshops, national seminars, final conference, the development of promotional material and the maintenance of the project's website.
Project results:
The guiding principle of all the efforts invested in the project was to improve the quality of services of EURAXESS services centres in support of researchers' mobility, and enhance the collaboration amongst service centres with different backgrounds on the basis of shared experience, practices and tools.
In the following, the main project results are described according to Work package (WP)s. It should be noted that the project outcomes are the result of continuous and efficient interaction between the consortium partners. Results from one task were a prerequisite for achieving results in another. For example, the survey on mobility obstacles as part of task 1.3 was a very important activity for the rest of WPs since its findings contributed significantly in the development of the national reports, to the organisation of the national seminars, the twinning activities.
The main result of WP1 'Survey on obstacles for researchers' mobility and career' was the comparative survey analysis of the questionnaires' results. The general objective of the survey was to understand the remaining mobility obstacles with emphasis on the career of researchers in the participating countries, and to respond much better to the changing environment for mobile researchers.
A significant finding of the comparative survey analysis was that the researchers from the eight European countries investigated have a strong willingness and professional motivation to participate in international mobility programs. Additionally, most respondents acknowledge the international mobility as an important factor for future career development in research. The greatest problems concerning this kind of mobility turned out to be in the following spheres: research funding, housing and accommodation, bureaucratic procedures at the host institution, employment services and employment legislation, immigration services and legislation. Further, the survey results reveal that mobile researchers demonstrate satisfaction with their stay abroad.
Another finding is that the most significant outcomes of international mobility are the increase and diversification of research knowledge and experience, the improvement of networking with other researchers, the facilitation of researchers' career, improvement of their language competencies, and the increase of their scientific outputs (i.e. number of publications, patents). The results indicate that improvement of the financial conditions for doing research would be of greatest importance for attracting young people to scientific career. This would stimulate all kinds of researchers' mobility as well. Further, it was found out that there are still many obstacles in the intersectoral mobility, and that they decrease the willingness of researchers to be more mobile from one sector of activity to another. The academic sphere and industry are not collaborating enough at this moment. The degree of support provided by the state and its institutions to the researchers and scientific workers in the home countries is also still disappointingly low. With regard to the specific initiatives of the EU in fostering the mobility of researchers, the EURAXESS jobs portal and EURAXESS service centres are not sufficiently popular in the research community, and there is a need for more efforts to effectively promote the available mobility support tools. Many reasonable suggestions were provided about the improvement of information and guidance services for foreign researchers in the countries.
In the E*CARE survey, according to the generalised data of all 8 countries, the main motive for researchers to work abroad is the possibility for future career development (73 %), working on interesting research theme (63 %) and participation in a collaborative research project (57 %). The high reputation of the host institution is another reason for international mobility (53 %). At the same time, around one third of the respondents pay significant attention to remuneration or to higher standard of living abroad. Family connections and business or commercialisation opportunities are not among the strong motives for international mobility of researchers.
Amongst the factors discouraging researchers to undertake international mobility with greatest importance are the family and other personal connections. 44 % of the respondents pointed them as a hindering factor, whereas the most conservative ones are Cypriot researchers (70 %), and less affected by this factor Czech respondents (18 %). At the same time, the complex administration of relocation (e.g. formal / legal issues - social and health insurance, employment permit, housing, transportation), and the lack of support from the home institution (e.g. fear of losing current position, duties at the home institution) are other serious factors posing barriers to mobility of researchers. This factor has greatest importance for Slovak (46 %) and Greek researchers (41 %), and is of less significance for Bulgarian researchers (18 %). The language barriers are essential in the Czech Republic (19 %) and Slovakia (16 %), and have no role for the majority of researchers from Austria and Hungary. As other discouraging factors could be indicated: age limitations and adaptation problems (Slovak, Austrian, Cyprian), financial problems (Austrian, Bulgarian), problems with the pension insurance (Austrian), health care problems (Hungarian), fear of difficulties in social or professional aspect after the return (Swiss). Compared to the stimulating factors, the discouraging ones are with less weight, especially these related directly to the research activities. Hence, the conclusion could be made that the researchers from the investigated eight European countries have a strong willingness and professional motivation to participate in international mobility programs. On the question 'Have you participated in any international mobility program in the past'? 59 % of the respondents from the eight countries answered affirmatively, and 39 % gave a negative answer. About 70 % of the researchers questioned from the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Hungary have some mobility experience and only 27 % of those from Cyprus.
The next question was about the country of the last mobility period of the respondents. Here the percentages are distributed quite evenly between the eight countries, receiving values between 1 and 7. An interesting result could be noticed for the Czech Republic, where 43 % of the respondents are researchers, for which the last mobility destination was this country. This provides an opportunity to assess objectively the quality of the services, provided by the Czech institutions to incoming researchers. The respondents were further asked to evaluate the weight of a wide range of possible problems that the mobile researchers might have encountered. Generalising the statistical results, the problems are grouped into three clusters according to the perceived percentages in the columns 'Common problem', 'Rather (simple / moderate problem) problem', and 'serious problem'. The most significant problems turned out to be the following: difficulties in research funding; housing and accommodation; bureaucratic procedures at the host institution, employment services and employment legislation (i.e. receiving employment permits), immigration services and legislation. The next cluster consists of relatively important, but not very substantial problems. They are namely: generally lack of information; fear of losing current job position; social security institutions and legislation (i.e. pension system legislation), lack of national and / or institutional support for researchers' families, language problems. In the third group are presented the least difficult problems for the mobile researchers (common problem - 6-10 %, rather problem - 3-5 %, and serious problem for 1-3 %). They are as follows: tax authorities and tax legislation, health insurance, difficulties in receiving medical services (hospitals), difficulties in the educational system (for the researchers' children), and cultural barriers. There are some additional problems, pointed out by the respondents, such as recognition of diplomas or research titles and degrees abroad (Bulgaria), getting a new bank account (Austria), radical nationalism in EU countries (Czech Republic), lack of support for working mothers (Switzerland), uncertainties after return regarding job, general perspectives, family (Hungary).
The survey made an attempt to investigate further the impact of mobility on researchers' career. It turned out that for 55 % of the respondents the international mobility contributed to increase and diversification of their research knowledge and experience. 47 % consider that it improved their networking with other researchers. For about 40 % of them the research stay abroad was a factor that facilitated their career, improved their language competencies, and increased their scientific outputs (i.e. number of publications, patents). Unfortunately, the majority of the respondents were quite skeptical about gaining better recognition at home after return. Most positively were influenced by the international mobility respondents from Austria, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. On the contrary, Bulgarian researchers indicated less impact, especially concerning the factors 'Facilitated my career', 'Increased my recognition at home' and 'Increased my future job opportunities'. Obviously, the research environment in Bulgaria is not quite friendly and stimulating towards participants in international mobility programmes yet.
