UB obtains the HR Excellence in Research accreditation from the European
The University of Barcelona (UB) has obtained the HR Excellence in Research, an accreditation and seal conferred by the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission. The award recognises institutionʼs effort to improve University's policies and practices in terms of recruitment, hiring and general working conditions for its researchers. The UB is the fourth Spanish university that obtains this EU distinction, which has been also given to the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV).
The University of Barcelona (UB) has obtained the HR Excellence in Research, an accreditation and seal conferred by the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission. The award recognises institutionʼs effort to improve University's policies and practices in terms of recruitment, hiring and general working conditions for its researchers. The UB is the fourth Spanish university that obtains this EU distinction, which has been also given to the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV).
With this accreditation, the European Commission proves that the UB is a research intensive-university committed to the continuous improvement of its human resources policies, according to the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers.
The vice-rector for Research, Innovation and Transfer of the UB, Jordi Alberch, emphasizes the importance of obtaining this accreditation: “The seal HR Excellence in Research identifies the universities that promote a favourable working environment for researchers. It is a proud that the University of Barcelona joins this group of higher education centres”.
In 2008, Euroaxess, a pan-European initiative providing access to a complete range of information and support services to researchers, launched the strategy HR Strategy for Researchers to help institutions implement the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. Institutions promoting these principles must provide a research environment that attracts the best researchers and achieves world class in order to improve their national research system and the European Research Area. So far, a total of 112 European institutions have received the accreditation HR Excellence in Research, 24 of them are in Spain and 17 in Catalonia.
Action plan
In order to get the accreditation, institutions must have an action plan aimed at aligning its human resources practices and procedures with the principles of European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. The UB approved its action plan in June 2014. After a revision and assessment process that updated the plan in April 2015, the EU awarded the accreditation to the UB on 23 May 2015.