University of York holds European Commission HR Excellence in Research Award for over a decade

York is just one of two universities in the UK to have held the award for so long.

The award highlights the University’s commitment to supporting the career development of researchers and its implementation of the Researcher Development (RD) Concordat.

The RD Concordat outlines the expectations of research organisations, funders, principal investigators (PIs) and researchers against three principles: employment, career development, environment and culture. The HREiR external review panel said: “York has made considerable progress against its 2020-22 action plan including dedicated support for mental health, a remote working policy and mentoring for research staff. The 2022-2025 action plan provides clear actions, specific accountability and deadlines.”

Commitment

Professor Matthias Ruth, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, said: “Year after year – for over a decade now – the University of York has received the HR Excellence in Research Award, recognising our strong and sustained commitment to the community of active researchers, academics, support staff and partners who work closely with each other at the forefront of knowledge generation and knowledge exchange.

“We support our researchers as individuals and as teams in their creativity and skills to continue to grow both professionally and personally to meet the challenges they face in a rapidly changing environment.”

Advancement

Dr Karen Clegg, head of the University’s Building Research and Innovation Capacity (BRIC) Team and HR Excellence in Research Coordinator, said: “Retaining the award for the 12th year is a recognition of the sustained collective commitment to working with, supporting and advancing the professional development and careers of our community of exceptional postdoctoral researchers and Fellows”.

“It is their engagement in mentoring, professional development planning and contribution to our annual Researcher Festival that make the achievement of our ambitious action plans possible”.