The respondents were asked to assess the effectiveness of some possible measures which might be taken in order to attract young people to a scientific career. The results indicate that the adequate reward and stimulation of young researchers with scientific achievements is more important than the increase of researchers' salaries. The survey respondents suggested many other possible actions for the effective rejuvenation of the research staff:
- providing clear perspectives for career and personal development (Austria, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Switzerland);
- more support for gaining work experience, increasing collaboration with industry, providing more job opportunities (Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland);
- improving the media image of science and rising the prestige of the researcher's profession (Bulgaria, Czech Republic);
- making quality an integral part of teaching and research (Czech Republic, Hungary);
- agreements for the international recognition of degrees and finished courses and training periods (Austria);
- removal of the reluctance of the colleagues-professors to promote young researchers (Greece);
- working out a system which diminishes the difficulties related to the impossibility of frequent relocation of family members, required in a competent scientific career (Hungary). Concerning the willingness to move from public to private sector (or vice-versa if relevant), the affirmative answers are 26 % positive and 68 % negative. An open question was given to the respondents in order to investigate the barriers for intersectoral mobility, e.g. when moving from public to private sector (or vice-versa).
The respondents form the 8 participating countries provided a large variety of answers:
- uncertainty in the new working environment, lack of security and stability, high level of risk in the sphere of private entrepreneurship (Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary);
- lack of research positions and considerable research activity in private sector (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia);
- lower salary (Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia);
- age barrier (Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary);
- worrying about the chance to return to the current position (Austria, Hungary, Slovakia);
- private sector not oriented to develop basic theoretical science and humanities (Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary);
- lower level of the research infrastructure (Greece, Hungary);
- problems in health insurance, pension and social security (Austria, Greece);
- differences in culture and mentality (Cyprus, Hungary);
- lack of working hours flexibility, worse working conditions (Greece);
- free publication activity not allowed in private sector (Hungary);
- difficulties in transfer of knowledge from academic to private sector (Switzerland).
According to the survey results, only 6 % of all respondents benefited from the services of a EURAXESS services centre (former ERA MORE centre), while 82 % did not. Amongst the former, 4 % were fully satisfied and 2 % were satisfied with some aspects, while others were not satisfied. Dissatisfied researchers are less than 1 %. The Czech Republic and Cyprus have the greatest share of people who used EURAXESS services centres effectively (14 and 13 % respectively), compared to Hungary (1 %), Austria and Slovakia (2 %). EURAXESS services centre helped researchers in the following main areas:
- providing valuable information about working conditions in the host country, about procedures, risks (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Switzerland);
- control and help in preparing the application (Austria, Switzerland);
- relocation arrangements - taxation issues (Greece);
- personal assistance concerning extension of visa (Czech Republic);
- advertisement of open positions (Austria);
- administration issues (Switzerland).
However, researchers would like some more services offered by EURAXESS services centres, for example:
- lack of classification of mobility options (Bulgaria);
- reliable job offers (Austria);
- more possibilities for graduates without doctorate (PhD) (Austria);
- network and reintegration grants (Hungary);
- making aware of Swiss initiatives in countries abroad (i.e. expatriates).
The survey results reveal a very low level of use of the services of the EURAXESS Jobs portal (http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess) or a national researcher's mobility portal. Only 5 % of the respondents benefited from them, while 55 % did not. Greek representatives are an exception in this case, as 16 % of them declare that they used the services provided by the EURAXESS Jobs portal or by a national researcher's mobility portal. On the contrary, respondents from Hungary did not use these services at all. 2 % of those answering affirmatively were fully satisfied, 3 % satisfied with some aspects, with others not, and 1 % were not satisfied.
The next open question was 'In what field / issue has / did EURAXESS jobs portal (http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess) helped / help you'?. There are some answers provided:
- information about job vacancies (Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Switzerland);
- information about funding and fellowship opportunities (Greece);
- assistance concerning legal procedures (residence permit) (Greece);
- assistance concerning administration of the stay (Austria);
- EU relevant 'bureaucratic' issues (contract template) (Switzerland).
On the question 'What do you miss in the information on EURAXESS jobs portal (http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess) or a national Researcher's mobility portal'? the systematised answers are as follows:
- elaborate and more structured information, especially about job opportunities;
- about national legislations on mobility (i.e. taxation, research laws, social services etc.), about the research environment in the host country, about the host institutions and the projects (Austria, Bulgaria, Greece);
- more advertisement of EURAXESS (Czech Republic, Switzerland);
- advanced search options (Czech Republic);
- too many 'clicks' before accessing information (Switzerland);
- no use for jobs in French (Austria).
The findings of the E*CARE comparative survey analysis contributed significantly to the implementation of the rest E*CARE activities. Each country's national data are incorporated at the specific section of the national report and discussed during the national seminars. The survey and its results helped partners to enrich existing knowledge on remaining mobility obstacles and current trends at national level, and adopt and improve their EURAXESS service centre services according to the survey results.
Regarding WP2 'National trends and best practices', the two main results are the development of eight national reports on researchers' career and mobility and the best practices guide. The objective of the national reports is to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of each participating country in the project through a careful examination of the practical implementation of the European policy initiatives relating to the enhancement of the researchers' mobility and the development of the researchers' career. The issues addressed in the national reports are indicatively the following: research potential, information on legal framework / research policy, legal obstacles to mobility, career development obstacles, best practices, and recommendations. The reports cover the actions implemented at national level within the period from 2003 to 2010. Their content is based on the collection of information derived from EU policy documents, national reports and studies, experts' presentations as well as from the above mentioned survey's results. The report provides the reader with a general insight into the country's strengths and weaknesses in the area of career and mobility of researchers and it cannot be considered as an official national policy report.
Furthermore, the best practices guide is a collection of best practices on the field of researchers' mobility and career development as demonstrated at local (ESC level, institutional) and national (EURAXESS network) levels. The form used for the identification of best practices at national EURAXESS network level included the following fields: scientific visa package, charter and code, implementation of the EPR, research policy / legal framework, social security, taxation, funding, promotional activities, other. The form used for the identification of best practices at local (ESC) level included the following fields: internal regulatory framework, charter and code implementation, daily activities in researchers' assistance, networking, employment contracts, promotional activities, other. The content of the guide is enhanced by the results of the WP1 survey, WP2 national reports, WP3 twinnings and workshops, and WP4 national seminars.
Both results, national reports and best practices guide, are available at the E*CARE project website. The guide can be used for transferring expertise to other EURAXESS members and contribute to the creation of a more favourable research institutional environment in Europe by promoting national good practices to newly established EURAXESS networks; while the effort made by the partners for the creation of the national reports contributed to the development of comprehensive, updated material to be used as a point of reference not only for incoming researchers (used complementarily to national guides for incoming researchers), but also for other national stakeholders (ministries, university / research organisations representatives, FP7 NCPs) along with promoting the national EURAXESS networks as an advisory group to the formulation of national research policies.
