Lord Sainsbury of Turville

THE EUROPEANS RESEARCHERS CHARTER AND CODE OF CONDUCT

This conference comes at an important time for the UK. During our Presidency of the EU we are working with all Member States to establish a Europe better able to create jobs with higher living standards. Our priorities during our Presidency include promoting the knowledge society and employment through opening markets and maintaining labour market flexibility, making the necessary investment in science and education, and continuing the focus on the Lisbon Strategy’s drive for jobs and growth. We are also determined to make good progress on the negotiations on the Seventh Framework Programme and the setting-up of a European Research Council, which we believe are of critical importance to the future economic success of Europe.

For these reasons we place a high value on developing an action plan for implementing the European Researchers Charter and the Code of Conduct for the recruitment of researchers and embedding them in our societies.

I am pleased that I am joined this morning by such an influential group of speakers, who will share with us their visions for research careers in Europe, and help us in developing and implementing our action plans.

We are particularly honoured to be joined by the Commissioner for Research, Janez Potočnik. He will be putting the Charter and Code in the broader context of European policy and his vision for the research environment in Europe. He will also highlight the challenges that we still face in Europe if we are to remain competitive globally.

Georg Winckler, the new chair of the European Universities Association, will consider the potential implications of the Charter and Code for European research institutions operating in a global research environment.

Mike Collis of Pfizer Global R&D, speaking on behalf of UNICE (Union des Industries de la Communauté Européenee) and the CBI, will then complete the picture in terms of exploring the implications and issues for industry raised by the Charter and Code.

Finally this morning, Sir Gareth Roberts will share with you a UK perspective on the opportunities, potential benefits and challenges, as he sees them, involved in implementing the Charter and Code. The UK has seen a number of initiatives in recent years to support researcher careers and it is from these experiences that he will be sharing lessons that we have learnt, as well as examples of practices that have worked well. Hopefully this will enable you to have the experiences and good practices from all Member States in mind when you come to develop an action plan for embedding the Charter and Code.

The UK Governments believes that research, innovation and education are of critical importance to the success of the re-launched Lisbon Strategy. The re-launched Lisbon Strategy recognises that Europe’s future economic development depends on its ability to create research-based sectors that are capable of competing with the best in the world.

Today science and innovation are central to our economic success. The reasons for this are very simple. Barriers to world trade are coming down. The Chinese economy with wages 5% of ours is growing rapidly. The world’s division of labour is being redrawn. In 1980 less than a tenth of manufacturing exports came from the developing world. Today it is almost 30%. In twenty years time the figure will probably be 50%. We clearly face a major challenge.

At the same time, technology and scientific understanding are changing our world faster than ever before and creating new opportunities. Developments in ICT, new materials, biotechnology, new fuels and nanotechnology are creating a new wave of innovation and new opportunities for entrepreneurial businesses, large and small, to create competitive advantage.

Over the past two decades and more, through a series of Framework Programmes, the EU has steadily reinforced its efforts to promote and support research activity. As a result, Europe has made serious steps towards the establishment of a genuine internal market for science and technology. So today the European Research Area is becoming a reality, and we believe it will be strengthened by the introduction of the Charter and Code.

Our success in creating new ideas and increasing knowledge transfer depends on our ability to attract and retain researchers, both academic and non-academic in what is today a world labour market for the best scientists and engineers.

The most highly skilled scientists and engineers have many career options on completing their studies.

I see the development of the Charter and Code as a positive move to maintain our capacity to do research and produce innovation, as they provide a framework for the roles, requirements and entitlements of researchers, funders and employers. And, unlike any such instruments before them they not only place responsibility on employers and funders, but also on the researchers themselves.

Later today, during the round table and workshop sessions you will be given the opportunity to discuss this and other important aspects of the Charter and Code. You will be asked to share good practice, for example, of how national and Community funding mechanisms can support the recruitment, professional development, career management and mobility agendas raised within the Charter and Code. There is also the opportunity to consider the benefits, challenges and potential impacts of the Fixed Term Directive and the Charter and Code in improving researchers’ careers.

Finally we will want to hear your ideas as to how researchers can be engaged. This is essential if they are to play their part in developing an attractive, open and sustainable European Research Area. They need to understand their roles and responsibilities as researchers within these initiatives and feel empowered to take ownership of their future careers. Your role in implementing the Charter and Code will be critical, and you should, therefore, see yourselves as active participants in this conference rather than a passive audience.

The Charter and Code cover researchers regardless of what stage they are at in their careers or of the environment in which they work. The Charter sets out guidance for researchers on all aspects of their work, an approach that recognises the multiple roles of researchers. For example, it covers issues such as the accountability of researchers and ensuring that their work is relevant to society and can therefore be understood by non-specialists and the public more widely. The Charter provides guidance on how researchers should develop and maintain productive and valuable relationships with their supervisors. There is also a focus on the role of senior researchers to ensure they have productive and effective relationships with those that they provide guidance and training to.

