The RCSI aims to be an attractive, supportive and stimulating environment in which to carry out research and it recognises the importance of providing its researchers with the training and means to be competitive and mobile. This is in direct support of the European Commission’s aim to give individual researchers the same rights and obligations wherever they may work throughout the European Union, thereby countering the fact that research careers in Europe are fragmented at local, regional, national or sectoral level, and allowing Europe to make the most of its scientific potential.
In recent years the RCSI HR Team has been making tangible and measurable advances in its Human Resources Management (HRM) through the delivery of key HR services that are tightly aligned to the overall strategy of RCSI including tailoring initiatives that address research-specific issues. This is done in collaboration with the Office of Research & Innovation who have an in-depth understanding of research issues and best practice.
The RCSI has fully endorsed the principles of the European Commission’s European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers (Charter & Code) which set out the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, their employers and research funding bodies. The RCSI is committed to aligning its HR policies and practices with the Charter & Code and is a member of the Third cohort of institutions in Europe to participate in the Commission’s HR Strategy for Researchers initiative (HRS4R). This is a transparent, voluntary exercise which helps institutions with the adoption and implementation of the Charter & Code principles. The RCSI Office of Research & Innovation (ORI) and Department of Human Resources (HR) have coordinated the RCSI HRS4R initiative which included (i) carrying out an internal Gap Analysis to compare current RCSI policies and practices with the Charter & Code principles and (ii) developing a HR Strategy for Researchers including an Action Plan based on the Gap Analysis. The RCSI HR Strategy for Researchers document explains the motivation, approach, outcomes and future plans associated with the current RCSI HR strategy.