In the framework of WP3 'EURAXESS services centres collaboration', one of the most important and innovative deliverables of the project were developed: the EURAXESS E*CARE Think-Tank. The main idea of the EURAXESS E*CARE Think-Tank is to provide to the members of the EURAXESS network tools so as to understand better the changes within the community of mobile researchers, balance the service offer with the current and future needs of stakeholders and explore the important factors affecting their function as a national network / EURAXESS service centre / local contact point. Specifically, the EURAXESS E*CARE Think-Tank envisions to provide aid in the form of a process that behavioural health organisations / EURAXESS service centres / local contact points can employ so as to respond to daily challenges. The aim is to create a forum for identifying skills, competencies, share experience and create partnerships among the members of the Network. This activity was named 'EURAXESS E*CARE Think-Tank' because the E*CARE partners followed a participatory approach for its realisation, i.e. not only the members of the E*CARE consortium contributed to the development of the tools, but also researchers and other members of the EURAXESS network. The EURAXESS E*CARE Think-Tank is the result of a 3-year effort by the E*CARE partners in the framework of WP3 'EURAXESS services centres collaboration'. The activities designed by the WP3 leader, ETH-Surich, and undertaken by a range of stakeholders, included twinning activities, workshops organisation (i.e. session in Potsdam, workshop in Zurich) and 'take-home / office' exercises. The knowledge / experience acquired while preparing and implementing the aforementioned activities have been integrated in a set of tools prepared by the ETH-Zurich team for the whole EURAXESS network. For example, the tools developed may help behavioural health organisations / EURAXESS service centres / local contact points to define their strategic planning for short or long term periods, develop their action plans for viability reasons, promotion, industry-academia collaboration by using the scenario-thinking and keywords approach.
The main idea of the EURAXESS E*CARE Think-Tank is to provide to the members of the EURAXESS Network, which is by its nature subject to continuous development and change, with tools that help them meet researchers / stakeholders needs in new ways, create solutions to satisfy these needs and deliver sustainable and viable solutions that make sense to the actual environment. Three tools have been developed so as to meet these expectations:
- the E*CARE Think-Tank manual. This manual is a document guiding throughout all the steps for participating in the exercise;
- the Think-Tank PowerPoint file. The file includes two matrices and electronic post-it notes for 'visualising' the exercise;
- the E*CARE Think-Tank 'How to Do It' Video. The video gives a visual example on how to do the exercise.
Thus, all EURAXESS members are free to download the files from the project's dedicated section, undertake the exercise and send it back to the E*CARE coordinator so as to upload it to a restricted area (for protection reasons) of the website. All uploaded results will be there so as to consult, compare and analyse them. The more active the EURAXESS members will be, the more vivid the restricted area will become: The aim is to create a forum for identifying skills, competencies, share experience and create partnerships among the members of the network. The impact for the EURAXESS Network will be to have skilful, adaptive and 'up-to-date' members providing contemporary services for the benefit of ERA.
In the framework of WP4 'Dissemination and promotion', the major results were two: the successful organisation of the eight national seminars and the E*CARE final conference. The aim of the national seminars was two-folded: to promote to national stakeholders the results of the national survey on mobility obstacles and the results of the national reports, and to launch a national debate on the topic of researchers' career and mobility so as to contribute to the improvement of the national research environment. All national seminars were successfully conducted and the partners expressed their satisfaction for the outcomes of the discussions. In all seminars, the discussions were mainly focused on the main weaknesses of the national research system regarding remaining mobility obstacles and delays in implementing the EU research policies so as to propose recommendations for corrective actions. The seminars proved to be an excellent method for promoting the E*CARE project results and findings and establish good relations and networking with high-level policy makers. Furthermore, the E*CARE final conference was organised on 15-16 June 2011 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, having more than 80 participants. The conference topics were structured in six sessions: the first two were focused on EU policy and EC funding opportunities for mobile researchers, the third and fourth sessions were devoted to the presentation of the E*CARE project results, specifically on the presentations of the eight E*CARE national reports and the best practices of all countries involved in the project. Finally, the challenges for EURAXESS coming out from other EURAXESS-based projects, as well as from the experience of individual researchers and national practices were in the focus of the fifth and sixth sessions. The conference finished with a round table discussion on 'Vision for EURAXESS 2020'.
The plenary sessions were structured as follows:
- Framework for researchers mobility and career development in Europe - with the objective to acquaint the audience with recent policy changes in Europe related to ERA, the EURAXESS policy framework and activities, the charter and code and, also, to present the E*CARE project's activities and impact.
- Opportunities for researchers' mobility in Europe - focused on EU grants for individual researchers within different Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) schemes. A special attention was put on the People Specific Programme, as well as the opportunities provided by the joint research centre and the 'Ideas' specific programme.
- Mobility and career of researchers: National practices and challenges - 2 consecutive sessions under this title included presentation of the eight E*CARE national reports and the best practices of the project partners' countries.
- Challenges for EURAXESS - the objective was to disseminate the results and the experience gained within the EURAXESS network for work with different stakeholders, as well as to highlight the challenges for the network. A special emphasis was put on industry-academia collaboration and the results gained within the surveys carried out within the E*CARE and the I-SEEMob projects.
- Researchers career and mobility experience - the goal of the session was to present the experience of mobile researchers and mobility practices in other countries outside of the consortium. Unfortunately, due to some problems of the E*CARE partners to find individual researchers to take part as speakers at the conference, some last moment changes in the session programme were made.
The E*CARE project's final conference is considered to be a success. The structure and the content of the conference's sessions along with the selection of invited speakers made the conference interesting since the audience had the opportunity to be informed about a significant number of EU initiatives supporting researchers' career and development and the remaining mobility obstacles hindering trans-national and intersectoral mobility as examined and identified in the course of the E*CARE project. Thus, the participation of a large number of researchers and policy makers gave the opportunity to the consortium to disseminate the project's results effectively and coherently. The fact that high level EC representatives, the Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Education and Science, the Rectors of the Sofia University and the Plovdiv University, and, additionally, EURAXESS members not participating at the project and mobile researchers attended the conference and participated actively was a great honour for the consortium and proved very efficient for the dissemination of the E*CARE project's results.
Potential impact:
The impact of the E*CARE project can be measured on European and national level supporting the activities of EURAXESS researchers in motion initiative as a whole, and the activities of the individual EURAXESS services centres. In addition it envisioned to contribute to the national and EU actions related to the career and mobility of researchers for accomplishing the objectives for realising a single labour market for researchers in Europe. In general, the E*CARE project activities enhanced significantly the collaboration among EURAXESS service centres, strengthened their expertise and knowledge base, their positioning in the country and raised their visibility among a large number of stakeholders.
The project activities provided opportunities to EURAXESS service centres to increase their competences and reach a more consistent level of services:
- The national reports on researchers' career and mobility provided structured and up-to-date information on the national current trends in the area of mobility and career development.
- The survey on obstacles for researchers' career and mobility outlined the remaining obstacles concerning researcher's career and mobility, but also provided important feedback to EURAXESS service centres from their clients so as to adapt and enhance their services in specific areas of increased clients' interest.
- The guide for best practices summarised the available national (ESC and BHO levels) and institutional best practices for transferring expertise to other EURAXESS members and aims to contribute to the creation of a more favourable research institutional environment in Europe by promoting national good practices to newly established EURAXESS networks.
- The competences of the EURAXESS service centres' staff involved in the project were strengthened by the twinning and exchange of best practices with more experienced EURAXESS service centres.
- The tools developed in support of the learning and knowledge exchange among EURAXESS service centres are available to all members of the EURAXESS services network and can greatly benefit the network in terms of understanding better the changes within the community of mobile researchers, balancing the service offer with the current and future needs of stakeholders and exploring the important factors affecting their function as a national network / EURAXESS service centre / local contact point.
Through its activities E*CARE increased the collaboration amongst EURAXESS service centres, and thus strengthened the whole EURAXESS services network:
- The preparation of the survey, the national reports and the best practices guide allowed the project partners to work together, exchange ideas, information and knowledge.
