Mobility and training of researchers and RI staff

RIs provide unique training opportunities and play an important role in the education and upskilling of new generations of scientists, engineers and data professionals. Scientists visiting RIs receive technical support and training, acquiring new skills in the use of advanced technologies, data analysis and quality control. Human resources (HR) are a critical component of RIs. HR policy and the quality of management defines the quality of the RI to the same extent as its technical and technological readiness. Therefore, appropriate training and skills development for RI staff at the various levels, from top management to technicians and supportive personnel is crucial. It is important to secure the right people at the right place at the right moment following the principles of equality, diversity and inclusiveness, and connect this with proper career path and mobility of managers and engineers.

Fostering the training of RI managers, operators and users plays an important role in RI success and facilitates its optimal use. The development of a formal curriculum for RI managers and its implementation in a dedicated master’s program has been an important milestone towards establishing a formal career path in RI management and fostering the general attractiveness of careers in the RI domain. These elements could now be further modularized to enable easier delivery to existing staff.

One of the obstacles to effective researchers’ mobility in Europe, including Research Infrastructure managers and operators, is the fragmentation of the pension systems and limited transferability of pension rights across countries. To address this obstacle, the European Commission established a European pension fund for research organisations and their employees called RESAVER²¹ 21. e.g. RESAVER, a multiemployer occupational pension solution for research organisations in Europe and their employees. It enables employees to stay with the same pension plan when moving between different countries or employers . RESAVER facilitates mobility across the EU providing an attractive solution to securing transferability and accumulation of pension rights across countries and employers. It is an interesting scheme that could be considered by the European RIs.