These documents also address the responsibilities and roles of employers and funders. The Charter for example provides guidance on working conditions to ensure that there are no barriers preventing anyone from developing a successful career in research. Other aspects of the Charter include guidance on the inclusion of specific career development strategies for researchers within employers and funders human resource and management strategies. Both the Charter and Code value the mobility of researchers. Specifically, the Code emphasises the necessity to have internationally comparable recruitment procedures and to make sure that applicants receive equal treatment across Europe. All of these along with the other elements of the Code of conduct for the recruitment of researchers will help to create a European Labour market for researchers.

Let me now just briefly consider the Charter and Code in the context of the UK Government’s measures to improve the attractiveness of research careers. Since taking office in 1997, the Government has placed research and innovation at the heart of its policies for securing our nation’s future. The Government sees the quality of research and researchers as a major national asset. That is why we have significantly increased investment in researchers, research itself and in research facilities. In 1997/98, the Government’s science budget was £1.3 billion and by 2007/08 this will rise to £3.3 billion.

Some of this money has been used to implement measures recommended by Sir Gareth Roberts in his Review, “SET for Success”, which looked at the supply of people with science, technology, engineering and maths skills. This Review was commissioned by the UK Government as part of its productivity and innovation strategy. We wanted to establish a view of what the future supply of people with science, engineering and technology skills would be and whether this would affect the UK’s productivity in the future.

In his report, Sir Gareth recommended that co-ordinated action was needed from the Government, employers and universities to make sure that those with graduate and postgraduate qualifications and training in science and engineering should be given attractive options to work in university and private sector R&D.

Specifically with regards to researchers, the review recommended that measures should be introduced to enable the provision of a diverse range of PhD programmes. The recommendations also suggested that individuals should be provided with advanced knowledge and transferable skills they will need to develop their future careers.

The measures that have been introduced as a result of the Review have included financial incentives aimed at encouraging people to move on to PhDs and then to become postdoctoral researchers.

We have also improved the non-financial incentives; those that will improve the quality of training our PhD students and postdoctoral researchers receive. For example, we have provided funding that allows for the development of broad transferable skills training. Such as networking and team working skills, career management skills and communication skills.

Sir Gareth will be highlighting some of the recommendations he made that were aimed at improving research careers later on this morning and the effects that they have had.

Again, I hope that you will be able to draw on these experiences and that you will share with us your experiences.

It is clear then that our goal, from today, must be to create an attractive environment for researchers, with the aim of encouraging more to enter and stay in these professions. We must therefore improve the conditions and experiences of those who are already in these careers. We should be striving to maximise the contributions of all researchers, by making sure they are aware of the career paths that are open to them and of the opportunities that are available throughout Europe

If we are to make Europe one of the best places in the world for science and innovation, we will need to make use of all our best people. It is absolutely crucial, therefore, that we encourage women and those from ethnic minorities to undertake careers in research in what has historically been a non-traditional sector. And yet, the low representation of women across all aspects, and at all levels, in the research sectors suggests that there are barriers to their recruitment, retention and progression, in both industry and universities. The Code in particular addresses these barriers by providing general principles to apply when recruiting researchers. Specifically, this includes not penalising those who have taken career breaks, but seeing them as being potentially valuable aspects of researchers’ careers.

Here in the UK, the Government has in place a “Strategy for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology”. This strategy was developed following the publication of the Greenfield Report of 2002, which made recommendations as to how to increase the participation of women in science, engineering and technology.

Breaking down any potential barriers that may prevent researchers from fulfilling their potential must include addressing those that prevent the mobility of researchers. The Charter and Code are part of wider initiatives to encourage our researchers, students, teachers and graduates to become more mobile throughout Europe. Some of which Commissioner Potočnik will be describing later on this morning.

Mobility must be viewed as a positive characteristic that enables the transfer of skills and knowledge and allows for collaborative research and pan-European networks to build. All of these can only have positive effects on the European economy. The Charter and Code emphasises mobility as being the cornerstone of creating and maintaining a European Labour market for researchers.

The UK Government strongly supports the principles behind the Charter and Code. We have been involved in developing these documents and have been able to offer some of our experiences of introducing similar measures. For example, we have in place a Concordat for research staff and a Code of Practice for postgraduate research programmes. Gareth Roberts will be providing you with some more background on some of these UK initiatives later on this morning.

This conference is an important milestone in making Europe more competitive. It will not be easy to implement the guiding principles of the Charter and Code, but equally we should not underestimate the benefits of doing so.

I believe that the Charter and Code are extremely important initiatives. I hope that you will find the next two days interesting and challenging, and that at the end of them you will feel inspired to go back home and promote the changes in culture and practices that will be necessary to put into place your action plans, and make the careers of researchers both more productive and more valuable.