www.esf.org

CRUS

Changing Research Careers

University of Zurich2-3 November 2011

Researchers Careers A key Investment for Societies

Marja MakarowEuropean Science Foundation

1

www.esf.org

Table of Content

• Place of universities in knowledge society• Categories of research - Nobel and Pasteur quadrants• How to reach Nobel quadrant • Four-stage career structure

1. PhD candidate2. Post-doctoral researcher3. Independent young researcher4. Professor

• Tenure track pilots• LERU and ESF recommendations on research careers• Pasteur quadrant – excellence and relevance combined• Message to decision-makers

2

www.esf.org

Place of research universities in the knowledge society

In Europe and beyond, governments have realised• Education, research, innovation are cornerstones of

knowledge-based societies/economies

• Knowledge is the building block of economic , cultural and societal well-being of humanity,invaluable commodity and raw material for business and economic growth in absence of endless natural resources

• Disruptive innovations mostly sparkle from fundamental research > innovation chain starts at universities

• This is why university systems under renovation

• 3rd task, benefitting society, added to universities’ legal obligations, ill-defined or clearly economic impact

3

www.esf.org

Four categories of research”Pasteur quadrant”

Excellent basic research New innovations from new knowledgeNobel laureates Louis Pasteur

Advancement of knowledge Excellence + relevance Basis for new inventions New business andSlow driver of innovation economic growth

Redundant research Development Vast majority of researchers Edison

> expensiveProcess > educated citizens Incremental progressBroad base for emerging Based on others’ findings

excellence Essential for industry

Qualit

y

Utility

www.esf.org

Renovation of universities aim at increasing population in Pasteur quadrant

• In > half of EU MSs university Acts renovated:To increase autonomy: governance, rector’s powers, finance, structure, buildings, civ servCoupled with accountabilityPush to develop long-term strategiesDefine profile according to strengths, potentialOpportunities to update research career structure

• New incentives for development of long-term strategy Excellence Initiative DE, doctoral schools attachedGovernmental loan FR, uni career str under evalGovernmental investment into foundations (FI)

revision of uni career str recommende • Interaction with other organisations in research system:

Research institutes and private sectorWorks best if career opportunities for mobility in both directions

5

www.esf.org

How to reach the Nobel quadrantfirst, to increase quality of research

• All depends on individuals, excellent individual researchers

• To prosper, individual talent needs Supportive environmentThriving university with creative

research environmentsVision for the future, an attractive

transparent career structure

6

www.esf.org

How to reach Nobel quadrant 1. Requirements for universitiesAn excellent res uni has

• Clearly defined mission based on international research agenda or national/regional agenda

• Capacity to reconfigure in response to novel research challenges

• Structures to support research focus and cross-disciplinary research

• Autonomy and resources to focus on strengths and promote young researchers’ emerging excellence and attraction to science with attractive career stages

• State-of-the-art research infrastructure • International researcher community that imports and

exports new knowledge, new ideas, new technologies• Mechanisms to use research strengths to inspire teaching,

which again funnels new talent to research

7

www.esf.org

Nobel quadrant remains empty without focus on young researchers careers

• Next generation is most important long-term investment • Market for researchers global, competition for the best is global • Four-stage research career structure proposed,

in order to meet the new generations needs, by:

1. LERU League of European Research Universities (20 top universities, including University of Zurich and University of Geneva)

2. ESF Member Organisation Forum on Researcher Careers 29 research funding and performing organisation covering 21 countries including SNFS and Swisscore. Report 2009 “Research Careers in Europe - Landscape and Horizons”

3. National bodies

8

www.esf.org

Four-stage career structurewith variations

• Stage 1: PhD candidate If we fail in attracting the best to do PhD, the rest is futile

Alarming signs of decrease in interest in some countries

• Stage 2: Post-doctoral researcherDecisions taken whether to leave researcher career

Choice of subject, place, mobility, crucial for later success

• Stage 3: Young Independent ResearcherInvestments in stages 1 and 2 waisted if the best have no access to career ladder

• Stage 4: Professor

• Nterest in

9

www.esf.org

Stage 1PhD candidate

Bologna definitions of 3rd cycle harmonised status and requirements, still too much diversity

EC analysed 37 countries and ESF 8 countries, differencies in • Taxonomy (PhD candidate, Teach/Res Assistant, early stage res…)• Job status, e.g. student or researcher or junior teacher • Salary or stipend, social security or not • Criteria and procedures of selection, if any• Requirements of volume of research, publications for PhD thesis• Time-to-degree target 3-4 y, or none • Training requirements, ECTS points on none (mostly) • Transferable skills training or none• Supervisor’s role defined or not• Solo work or group or researchers community• International experience required or not

10

www.esf.org

LERU theses on doctoral trainingHigh quality doctoral training is an imperative for knowledge society

• Doctoral training to be integrated in university’s research strategy• Doctoral programmes offer better conditions than solo work • Doctoral programmes can be realised within one university, or as

regional, national or international networks (small countries, orchid subjects)

• International mobility increases quality, provides access to infrastructure• Industry-academia collaboration in PhD training promotes innovation• Examples of such good practices realised by a number of LERU

universities and described in 2007 document

•

11

www.esf.org

Finland has pioneered nationwide structured doctoral training

• Ministry of Education established Doctoral schools/programs in 1995• Covers all 16 universities, all research disciplines, now 120• Thematic program gets Doctoral School status for 4 years via

competition, status renewable• Top scientists submit proposals with training programs in substance

issues, methodologies, transferable skills, with teaching/funding partners, intl partners, and propose best practices promoting quality supervision and research, and career support beyond PhD degree

