The 2025 edition of the Conference on Research Careers took place on 11 and 12 December in Brussels, back-to-back with the Conference on Freedom of Scientific Research, co-organised with UNESCO on December 10th.
The events explored how Europe can build a more sustainable, excellent and safe environment for all researchers. The conference brought together policymakers, research professionals and stakeholder networks to discuss how policies and initiatives could shape the future of research careers in Europe and beyond.
11th December was devoted to policy discussions, important announcements and celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the European Charter (and Code) for Researchers. While 12th December meeting featured the HR Excellence in Research Award information day which included the latest updates on the process. The most important information is that the administrative management of the process of obtaining the HR award and implementing the subsequent stages has been transfered from the European Commission to an external company in order to streamline the procedures more efficiently. In addition, the on-line tool (e-tool) used for the process management will be modified to reflect the updated Charter for Researchers (change from 40 to 20 principles) to improve the user experience and document navigation.
The recordings from the event sessions are available at the event's website: Events | The research and innovation community platform