- The EURAXESS E*CARE Think-Tank as a new tool enhanced the team spirit, strategic thinking and skills development of the consortium and aims to be of further use by all members of the EURAXESS services network.
- The national seminars contributed to the enhancement of the collaboration links with important stakeholders in the area of researchers' career and mobility at national level.
- The E*CARE final conference succeeded in its aim to promote the E*CARE results to a wide range of stakeholders: EC representatives, national policy makers, researchers, other members of the EURAXESS network who do not participate in the consortium.
As shown in the previous sections, the E*CARE project results vary in nature and, thus, their impact can be measured on multiple levels. In general, the impact of the project's results can be summarised in the following:
- Enriched partners' / EURAXESS service centre's staff knowledge on remaining mobility obstacles and current trends at national level.
- Improved the services provided to stakeholders by adapting / adjusting their services according to the most common mobility obstacles faced by researchers as identified during the E*CARE survey on obstacles for researchers' mobility and career.
- Promoted national EURAXESS networks as an advisory group to the formulation of national research policies.
- Encouraged transfer of expertise, knowledge and good practices between the members of the EURAXESS services network.
- Broadened the capacity of the E*CARE partners to think strategically (explore important dynamics affecting their daily work) and adopt internal planning processes at their institutions so as to respond to changes.
- Enhanced the team spirit, strategic thinking and skills development of members of the EURAXESS network.
- Enhanced collaboration and networking among members.
- Promoted EURAXESS researchers in motion initiative at national and regional level.
The results of the E*CARE project, available through the E*CARE website, could be used by the whole EURAXESS network so as to enrich its knowledge-base, develop skills and creative-thinking strategies and benefit from its networking activities. The E*CARE results could provide valuable insight on what is happening in the eight countries participating in the consortium, broadening in this way, EURAXESS members' expertise beyond their national borders; support discussions at EU level for tackling remaining mobility obstacles and promoting a favourable research environment; national reports and the best practices guide could be used as point of reference on discussions with stakeholders, while the E*CARE Think-Tank tool could be used at national and EU EURAXESS staff trainings. Additionally, the knowledge and expertise gained could be exploited by the partners and built upon in the framework of future national and EU (like EURAXESS TOP2 project, transnational projects) funded projects on researchers' mobility and trends.
E*CARE project included several tools for dissemination of project results to EURAXESS network and to the interested stakeholders in research, policy and industry.
National seminars
8 national seminars were carried out in all partners' countries during the third project year with the objective to launch a national debate on the researchers' career and mobility obstacles and the best practices. During these seminars partners presented national problems for researchers' career and mobility showed in their national reports.
Final Conference
The conference objective was to raise the awareness on EU policy and activities for creating a European labour market for researchers, and to present the project results to a larger group of stakeholders. The conference audience included identified EURAXESS members, researchers and managers from academia and industry, university professors, policy makers, representatives of Non-governmental organisation (NGO)s, local authorities, FP7 'People' National contact point (NCP)s, young researchers.
Dissemination and publication of materials
The activities of this task could be grouped in two main areas - preparing project dissemination tools, and increasing the visibility of the project and its results among interested stakeholders:
Project dissemination tools: The project team used different tools like creation of a website, logo, poster and a leaflet for the project needs; various PPPs were prepared for number of events.
Increasing the project visibility: During the project period various events were visited and other were initiated as an opportunity to provide information about the project goals and objectives and upon preparation of the survey analysis about its results too. A number of publications were made for dissemination of the E*CARE survey results.
In conclusion, during the three years of project implementation the nine partners of the E*CARE project gained valuable experience, increased their knowledge base and created important collaboration mechanisms that will last after the end of the project.
List of websites: www.ecare-project.eu
The E*CARE project's overall goal was to substantially contribute to 'the enhancement of the overall performance of the EURAXESS services network and stimulate cooperation between EURAXESS members on operational and strategic issues', thus addressing the overall strategic objective of the 'People' specific programme which is 'to make Europe more attractive to the best researchers'. Specifically, E*CARE was aiming to improve the services of EURAXESS services centres in support of researchers' mobility, and enhancing the collaboration amongst service centres with different backgrounds on the basis of shared experience, practices and tools. The planned activities focused on identifying remaining mobility obstacles at national level, developing up-to-date national reports on mobility trends, sharing good practices and improving the overall coherence and quality of services offered to researchers and their families. Finally, the E*CARE project sought to improve the collaboration amongst service centres, strengthen their expertise and knowledge base, and raise their visibility at national and European level among a large number of stakeholders. The project started on 1 August 2008 and ended on 31 July 2011. The E*CARE project was implemented by a multi-partner consortium of nine EURAXESS service centres from eight European countries (GR, BU, AT, SK, CH, CY, CS, HU). The consortium involved experienced partners with complementary competences so as to ensure the fulfilment of the project objectives and the success of the planned activities.
The project included a group of interrelated activities focused on:
1. Implementing parallel surveys on obstacles for researchers' career and mobility in Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia and Switzerland. The aim of the survey was to get feedback from researchers, research and industrial organisations, and other stakeholders on:
- remaining obstacles for researchers' career and mobility;
- the available actual support, different from SCs support, to the transnational and intersectoral mobility of researchers;
- the role of EURAXESS services centres in support of researchers.
The survey was carried out in the period of October 2008 - January 2009. The results of the surveys were incorporated into the comparative survey analysis report which provided a good input to the international and national dialogue on researchers' career and mobility. A significant finding of the comparative survey analysis was that the researchers from the eight European countries investigated have a strong willingness and professional motivation to participate in international mobility programs. Additionally, most respondents acknowledge the international mobility as an important factor for future career development in field of research.
The greatest problems concerning this kind of mobility turned out to be in the following spheres: research funding, housing and accommodation, bureaucratic procedures at the host institution, employment services and employment legislation, immigration services and legislation. Further, the survey results revealed that mobile researchers demonstrate satisfaction rather than dissatisfaction with their stay abroad.
Another finding is that the most significant outcomes of international mobility are the increase and diversification of research knowledge and experience, the improvement of networking with other researchers, the facilitation of researchers' career, improvement of their language competencies, and the increasing of their scientific output (i.e. number of publications, patents).With regard to the specific initiatives of the European Union (EU) in fostering the mobility of European researchers, the results show that the EURAXESS jobs portal and EURAXESS service centre are not sufficiently popular amongst the research community.
2. Developing eight national reports on issues related to researchers' career and mobility on the basis of the survey results, as well as on additional information gathered at national level. The reports provide an overview of the landscape related to researchers' career and mobility of the countries involved, updated information about the trends in the participating countries, but also provide a set of recommendations considered as necessary in order to facilitate the mobility and career development of researchers in the specific countries.
3. Collecting national best practices on researchers' mobility support so as to create the best practices guide.
4. Developing 'mutual learning' tools to support the exchange of service centres experience and knowledge (i.e. workshops, twinnings, E*CARE Think-Tank).
5. Disseminating and promoting the project's results (website: www.ecare-project.eu national seminars, final conference, promotional material).
The project's activities had a great impact to the partners in terms of improving the services provided to researchers, increase the level of experience and knowledge on remaining mobility obstacles, establish long-lasting collaborations and, finally, enhancing the networking effect of such projects.
