Coimbra Group endorses call for broad and robust support to early career researchers
30 November 2022
The Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and their economic consequences have brought a whole new set of challenges for researchers in addition to the already existing ones. While this has impacted research productivity for both experienced and early-stage scientists, the latter – women in particular – are further affected by concerns related to their career progression. As pointed out in the Coimbra Group report “Universities’ response to the Covid-19 crisis: What have we learnt so far?” (December 2021), the crisis has only revealed how fragile the status of early-career researchers is.
The Coimbra Group has always been a strong advocate for the strengthening of scientists’ career pathways. By endorsing the Manifesto for Early Career Researchers, we join other European and national organisations, as well as political personalities, in calling for:
- Europe-wide monitoring of young researchers’ situation.
- Improving research careers and working conditions in Research Performing Organisations, Research and Technology Organisations and in Higher Education Institutions.
- Enhancing research careers in the third sector, including NGOs and governmental organisations.
- Involving national funding agencies in cooperation with the European Commission.
This four-step plan prepared and launched by Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE) aligns with CG continuous advocacy to end with the so-called ‘permadoc’ phenomenon and to increase investment in human capital to support all researchers, including doctoral candidates and post-doctoral researchers.
Read the Manifesto (pdf)
More information and list of supporters are available here.