- Year awarded: 2017
- Official website: "HR Excellence in Research" (HREiR) award
What is the "HR Excellence in Research" (HREiR) award?
The "HR Excellence in Research" award is part of the Human Resources Strategy for Researchers in Europe (HREiR). This strategy aims to improve recruitment practices and working conditions for researchers at research organisations and institutions.
Awarded by the European Commission, the "HR Excellence in Research" award recognises research institutions' commitment to providing a favourable and improved work environment for researchers. It strengthens the institutions’ appeal not only to researchers, but also to funding programmes such as Horizon Europe and those of the French National Research Agency (Agence nationale de la recherche – ANR). These programmes are increasingly including the HREiR award in their selection criteria.
How is the University of Strasbourg putting the "HR Excellence in Research" award into practice?
Since 2006, the university has been committed to upholding the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. It reaffirmed this commitment by obtaining the HRS4R award in 2017, becoming one of the first universities in France to receive this certification.
To obtain the award, in 2016 the University proposed an action plan consisting of 30 measures addressing ethical and professional standards, recruitment, working conditions and social security, as well as researcher training. The university submitted a mid-term report in 2019 and continues to uphold its commitment. It is now preparing for the renewal of the award and the audit by the European Commission.
Supporting fair and transparent researcher recruitment
The University of Strasbourg:
- Ensures compliance with the principle of open, transparent and merit-based recruitment (OTM-R) to strengthen the appeal of research careers. This principle aims to recruit the best candidate for each position and ensures that all candidates are treated fairly. The university applies this principle beyond the requirements that apply to certain staff categories and employment statuses. For example, it has introduced management agreements for contract staff as part of its Human Resources Road Map (Schéma directeur des ressources humaines – SDRH). In practice, the University of Strasbourg:
- Publishes job vacancies in accordance with applicable laws and regulations
- Keeps candidates informed about the different stages of the recruitment process
- Selects candidates whose skills best match the requirements of the position
- Provides information on recruitment conditions and support available to researchers with disabilities.
Working to improve researchers’ working conditions
The University of Strasbourg has introduced several concrete measures, including:
- Publishing a researcher's guide with information on career management, research support, training, mobility, etc.
- Launching the open-access platform univOAK
- Establishing the Vice-Presidency for Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination, responsible for developing initiatives related to ethics, integrity, professional conduct, and the network against gender-based, sexual, homophobic and transphobic violence
- Appointing a Scientific Integrity Officer responsible for developing new initiatives related to ethics, integrity and professional conduct
- Developing and organising the doctoral training programme
- Developing training courses in French and English to help PhD students integrate into the professional world
- Launching the Interdisciplinary Thematic Institutes (ITI) to link interdisciplinary research projects with new infrastructure and master's and doctoral training programmes
- Formalising the follow-up of meetings between secondary school students and university researchers to increase awareness of the university and its research
The auditing process
Useful resources
Help and support
Muriel Muzet
Coordinator for Cross-Departmental Research Projects
Research and Doctoral Training Office
muzet@unistra.fr