Project context and objectives:
In June 2004 the ERA-MORE network was established in order to offer mobile researchers and their families, whether incoming or outgoing, comprehensive and up-to-date information and personalised assistance in all matters relating to their professional and daily lives. The European Commission (EC) provided initial support to implement the new structures all around Europe. Effective training activities on a national as well as a European level allowed the mobility centres to successfully finalise their start-up phase, becoming a known structure for supporting researchers on a national level. In June 2008, EURAXESS researchers in motion initiative was launched in a rebranding effort of the ex-ERA-MORE network.
Over the last few years new and essential tools and instruments have been developed to assist the EURAXESS service centres to map, research and analyse mobility and promote mobility at national and EU level as a central element for the establishment of the European Research Area (ERA). EURAXESS has consistently implemented its goals: It has provided mobile researchers with reliable information and targeted assistance, and has resolved a great number of questions for them. However, several challenges still remain to be solved to further improve mobility conditions.
Despite the progress and notable initiatives, conducted in the spirit of the European Partnership, despite better argumentation launched to convince of the needs and benefits of mobility schemes, EURAXESS members still must mobilise resources to advocate for the removal or flexibility of barriers that continue to hamper the movement of persons and works in the scientific sector. The EURAXESS service centres are aware that signs of significant change are continuously emerging in the researchers' mobility environment, driven by globalisation and the convergence of academic, social, political, economic, technological and environmental forces. Society is changing and the EURAXESS service centres need to constantly adapt themselves and their services to the new trends. They must support the contemporary research community in translating emerging opportunities into sustainable growth and a better future for Europe. It is the task of the EURAXESS service centres to facilitate and assist the 'mobile researchers and scholars' in meeting the challenge of mobility, to encourage their host institutions, organisations, companies and by extension their host country to improve the research mobility throughout Europe and by that establishing excellent research projects in Europe.
All services centres must sustain their position and services, extend them and more distinctively demonstrate their value to a large group of stakeholders - researchers, research organisations, industry, policy makers. The EURAXESS members are also in the particular position to support the EU efforts for building an open European researcher's labour market, to promote the European charter for researchers and the code of conduct for the recruitment of researchers, and to support the policy and practice for removing the remaining obstacles for researchers' training, mobility and career development in Europe. In their everyday work they face actual problems of researchers moving from one country to another or from academia to industry, and resolve different obstacles of researchers' professional work and everyday life. Therefore, the EURAXESS service centres can build upon this experience, grasp the opportunity to exchange knowledge in a more structured way and learn from each other.
In light of the above, the E*CARE project's overall goal was to substantially contribute to 'the enhancement of the overall performance of the EURAXESS services network and stimulate cooperation between EURAXESS members on operational and strategic issues'. Specifically, the project activities aimed at improving the services of EURAXESS services centres in support of researchers' mobility, and enhancing the collaboration amongst service centres with different backgrounds on the basis of shared experience, practices and tools.
Thus, the E*CARE objectives were to:
- Gather structured information on remaining and emerging obstacles concerning researchers' career and mobility, and on recent trends at national level. In particular, the main goal was to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of each participating country in the project through a careful examination of the practical implementation of the European policy initiatives related to the enhancement of the researchers' mobility and the development of the researchers' career so as to enrich the knowledge spectrum of the E*CARE partners, improve the quality of services provided to stakeholders and assist policy and decision makers to overcome specific problems.
- Develop a guide for best practices related to services provided to mobile researchers so as to exchange good practices and promote the services provided by the partners to the whole EURAXESS services network.
- Strengthen the competences of EURAXESS service centres' staff through twinnings, meetings and workshops aiming at increasing the level of interaction between less experienced and more experienced EURAXESS service centres, gain knowledge and exchange good practices.
- Raise the awareness on EURAXESS and the EURAXESS service centres among a wide group of stakeholders through a set of dissemination activities, such as the organisation of workshops, national seminars, final conference, the development of promotional material and the maintenance of the project's website.
Project results:
The guiding principle of all the efforts invested in the project was to improve the quality of services of EURAXESS services centres in support of researchers' mobility, and enhance the collaboration amongst service centres with different backgrounds on the basis of shared experience, practices and tools.
In the following, the main project results are described according to Work package (WP)s. It should be noted that the project outcomes are the result of continuous and efficient interaction between the consortium partners. Results from one task were a prerequisite for achieving results in another. For example, the survey on mobility obstacles as part of task 1.3 was a very important activity for the rest of WPs since its findings contributed significantly in the development of the national reports, to the organisation of the national seminars, the twinning activities.
The main result of WP1 'Survey on obstacles for researchers' mobility and career' was the comparative survey analysis of the questionnaires' results. The general objective of the survey was to understand the remaining mobility obstacles with emphasis on the career of researchers in the participating countries, and to respond much better to the changing environment for mobile researchers.
A significant finding of the comparative survey analysis was that the researchers from the eight European countries investigated have a strong willingness and professional motivation to participate in international mobility programs. Additionally, most respondents acknowledge the international mobility as an important factor for future career development in research. The greatest problems concerning this kind of mobility turned out to be in the following spheres: research funding, housing and accommodation, bureaucratic procedures at the host institution, employment services and employment legislation, immigration services and legislation. Further, the survey results reveal that mobile researchers demonstrate satisfaction with their stay abroad.
Another finding is that the most significant outcomes of international mobility are the increase and diversification of research knowledge and experience, the improvement of networking with other researchers, the facilitation of researchers' career, improvement of their language competencies, and the increase of their scientific outputs (i.e. number of publications, patents). The results indicate that improvement of the financial conditions for doing research would be of greatest importance for attracting young people to scientific career. This would stimulate all kinds of researchers' mobility as well. Further, it was found out that there are still many obstacles in the intersectoral mobility, and that they decrease the willingness of researchers to be more mobile from one sector of activity to another. The academic sphere and industry are not collaborating enough at this moment. The degree of support provided by the state and its institutions to the researchers and scientific workers in the home countries is also still disappointingly low. With regard to the specific initiatives of the EU in fostering the mobility of researchers, the EURAXESS jobs portal and EURAXESS service centres are not sufficiently popular in the research community, and there is a need for more efforts to effectively promote the available mobility support tools. Many reasonable suggestions were provided about the improvement of information and guidance services for foreign researchers in the countries.
In the E*CARE survey, according to the generalised data of all 8 countries, the main motive for researchers to work abroad is the possibility for future career development (73 %), working on interesting research theme (63 %) and participation in a collaborative research project (57 %). The high reputation of the host institution is another reason for international mobility (53 %). At the same time, around one third of the respondents pay significant attention to remuneration or to higher standard of living abroad. Family connections and business or commercialisation opportunities are not among the strong motives for international mobility of researchers.
