Human resources meeting at the UB
On 27 and 28 October, the University of Barcelona hosted the regular meeting of the Research Careers and Human Resources Policy group of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), which brought together 22 heads of the same field from fifteen universities in the network. The rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia, welcomed the attendees, together with the vice-rector for Teaching and Research Staff, Ernest Abadal, and the vice-rector for Research, Jordi García Fernández.
On 27 and 28 October, the University of Barcelona hosted the regular meeting of the Research Careers and Human Resources Policy group of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), which brought together 22 heads of the same field from fifteen universities in the network. The rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia, welcomed the attendees, together with the vice-rector for Teaching and Research Staff, Ernest Abadal, and the vice-rector for Research, Jordi García Fernández.
The meeting addressed the challenges presented by the current situation of the European labour market for the recruitment of academic staff; a comparative study of tenure-track staff incorporation models in LERU universities was presented; and, among other issues, the latest developments in research assessment were also presented.
Specifically, the UB presented the state and Catalan framework for the accreditation of academic activities, and the research assessment system for its teaching and research staff (PDA-R). It also highlighted the changes it intends to incorporate: on the one hand, it wants to assess teaching innovation and the scientific dissemination of academic staff in order to have a multidimensional assessment (and not only of research and transfer) and, on the other hand, it wants to dispense with the impact factor of journals, in line with what is called for in the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which the University signed.
This LERU group, which meets twice a year, brings together vice-rectors, human resources directors and heads of research careers to discuss issues such as European trends in employability, career structure, talent retention and professional development. The UB representatives are the vice-rector for Teaching and Research Staff, Ernest Abadal, and the head of the Academic Staff Unit, Mercè Adell. Olga Calvet, technical secretary of the Vice-Rector's Office for Teaching and Research Staff, also took part in the meeting.