Kick-off meeting of the SECURE project
ICoRSA participated in the kick-Off meeting for the SECURE project. SECURE stands for “Sustainable Careers for Researcher Empowerment” which started officially on 1 January 2023 and will be implemented for 24 months. The meeting was hosted by the project coordinator PLOCAN, the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands on January 26–27, 2023.
The SECURE project will develop coordination and support measures to create, trial, implement, and mainstream a common Research Career Framework (RCF) that offers a suite of options to support organisations in the recruitment, employment, training, development, progression, and mobility of researchers with the aim of improving research careers and reducing career precarity. The RCF will recognise the research profession across sectors, provide a career development and progression structure for research careers, recognise both research and transferable skills and competences, facilitate intersectoral collaboration and mobility, and offer solutions to the precariousness of research careers in academia.
SECURE employs a three-tiered approach to ensure representation and consensus building of key stakeholder groups in the research and innovation ecosystem: (1) our large project consortium consists of researcher organisations, research-performing organisations (RPOs), research-funding organisations (RFOs), and industry organisations as well as experts in research careers, research skills and competences, researcher training and development, intersectoral mobility, Open Science, project management, and public relations (2) open consultations with the stakeholder community in the form of surveys and feedback sessions to co-design and validate key project outcomes (3) Advisory Board of key representatives to ensure independent expert oversight.
The meeting was attended by Dario Capezzuto, Policy Officer for R&I actors and research careers at the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission, who presented previous and current activities at the EC with regards to sustainable research(er) careers. Mihaela Costache, Project Adviser at the European Commission’s Research Executive Agency and project office for SECURE, attended the meeting virtually and presented some general and administrative recommendations for the project as well as expectations of results and outcomes.
This project is of a significant value for ICoRSA as it represents our core mission!