Amongst the factors discouraging researchers to undertake international mobility with greatest importance are the family and other personal connections. 44 % of the respondents pointed them as a hindering factor, whereas the most conservative ones are Cypriot researchers (70 %), and less affected by this factor Czech respondents (18 %). At the same time, the complex administration of relocation (e.g. formal / legal issues - social and health insurance, employment permit, housing, transportation), and the lack of support from the home institution (e.g. fear of losing current position, duties at the home institution) are other serious factors posing barriers to mobility of researchers. This factor has greatest importance for Slovak (46 %) and Greek researchers (41 %), and is of less significance for Bulgarian researchers (18 %). The language barriers are essential in the Czech Republic (19 %) and Slovakia (16 %), and have no role for the majority of researchers from Austria and Hungary. As other discouraging factors could be indicated: age limitations and adaptation problems (Slovak, Austrian, Cyprian), financial problems (Austrian, Bulgarian), problems with the pension insurance (Austrian), health care problems (Hungarian), fear of difficulties in social or professional aspect after the return (Swiss). Compared to the stimulating factors, the discouraging ones are with less weight, especially these related directly to the research activities. Hence, the conclusion could be made that the researchers from the investigated eight European countries have a strong willingness and professional motivation to participate in international mobility programs. On the question 'Have you participated in any international mobility program in the past'? 59 % of the respondents from the eight countries answered affirmatively, and 39 % gave a negative answer. About 70 % of the researchers questioned from the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Hungary have some mobility experience and only 27 % of those from Cyprus.
The next question was about the country of the last mobility period of the respondents. Here the percentages are distributed quite evenly between the eight countries, receiving values between 1 and 7. An interesting result could be noticed for the Czech Republic, where 43 % of the respondents are researchers, for which the last mobility destination was this country. This provides an opportunity to assess objectively the quality of the services, provided by the Czech institutions to incoming researchers. The respondents were further asked to evaluate the weight of a wide range of possible problems that the mobile researchers might have encountered. Generalising the statistical results, the problems are grouped into three clusters according to the perceived percentages in the columns 'Common problem', 'Rather (simple / moderate problem) problem', and 'serious problem'. The most significant problems turned out to be the following: difficulties in research funding; housing and accommodation; bureaucratic procedures at the host institution, employment services and employment legislation (i.e. receiving employment permits), immigration services and legislation. The next cluster consists of relatively important, but not very substantial problems. They are namely: generally lack of information; fear of losing current job position; social security institutions and legislation (i.e. pension system legislation), lack of national and / or institutional support for researchers' families, language problems. In the third group are presented the least difficult problems for the mobile researchers (common problem - 6-10 %, rather problem - 3-5 %, and serious problem for 1-3 %). They are as follows: tax authorities and tax legislation, health insurance, difficulties in receiving medical services (hospitals), difficulties in the educational system (for the researchers' children), and cultural barriers. There are some additional problems, pointed out by the respondents, such as recognition of diplomas or research titles and degrees abroad (Bulgaria), getting a new bank account (Austria), radical nationalism in EU countries (Czech Republic), lack of support for working mothers (Switzerland), uncertainties after return regarding job, general perspectives, family (Hungary).
The survey made an attempt to investigate further the impact of mobility on researchers' career. It turned out that for 55 % of the respondents the international mobility contributed to increase and diversification of their research knowledge and experience. 47 % consider that it improved their networking with other researchers. For about 40 % of them the research stay abroad was a factor that facilitated their career, improved their language competencies, and increased their scientific outputs (i.e. number of publications, patents). Unfortunately, the majority of the respondents were quite skeptical about gaining better recognition at home after return. Most positively were influenced by the international mobility respondents from Austria, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. On the contrary, Bulgarian researchers indicated less impact, especially concerning the factors 'Facilitated my career', 'Increased my recognition at home' and 'Increased my future job opportunities'. Obviously, the research environment in Bulgaria is not quite friendly and stimulating towards participants in international mobility programmes yet.
The respondents were asked to assess the effectiveness of some possible measures which might be taken in order to attract young people to a scientific career. The results indicate that the adequate reward and stimulation of young researchers with scientific achievements is more important than the increase of researchers' salaries. The survey respondents suggested many other possible actions for the effective rejuvenation of the research staff:
- providing clear perspectives for career and personal development (Austria, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Switzerland);
- more support for gaining work experience, increasing collaboration with industry, providing more job opportunities (Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland);
- improving the media image of science and rising the prestige of the researcher's profession (Bulgaria, Czech Republic);
- making quality an integral part of teaching and research (Czech Republic, Hungary);
- agreements for the international recognition of degrees and finished courses and training periods (Austria);
- removal of the reluctance of the colleagues-professors to promote young researchers (Greece);
- working out a system which diminishes the difficulties related to the impossibility of frequent relocation of family members, required in a competent scientific career (Hungary). Concerning the willingness to move from public to private sector (or vice-versa if relevant), the affirmative answers are 26 % positive and 68 % negative. An open question was given to the respondents in order to investigate the barriers for intersectoral mobility, e.g. when moving from public to private sector (or vice-versa).
The respondents form the 8 participating countries provided a large variety of answers:
- uncertainty in the new working environment, lack of security and stability, high level of risk in the sphere of private entrepreneurship (Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary);
- lack of research positions and considerable research activity in private sector (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia);
- lower salary (Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia);
- age barrier (Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary);
- worrying about the chance to return to the current position (Austria, Hungary, Slovakia);
- private sector not oriented to develop basic theoretical science and humanities (Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary);
- lower level of the research infrastructure (Greece, Hungary);
- problems in health insurance, pension and social security (Austria, Greece);
- differences in culture and mentality (Cyprus, Hungary);
- lack of working hours flexibility, worse working conditions (Greece);
- free publication activity not allowed in private sector (Hungary);
- difficulties in transfer of knowledge from academic to private sector (Switzerland).
According to the survey results, only 6 % of all respondents benefited from the services of a EURAXESS services centre (former ERA MORE centre), while 82 % did not. Amongst the former, 4 % were fully satisfied and 2 % were satisfied with some aspects, while others were not satisfied. Dissatisfied researchers are less than 1 %. The Czech Republic and Cyprus have the greatest share of people who used EURAXESS services centres effectively (14 and 13 % respectively), compared to Hungary (1 %), Austria and Slovakia (2 %). EURAXESS services centre helped researchers in the following main areas:
- providing valuable information about working conditions in the host country, about procedures, risks (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Switzerland);
- control and help in preparing the application (Austria, Switzerland);
- relocation arrangements - taxation issues (Greece);
- personal assistance concerning extension of visa (Czech Republic);
- advertisement of open positions (Austria);
- administration issues (Switzerland).
However, researchers would like some more services offered by EURAXESS services centres, for example:
- lack of classification of mobility options (Bulgaria);
- reliable job offers (Austria);
- more possibilities for graduates without doctorate (PhD) (Austria);
- network and reintegration grants (Hungary);
- making aware of Swiss initiatives in countries abroad (i.e. expatriates).
The survey results reveal a very low level of use of the services of the EURAXESS Jobs portal (http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess) or a national researcher's mobility portal. Only 5 % of the respondents benefited from them, while 55 % did not. Greek representatives are an exception in this case, as 16 % of them declare that they used the services provided by the EURAXESS Jobs portal or by a national researcher's mobility portal. On the contrary, respondents from Hungary did not use these services at all. 2 % of those answering affirmatively were fully satisfied, 3 % satisfied with some aspects, with others not, and 1 % were not satisfied.
The next open question was 'In what field / issue has / did EURAXESS jobs portal (http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess) helped / help you'?. There are some answers provided:
- information about job vacancies (Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Switzerland);
- information about funding and fellowship opportunities (Greece);
- assistance concerning legal procedures (residence permit) (Greece);
- assistance concerning administration of the stay (Austria);
- EU relevant 'bureaucratic' issues (contract template) (Switzerland).
