The Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (FZU) has been a holder of the European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research Award since April 26, 2019. The HR Excellence in Research Award is a means of public acknowledgement for research institutions which have demonstrated significant progress in the principles set in the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers.
Human Resources Strategy for Researcher (HRS4R) originated on the initiative of the European Commission to support institutions in the implementation of the European Charter and Code to their policies. The Charter and Code specify the roles, responsibilities and rights of researchers and their employers. The central objective is to create an attractive, open and sustainable labour market for researchers that ensures equal rights and obligations for researchers wherever they work in the European Union.
In the Institute of Physics, the HRS4R implementation process was launched by the director’s official endorsement of the 40 principles of the Charter and Code on November 9th 2017. The HRS4R process has been carried out by the HR Team and Working Group for HRS4R as a part of the project “HR AWARD FZU – Improving quality of the strategic management in the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences“. The Institute of Physics also established a Steering Committee and Implementation Teams in which senior, administrative, technical and research staff from the whole Institute of Physics are represented who oversee and actively participate in the implementation process. A detailed description of the whole process and the implementation action plan are available in Documentation below.
Since the beginning of the whole process up to now a significant progress has been reached in the HR area and improvement of working and research environment. Based on an analysis of the situation in 2018, a project action plan has been drawn up which is intended to gradually harmonize procedures in the HR area applied in the Institute of Physics with the principles of the European Charter and Code. This is supported by activities of Implementation Teams which cover four key areas related to HR matters, internal communication, working conditions and PR. The Implementation Teams include research, administrative or technical staff as their members. The Teams are also open to those interested from among employees and active participation of all FZU employees in the implementation and setting of HR processes is very welcome.
In accordance with the Action Plan, the FZU issued a Code of Ethics. Its full wording and detailed information about the Ethics Committee is available at the link Ethics Committee and Code of Ethics.