Roadshow: EURAXESS bus to visit 29 European cities in 22 countries to organise awareness-raising events for students and junior researchers

Brussels, Belgium, 3-3-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — Roadshow: EURAXESS bus to visit 29 European cities in 22 countries to organise awareness-raising events for students and junior researchers

What does the roadshow consist of?

A specially adapted EURAXESS bus will travel to 29 European cities in 22 countries (mainly in central and south-eastern Europe) visiting university campuses where awareness-raising events will be organised in cooperation with local EURAXESS Service Centres for students and junior researchers. At each stop, young people will be able to learn about the various EURAXESS services, get help with their CVs, including photos, and/or hear testimonies from researchers who have already used the service. The campaign also has a strong social media element.

What’s the purpose of the Roadshow?

The roadshow aims to raise awareness about the services that EURAXESS offers to students and younger researchers in terms of getting easier access to the research job market, learning about funding opportunities and their personal career development and mobility experience. In addition, it will promote the ‘HR Excellence in Research’ logo that recognises institutions respecting the ‘European Charter for Researchers’ and the ‘Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers’. At the moment, over 174 institutions have been awarded this badge of excellence but more are needed to make a real impact. EURAXESS members are expected to organise Charter and Code related events in their universities or institutions on the day of the roadshow event.

What is EURAXESS?

“EURAXESS – Researchers in Motion” is a European Commission initiative that aims to support development of the European Research Area (ERA) by addressing barriers to the mobility of researchers and to enhance scientific collaboration between Europe and the world. EURAXESS is supported by 40 participating countries across Europe. Designed as a comprehensive tool-set it provides access to a complete range of information and support services that are structured around four pillars (Jobs, Services, Rights and Links). Through its portal it provides a single access point for career information and jobs and also provides personalised assistance by more than 530 staff working in over 260 Service Centres.

What services does EURAXESS provide for researchers?

Euraxess provides information on research job vacancies and funding opportunities, work permits and visa issues, employment rights and international cooperation. In detail the services are:

EURAXESS Jobs – a comprehensive recruitment tool for researchers, research organisations and private industry players. The constantly updated portal lists research job vacancies throughout Europe and in EURAXESS Links countries (see below). In 2013, over 40,000 research jobs were posted on the portal. EURAXESS Jobs also enables researchers to post their CVs online allowing companies and research organisations to search for the best talents in the portal’s database. EURAXESS Jobs boasts more than 7,700 registered research organisations, nearly 60,000 researcher accounts and, out of these, more than 15,000 active researcher CVs. EURAXESS Jobs has established collaborations with leading universities, research labs, relevant national/international job platforms and job boards (e.g. Naturejobs) aimed at regularly exchanging job data.

EURAXESS Services – a European network of more than 260 centres in 40 European countries providing relocation assistance to ensure a smooth transition of Europe-bound international or expatriate European researchers and their families. This free and personalised service can help with issues such as accommodation, visa and work permits, and language courses, schools for the researchers’ children, social security and medical care.

EURAXESS Rights – promotes better employment and working conditions for researchers throughout Europe through implementation of the ‘European Charter for Researchers’ and the ‘Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers’. Together these two documents set out the rights and obligations of researchers, research institutions and funding providers, with the aims of ensuring equitable treatment of all researchers in Europe and of increasing transparency in their selection and recruitment. The ‘HR Excellence in Research’ logo is awarded by the European Commission to research institutions or funders actively implementing the Charter & Code. To date, institutions from 37 European countries and beyond have expressed their support and nearly 200 have received the ‘HR Excellence in Research’ logo. EURAXESS Rights also provides information on pensions for researchers and entry conditions.

EURAXESS Links – the international arm of the EURAXESS initiative linking Europe to the rest of the world. Through websites, monthly newsletters and activities the EURAXESS Links Officers maintain the link between Europe and the world. EURAXESS Links Officers are located in the following countries and regions: ASEAN¹, Brazil, China, India, Japan and North-America².

When was EURAXESS established? Who funds it?

In 2008 four parallel but complementary EC activities were put under one umbrella initiative: EURAXESS – Researchers in Motion. The initiatives brought together the Researcher’s Mobility Portal (EURAXESS Jobs), a network of mobility centres across Europe (EURAXESS Services), the link to researchers worldwide (EURAXESS Links) and the promotion of employment conditions and career development of researchers under the Charter and Code (EURAXESS Rights).

EURAXESS Jobs and Services are co-funded by the European Commission and participating countries, whereas Rights and Links are financed by the European Commission.

Facts and Figures

• In 2013, there were nearly 950,000 Unique visitors on the EURAXESS website (vs. nearly 630,000 in 2012; 550,000 in 2011 and 360,000 in 2010)
• In 2013, more than 40,000 job adverts were published compared to 36,500 in 2012; 31,000 in 2011 and 7,500 in 2010.
• More than 1 million researcher queries were treated by the EURAXESS Service Centres within the last 5 years with the aim of finding solutions for problems and questions mostly on job and funding opportunities, visa and entry conditions, accommodation, schools, legal problems, social security.