On the question 'What do you miss in the information on EURAXESS jobs portal (http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess) or a national Researcher's mobility portal'? the systematised answers are as follows:
- elaborate and more structured information, especially about job opportunities;
- about national legislations on mobility (i.e. taxation, research laws, social services etc.), about the research environment in the host country, about the host institutions and the projects (Austria, Bulgaria, Greece);
- more advertisement of EURAXESS (Czech Republic, Switzerland);
- advanced search options (Czech Republic);
- too many 'clicks' before accessing information (Switzerland);
- no use for jobs in French (Austria).
The findings of the E*CARE comparative survey analysis contributed significantly to the implementation of the rest E*CARE activities. Each country's national data are incorporated at the specific section of the national report and discussed during the national seminars. The survey and its results helped partners to enrich existing knowledge on remaining mobility obstacles and current trends at national level, and adopt and improve their EURAXESS service centre services according to the survey results.
Regarding WP2 'National trends and best practices', the two main results are the development of eight national reports on researchers' career and mobility and the best practices guide. The objective of the national reports is to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of each participating country in the project through a careful examination of the practical implementation of the European policy initiatives relating to the enhancement of the researchers' mobility and the development of the researchers' career. The issues addressed in the national reports are indicatively the following: research potential, information on legal framework / research policy, legal obstacles to mobility, career development obstacles, best practices, and recommendations. The reports cover the actions implemented at national level within the period from 2003 to 2010. Their content is based on the collection of information derived from EU policy documents, national reports and studies, experts' presentations as well as from the above mentioned survey's results. The report provides the reader with a general insight into the country's strengths and weaknesses in the area of career and mobility of researchers and it cannot be considered as an official national policy report.
Furthermore, the best practices guide is a collection of best practices on the field of researchers' mobility and career development as demonstrated at local (ESC level, institutional) and national (EURAXESS network) levels. The form used for the identification of best practices at national EURAXESS network level included the following fields: scientific visa package, charter and code, implementation of the EPR, research policy / legal framework, social security, taxation, funding, promotional activities, other. The form used for the identification of best practices at local (ESC) level included the following fields: internal regulatory framework, charter and code implementation, daily activities in researchers' assistance, networking, employment contracts, promotional activities, other. The content of the guide is enhanced by the results of the WP1 survey, WP2 national reports, WP3 twinnings and workshops, and WP4 national seminars.
Both results, national reports and best practices guide, are available at the E*CARE project website. The guide can be used for transferring expertise to other EURAXESS members and contribute to the creation of a more favourable research institutional environment in Europe by promoting national good practices to newly established EURAXESS networks; while the effort made by the partners for the creation of the national reports contributed to the development of comprehensive, updated material to be used as a point of reference not only for incoming researchers (used complementarily to national guides for incoming researchers), but also for other national stakeholders (ministries, university / research organisations representatives, FP7 NCPs) along with promoting the national EURAXESS networks as an advisory group to the formulation of national research policies.
In the framework of WP3 'EURAXESS services centres collaboration', one of the most important and innovative deliverables of the project were developed: the EURAXESS E*CARE Think-Tank. The main idea of the EURAXESS E*CARE Think-Tank is to provide to the members of the EURAXESS network tools so as to understand better the changes within the community of mobile researchers, balance the service offer with the current and future needs of stakeholders and explore the important factors affecting their function as a national network / EURAXESS service centre / local contact point. Specifically, the EURAXESS E*CARE Think-Tank envisions to provide aid in the form of a process that behavioural health organisations / EURAXESS service centres / local contact points can employ so as to respond to daily challenges. The aim is to create a forum for identifying skills, competencies, share experience and create partnerships among the members of the Network. This activity was named 'EURAXESS E*CARE Think-Tank' because the E*CARE partners followed a participatory approach for its realisation, i.e. not only the members of the E*CARE consortium contributed to the development of the tools, but also researchers and other members of the EURAXESS network. The EURAXESS E*CARE Think-Tank is the result of a 3-year effort by the E*CARE partners in the framework of WP3 'EURAXESS services centres collaboration'. The activities designed by the WP3 leader, ETH-Surich, and undertaken by a range of stakeholders, included twinning activities, workshops organisation (i.e. session in Potsdam, workshop in Zurich) and 'take-home / office' exercises. The knowledge / experience acquired while preparing and implementing the aforementioned activities have been integrated in a set of tools prepared by the ETH-Zurich team for the whole EURAXESS network. For example, the tools developed may help behavioural health organisations / EURAXESS service centres / local contact points to define their strategic planning for short or long term periods, develop their action plans for viability reasons, promotion, industry-academia collaboration by using the scenario-thinking and keywords approach.
The main idea of the EURAXESS E*CARE Think-Tank is to provide to the members of the EURAXESS Network, which is by its nature subject to continuous development and change, with tools that help them meet researchers / stakeholders needs in new ways, create solutions to satisfy these needs and deliver sustainable and viable solutions that make sense to the actual environment. Three tools have been developed so as to meet these expectations:
- the E*CARE Think-Tank manual. This manual is a document guiding throughout all the steps for participating in the exercise;
- the Think-Tank PowerPoint file. The file includes two matrices and electronic post-it notes for 'visualising' the exercise;
- the E*CARE Think-Tank 'How to Do It' Video. The video gives a visual example on how to do the exercise.
Thus, all EURAXESS members are free to download the files from the project's dedicated section, undertake the exercise and send it back to the E*CARE coordinator so as to upload it to a restricted area (for protection reasons) of the website. All uploaded results will be there so as to consult, compare and analyse them. The more active the EURAXESS members will be, the more vivid the restricted area will become: The aim is to create a forum for identifying skills, competencies, share experience and create partnerships among the members of the network. The impact for the EURAXESS Network will be to have skilful, adaptive and 'up-to-date' members providing contemporary services for the benefit of ERA.
In the framework of WP4 'Dissemination and promotion', the major results were two: the successful organisation of the eight national seminars and the E*CARE final conference. The aim of the national seminars was two-folded: to promote to national stakeholders the results of the national survey on mobility obstacles and the results of the national reports, and to launch a national debate on the topic of researchers' career and mobility so as to contribute to the improvement of the national research environment. All national seminars were successfully conducted and the partners expressed their satisfaction for the outcomes of the discussions. In all seminars, the discussions were mainly focused on the main weaknesses of the national research system regarding remaining mobility obstacles and delays in implementing the EU research policies so as to propose recommendations for corrective actions. The seminars proved to be an excellent method for promoting the E*CARE project results and findings and establish good relations and networking with high-level policy makers. Furthermore, the E*CARE final conference was organised on 15-16 June 2011 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, having more than 80 participants. The conference topics were structured in six sessions: the first two were focused on EU policy and EC funding opportunities for mobile researchers, the third and fourth sessions were devoted to the presentation of the E*CARE project results, specifically on the presentations of the eight E*CARE national reports and the best practices of all countries involved in the project. Finally, the challenges for EURAXESS coming out from other EURAXESS-based projects, as well as from the experience of individual researchers and national practices were in the focus of the fifth and sixth sessions. The conference finished with a round table discussion on 'Vision for EURAXESS 2020'.
The plenary sessions were structured as follows:
- Framework for researchers mobility and career development in Europe - with the objective to acquaint the audience with recent policy changes in Europe related to ERA, the EURAXESS policy framework and activities, the charter and code and, also, to present the E*CARE project's activities and impact.
