The Nencki Institute is the first Polish research institution to comply with the guidelines of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers, specifying among other the mechanisms for the recruitment of researchers and methods of financing their research.

The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct, adopted by the European Commission in 2005, specify the role, rights and duties of researchers, their employees and funding agencies. An important goal of introducing such provisions is to popularize research work as an attractive professional career path. To date, only 115 research-related institutions in 22 European countries have been recognized with the HR Excellence in Research logo, which identifies particularly attractive work environments.

“Conditions for conducting scientific research in our Institute turned out to be so favourable, that meeting the formal requirements in order to receive the HR Excellence in Research accreditation generally boiled down to executing a formal check for compliance of the present conditions at Nencki with the European guidelines”, emphasizes Prof. Urszula Sławińska, deputy director for scientific research at the Nencki Institute.

The Scientific Council of the Nencki Institute has adopted the provisions of the European Charter for Researchers in December of 2009. An internal analysis conducted at the Institute showed that some standards have already been met under Polish law such as the Labour Code and the Act on the Polish Academy of Sciences, while other under acts of the Polish Academy of Sciences, such as the Ethical Code. “The remaining guidelines have been implemented under Institute’s internal acts, passed by the Scientific Council, such as those regulating the manner and mode of organizing competitions for research positions”, says Urszula Dziewulska, head of the HR and recruitment department.

An internal analysis showed that at the application stage for the HR Excellence in Research accreditation, Nencki has already implemented the provisions of the European Charter of researchers in 95%. Some of the regulations, such as those governing the availability of checking the outcome of the recruitment process, needed to be expanded to include PhD candidates apart from regular researchers.

The institutions awarded with the HR Excellence in Research logo are subject to control executed by the European Commission every two years. In case of any discrepancies, the right to use the logo may be revoked.

The HR Excellence in Research accreditation holds not only prestigious but also practical significance. As its holder the Nencki Institute has a right, among other, to place its advertisements on European recruitment platform EURAXESS (euraxess.pl).
Before Nencki received the accreditation, the only institution recognized with the HR Excellence in Research logo in Poland was the Foundation for Polish Science.