European Charter for Researchers
Dieser Artikel in Deutsch
Human resources represent a knowledge society's most important asset. This is why optimum working conditions for academics belong to the foundations of the European Research Area. Against this background, the European Commission formulated a European Charter for Researchers early in 2005 that is currently being discussed among the Member States. In Germany, too, an intensive debate on the Commission's demands has started, initiated and supported by the Humboldt Foundation.
The first section of the Charter defines principles and requirements with regard to researchers and their employers as well as parties funding research. The second section proposes a code of conduct for the recruitment of scientists and scholars. In addition to compliance with ethical principles and respect for the intellectual property of others, emphasis is placed on academics' obligations towards the public. Researchers ought to be aware that they are accountable not only to their employers but to society as a whole. Employers are called upon to ensure flexible working conditions, guarantee the transferability of accrued social security benefits, also for staff on stays abroad, and encourage co-authoring. The names of young scientists and scholars ought to be cited in publications they have contributed to, and they should be allowed to publish their own research results independently of their supervisors. Regarding the recruitment of employees, it is recommended not to penalise career breaks or variations in the chronological order of CVs but to regard them as an evolutionary stage of a career.
"We have used the Charter as an opportunity to put our own programmes to the test," explains Dr. Barbara Sheldon of the Humboldt Foundation. "We do fulfil some of the requirements, and in some cases, we even go beyond what is demanded. In other cases, we are reviewing our programmes to see if we can adapt them to become even more competitive."
In addition, the Humboldt Foundation has initiated an opinion-forming process among the science organisations. While the latter welcome many of the Charter's aspects, they regard some of them as problematic, such as the demand that research always be relevant to society. This clashes with the freedom of research principle that applies in Germany. Neither does privileging employment contracts in comparison to fellowship programmes, as stipulated in the Charter, capture reality in Germany.
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