- Opportunities for researchers' mobility in Europe - focused on EU grants for individual researchers within different Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) schemes. A special attention was put on the People Specific Programme, as well as the opportunities provided by the joint research centre and the 'Ideas' specific programme.
- Mobility and career of researchers: National practices and challenges - 2 consecutive sessions under this title included presentation of the eight E*CARE national reports and the best practices of the project partners' countries.
- Challenges for EURAXESS - the objective was to disseminate the results and the experience gained within the EURAXESS network for work with different stakeholders, as well as to highlight the challenges for the network. A special emphasis was put on industry-academia collaboration and the results gained within the surveys carried out within the E*CARE and the I-SEEMob projects.
- Researchers career and mobility experience - the goal of the session was to present the experience of mobile researchers and mobility practices in other countries outside of the consortium. Unfortunately, due to some problems of the E*CARE partners to find individual researchers to take part as speakers at the conference, some last moment changes in the session programme were made.
The E*CARE project's final conference is considered to be a success. The structure and the content of the conference's sessions along with the selection of invited speakers made the conference interesting since the audience had the opportunity to be informed about a significant number of EU initiatives supporting researchers' career and development and the remaining mobility obstacles hindering trans-national and intersectoral mobility as examined and identified in the course of the E*CARE project. Thus, the participation of a large number of researchers and policy makers gave the opportunity to the consortium to disseminate the project's results effectively and coherently. The fact that high level EC representatives, the Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Education and Science, the Rectors of the Sofia University and the Plovdiv University, and, additionally, EURAXESS members not participating at the project and mobile researchers attended the conference and participated actively was a great honour for the consortium and proved very efficient for the dissemination of the E*CARE project's results.
Potential impact:
The impact of the E*CARE project can be measured on European and national level supporting the activities of EURAXESS researchers in motion initiative as a whole, and the activities of the individual EURAXESS services centres. In addition it envisioned to contribute to the national and EU actions related to the career and mobility of researchers for accomplishing the objectives for realising a single labour market for researchers in Europe. In general, the E*CARE project activities enhanced significantly the collaboration among EURAXESS service centres, strengthened their expertise and knowledge base, their positioning in the country and raised their visibility among a large number of stakeholders.
The project activities provided opportunities to EURAXESS service centres to increase their competences and reach a more consistent level of services:
- The national reports on researchers' career and mobility provided structured and up-to-date information on the national current trends in the area of mobility and career development.
- The survey on obstacles for researchers' career and mobility outlined the remaining obstacles concerning researcher's career and mobility, but also provided important feedback to EURAXESS service centres from their clients so as to adapt and enhance their services in specific areas of increased clients' interest.
- The guide for best practices summarised the available national (ESC and BHO levels) and institutional best practices for transferring expertise to other EURAXESS members and aims to contribute to the creation of a more favourable research institutional environment in Europe by promoting national good practices to newly established EURAXESS networks.
- The competences of the EURAXESS service centres' staff involved in the project were strengthened by the twinning and exchange of best practices with more experienced EURAXESS service centres.
- The tools developed in support of the learning and knowledge exchange among EURAXESS service centres are available to all members of the EURAXESS services network and can greatly benefit the network in terms of understanding better the changes within the community of mobile researchers, balancing the service offer with the current and future needs of stakeholders and exploring the important factors affecting their function as a national network / EURAXESS service centre / local contact point.
Through its activities E*CARE increased the collaboration amongst EURAXESS service centres, and thus strengthened the whole EURAXESS services network:
- The preparation of the survey, the national reports and the best practices guide allowed the project partners to work together, exchange ideas, information and knowledge.
- The EURAXESS E*CARE Think-Tank as a new tool enhanced the team spirit, strategic thinking and skills development of the consortium and aims to be of further use by all members of the EURAXESS services network.
- The national seminars contributed to the enhancement of the collaboration links with important stakeholders in the area of researchers' career and mobility at national level.
- The E*CARE final conference succeeded in its aim to promote the E*CARE results to a wide range of stakeholders: EC representatives, national policy makers, researchers, other members of the EURAXESS network who do not participate in the consortium.
As shown in the previous sections, the E*CARE project results vary in nature and, thus, their impact can be measured on multiple levels. In general, the impact of the project's results can be summarised in the following:
- Enriched partners' / EURAXESS service centre's staff knowledge on remaining mobility obstacles and current trends at national level.
- Improved the services provided to stakeholders by adapting / adjusting their services according to the most common mobility obstacles faced by researchers as identified during the E*CARE survey on obstacles for researchers' mobility and career.
- Promoted national EURAXESS networks as an advisory group to the formulation of national research policies.
- Encouraged transfer of expertise, knowledge and good practices between the members of the EURAXESS services network.
- Broadened the capacity of the E*CARE partners to think strategically (explore important dynamics affecting their daily work) and adopt internal planning processes at their institutions so as to respond to changes.
- Enhanced the team spirit, strategic thinking and skills development of members of the EURAXESS network.
- Enhanced collaboration and networking among members.
- Promoted EURAXESS researchers in motion initiative at national and regional level.
The results of the E*CARE project, available through the E*CARE website, could be used by the whole EURAXESS network so as to enrich its knowledge-base, develop skills and creative-thinking strategies and benefit from its networking activities. The E*CARE results could provide valuable insight on what is happening in the eight countries participating in the consortium, broadening in this way, EURAXESS members' expertise beyond their national borders; support discussions at EU level for tackling remaining mobility obstacles and promoting a favourable research environment; national reports and the best practices guide could be used as point of reference on discussions with stakeholders, while the E*CARE Think-Tank tool could be used at national and EU EURAXESS staff trainings. Additionally, the knowledge and expertise gained could be exploited by the partners and built upon in the framework of future national and EU (like EURAXESS TOP2 project, transnational projects) funded projects on researchers' mobility and trends.
E*CARE project included several tools for dissemination of project results to EURAXESS network and to the interested stakeholders in research, policy and industry.
National seminars
8 national seminars were carried out in all partners' countries during the third project year with the objective to launch a national debate on the researchers' career and mobility obstacles and the best practices. During these seminars partners presented national problems for researchers' career and mobility showed in their national reports.
Final Conference
The conference objective was to raise the awareness on EU policy and activities for creating a European labour market for researchers, and to present the project results to a larger group of stakeholders. The conference audience included identified EURAXESS members, researchers and managers from academia and industry, university professors, policy makers, representatives of Non-governmental organisation (NGO)s, local authorities, FP7 'People' National contact point (NCP)s, young researchers.
Dissemination and publication of materials
The activities of this task could be grouped in two main areas - preparing project dissemination tools, and increasing the visibility of the project and its results among interested stakeholders:
Project dissemination tools: The project team used different tools like creation of a website, logo, poster and a leaflet for the project needs; various PPPs were prepared for number of events.
Increasing the project visibility: During the project period various events were visited and other were initiated as an opportunity to provide information about the project goals and objectives and upon preparation of the survey analysis about its results too. A number of publications were made for dissemination of the E*CARE survey results.
In conclusion, during the three years of project implementation the nine partners of the E*CARE project gained valuable experience, increased their knowledge base and created important collaboration mechanisms that will last after the end of the project.
List of websites: www.ecare-project.eu
