Methodology for obtaining the HRS4R label

Methodology for obtaining the HRS4R labelBefore defining the methodology for obtaining the label, it was necessary to go through a few preliminary steps.

Planning

11 july 2017: validation by the UBS Board of Directors of the involvement in the labelling process
14 november 12017: transmission of an official letter from the President to the European Union acknowledging UBS's involvement in the process
06 july 2018: notification from the European Commission, 12 months to submit the file
Once this was done, the University was able to apply its methodology.

1st step: setting up the project committee

This committee includes political, scientific and administrative representation.
It is managed by the 1st Vice-presidency of the University of South Brittany (R4) and composed of :

• A project manager: Lysiane Métayer-Noël
• A panel representative of the scientific community (R1 to R4) including:
  • Doctoral students
  • Senior lecturers
  • University professors
  • Research administrative staff

2nd step: GAP Analysis

The members of the committee carried out a diagnosis of the existing situation (SWOT method) of the establishment based on the principles of the Charter and the European Code in their respective fields of activity.
During 3 meetings (14/12/2017, 22/01/2018 and 14/02/2018) the Committee carried out this internal analysis to identify priorities for the subsequent action plan.
The 40 principles of the Charter and the Code have been classified according to 4 themes:

• Professional and ethical aspects
• Recruitment and selection
• Working conditions and social security
• Training and development

Step 3: Questionnaire

To gather the opinions of the scientific community and define the action plan, the committee distributed a questionnaire to the 500 researchers in this community between April 15 and 30, 2018.
The results of this questionnaire were then presented on 6 June 2019, during a videoconference addressed to the entire scientific community.

Step 4: Action Plan

Following the analysis of the questionnaire responses, the committee was able to define a proposal for actions categorized into 4 themes:

• Theme 1: Scientific integrity and ethics
• Theme 2: Career development of researchers and mobility
• Theme 3: Integration of non-French-speaking researchers
• Theme 4: Supervision of doctoral students

This 4-year action plan includes 39 improvement actions :

• 13 communication actions (CA), in order to raise awareness of the measures already implemented
• 5 formalization actions (FA), to improve the implementation of actions already underway
• 21 development actions (AD), to set up new mechanisms.

They are divided into the 4 themes as follows :

• Theme 1 Scientific integrity and ethics: 11 actions
  • 6 development actions
  • 3 communication actions
  • 2 formalization actions
• Theme 2 Career development of researchers and mobility: 13 actions
  • 5 development actions
  • 6 communication actions
  • 2 formalization actions
• Theme 3 Integration of non-French-speaking researchers: 6 actions
  • 2 development actions
  • 3 communication actions
  • 1 formalization action
• Theme 4 Supervision of doctoral students: 9 actions
  • 8 development actions
  • 1 communication action

The University of South Brittany in its HRS4R labelling process is therefore seeking to meet several objectives:

• A communication towards the whole community
• The establishment of sub-working groups representative of the establishment
• Integration of the project into the institution's strategy
• Identify what is already in the institution's strategic plan
• Involvement and integration of researchers, teacher-researchers
• Sharing experience with other institutions involved in the strategy