• Evaluated by Research Councils• Ministry of Education allocates 4-y salaries with full social security to

PhD candidates of chosen schools, annually 50 ME for 1600 salaries corresponds to ¼ of all PhD candidates

• Once a year competitive funds for training programmes

12

www.esf.org

Successes and challenges of the Finnish Doctoral programme

Successes• Proven to be best environment to train professional researchers• Has changes research culture in Humanities from solo research to a

research-community environment• Has raised the quality of supervision • Has decreased the time-to-degree and age at dissertation• Best researchers are leading the programs

Challenges• Not integrated in most universities’ strategies as funds come outside

from the university’s budget • Two classes of PhD candidates:

A class is in schools and even earns a decent salaryB class outside of programmes, no access to quality courses, transferabe skills training, at mercy of supervisor

13

www.esf.org

Stage 2Post-doctoral researcher

• working pretty well, I will not dwell on this stage except for a few comments

• Success in post-doc determines your career, choose well• Especially in small countries, post-doc abroad is essential• Changing subject very good and should be encouraged• PhDS to be mentored and advised • Natl and intl funding schemes available• Problem when getting to next stage does not succeed • Multiple post-doc periods, over 5 years, and you are lost

14

www.esf.org

Stage 3. Young (career age) independent researcher

• Most European universities lack posts for young PIs: researchers careers unclear, not attached to success, not attractive to new generation

• Case FI: Academy researcher for 5 years, no positions thereafter unless successful in professorship competition

International researchers do not trust the system

• ERC portable Starting Grants are shaking the system

Universities starting to think of career track after ERC

• Young ERC grantees should be taken well care of, mentored, Nobel prizes accumulate - culture of excellence and mentoring

• f

15

www.esf.org

Is tenure-track solution for young Pis?Aalto University, 2010

Art & Design1871

Science & Technology

1849

Economics 1911

•

www.esf.org

Tenure track structureFor all professor recruitments

Professor Distinguished professor

Competitive recruiting

Assistant Professor (2)

Tenure decision

First term review

3 (-5) years 4 years

Fixed term

Permanent

Assistant Professor(1)

Promotion decision

Promotion decision

Recruiting by invitation

Associate professor

Tenure decision

www.esf.org

First experiences - international attraction

• First tenure track positions allocated to Departments according to their success in Research Assessment Exercise in 2010

• Case: Department of Computer and Information Science• Earlier 20 applicants per post, all Finnish

• First Assistant Professor call with tenure track158 applicants

Finland 49North America 30DACH 24UK 14Other countries 26Still only 10 percent female

18

www.esf.org

Pros and cons of tenure track system

• Traditional recruitment of professorScientific sub-discipline of post predefinedHopefully best candidate selectedEven if absolute quality of individual not high

• Tenure track recruitment Best candidate in pre-defined broad domain selectedSelected individual defines the disciplinary domain of the post till retirement Positions locked for tens of years

• Crucial for university toUnderstand conceptual difference Base recruitments on solid long-term research strategy

• ETH Zurich started tenure track piloting in 2004 – experiences?

• f

19

www.esf.org

LERU and ESF Member Organisation Forum recommendations

• Promote common principles on research employment. Developshared code of practice/Researchers’ Handbook, responding to European Code and Charter

• Structure career pathway with well-defined posts, provide transparency in career structures and recruitment

• Improve career development support in universities, also for diverse career pathways

• Establish knowledge-base on careers, to share information and statistics on career pathways (EUA mapping and sharing good practices)

• Career pathway is shared responsibility, uni, government, public and private funders of research

20

www.esf.org

From Nobel quadrant to Pasteur quadrant

Excellent basic research New innovations from new knowledgeNobel laureates Louis Pasteur

Advancement of knowledge Excellence + relevance Basis for new inventions New business andSlow driver of innovation economic growth

Redundant research Development Vast majority of researchers Edison

> expensiveProcess > educated citizens Incremental progressBroad base for emerging Based on others’ findings

excellence Essential for industry

Qualit

y

Utility

www.esf.org

Lessons learnt from Millennium Technology Prize

• One of the most prestigeous technology prizes, funded by industry and State of Finland

• For ground-breaking technologies, which change the world, increase the quality of life of mankind and have proven their utility and commercial value

– 2004 Tim Berners-Lee: world-wide-web– 2006 Suji Nakamura: LEDs and blue laser– 2008 Robert Langer: controlled drug release– 2010 Michael Graetzel: dye-sensitised solar cells

• Inventions from free basic research, not programs

• Inventors drive basic and applied research in parallel, both streams fertilizing each other

22

www.esf.org

Support to move to Pasteur QuadrantOpen innovation

• Joint research agendas for academic and industry researchers, combining curiosity-driven and problem-oriented research

• Strategic alliences, or flexible institutes between university and industry

• Posts for intersectorial mobility needed in academia plus industry, academic and corporate researchers’ merits to be mutually acknowledged

• Doctoral training to support career opportunities in industry

• Ind-aca culture best learnt in joint doctoral programs

23

www.esf.org

Message to decision-makers:Do not add knowledge crisis to financial crisis

• Disruptive innovations that change the world mostly sparkle from blue sky research

• Disruptive innovations that have created new business sectors are traceble to discoveries in fundamental science, unpredictable by definition

• No free research>no advances in knowledge>no disruptive technologies>no economic growth

• Thus, implement science policy that combines researchers’ creativity with broad definition of priorities, foster ind-aca collaboration

• Safe-guard resources for free research and provide researchers careers that are attractive to the best

24