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On 14th July 2015 the Institute of Geological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IGS PAS) signed the Declaration of Commitment to adopt the European Charter and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers that endorsed and fully supported the Recommendation of the European Commission 2005/251/EC principles on "The European Charter for Researchers" and "The Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers". In the Declaration, the Director of the Institute recognized the values of the Charter and the Code and their influence on simultaneous development of both the researchers and the institution itself.
In 2017 the Institute was granted the HR Excellence in Research Award. Our contact person in all matters concerning HRS4R is: Marta Godzwon Head of The Scientific Information Office, Research Centre in Warsaw e-mail: m.godzwon@twarda.pan.pl phone: 48 22 697-87-01
For any detailed information about HRS4R please visit Euraxess website: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/hrs4r
Subsequently, Open, Transparent, Merit-Based Recruitment Policy (OTM-R) defined in the European Charter for Researchers and in the Code of Conduct for Recruitment became one of the pillars of our HR strategy and we continuously pursuit to fully implement all 40 principles of the Charter and the Code.
The Institute of Geological Sciences recognizes the importance of recruiting research staff adhering to the best practices and in compliance with national legal framework. We are aware that maintaining highest level of scientific research and constant development is impossible without a team consisting of the best staff and broad exchange of knowledge in cooperation with foreign researchers.
Our Actions planned for 2019-2021 were ambitious and we were able to finalize some of them. Others are being implemented (on-going process). As for professional attitude and development, the institute offers to our employees information about various courses, trainings, workshops and conferences organized by national and foreign institutions. Our R1 and R2 level researchers (as well as doctoral students) participate in seminars and lectures either within their research group/laboratory (there are 9 laboratories and research groups in IGS PAS) or during annual conference. They are also encouraged to prepare and present their own presentations during group seminars. Higher level (R3, R4) researchers are open for questions, discussion following these presentations.
Since 2018 young researchers salaries were being adjusted according to the national regulations specifying minimum wages, payment equity, special benefits, function-dependent bonuses. All the aforementioned aspects are included in the internal regulations and published on our intranet. They are regularly amended in accordance with changing national regulations.
In 2019, regulations on teleworking were introduced and published on the intranet. They proved to be working effectively especially during COVID-19 pandemic enabling remote work, flexible working hours, thus preventing also the spread of the virus.
The Scientific Council appointed Disciplinary Officer and Disciplinary Committee for coping with potential conflicts that cannot be resolved between employees themselves. The Officer operates within the framework of national regulations – the Act on the Polish Academy of Sciences.
It is our good practice that the technical staff taking active part in the process of research is recognized in co-authorship of the publications presenting research results and findings.
Between 2019-2020 the Institute’s headquarters in the Research Centre in Warsaw was thermo-modernized in cooperation with other institutes residing in the building. As for the Research Centre in Kraków the situation is more complicated – this centre is located in the historic part of town in the old tenement house where every change requires special funding and permissions from the Chief Conservator of Monuments, which prolongs the introduction of improvements. Nonetheless, we were able to improve working conditions in Kraków by reorganizing the library, and laboratory accommodations. We are moreover determined to progressively introduce other changes as well.
As far as recruitment transparency regulations are concerned the Institute developed internal regulations, in which we specified the recruitment procedures. We divided the process into stages. Job advertisements are prepared in a standardized form by Heads of research group searching for new employee and contain all the necessary information. They are published on our website, on Euraxess, on the ministerial site (Ministry of Education and Science) and on paid portals. The offer is available for at least 30 days. The selection process is carried out by the Committee (3-4 staff members) appointed for the recruitment purposes. The recruitment process finishes with the Committee’s report recommending the best Candidate to the Director of the Institute. The bureaucratic burden is shifted from the Candidate as the documents required during the recruitment process are all easily accessible for the Candidate (i.e. his/her diplomas, certificates, CVs, application). The original documents are required only on the day of signing the contract.
Doctoral school recruitment procedures are also regularly updated (most recently in April 2022) and available on our website: https://www.ing.pan.pl/en/education/geoplanet-doctoral-school In 2022, the Director of the Institute announced salary raise for all employees.
There are also changes that are on-going and require long-term actions. Such as our plans to provide our scientific staff with better access to information (on mobility, trainings, conferences, open calls for grants, advise in the process of preparing the applications, etc.). We are also determined to introduce the English versions of all our regulations as part of our scientific staff and doctoral students are from abroad. Some of the regulations have already been translated. For others we prepared extracts in English.
Currently (2nd quarter of 2022) we are preparing for the HR Award Renewal Phase and working on the Action Plan 2022-2025 and its implementation. |
