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In June, the European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research Award (known as the HR Award), which had already been presented to eight parts of the UWB, was given to the university as a whole. The award is not only a sign of the high quality of care for researchers, but also an acknowledgement of the university’s commitment to continuous improvement of its human resources policy.

“The evaluators welcomed the care that you take to harmonise your human resources processes with the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. The comprehensive analysis and action plan meet all the requirements of the ‘HR Excellence in Research’ award,” says the report about the granting of the university-wide HR Award. 

“With the HR Award, we are joining the ranks of many sought-after and trusted institutions. Obtaining and keeping the award requires constant care for the working environment, with a focus on a transparent and fair procedure in the hiring of researchers, evaluation of their performance, career development, the creation of the right conditions for a proper work-life balance and other aspects,” says the UWB Rector, Miroslav Lávička.  

In 2017–2021, the HR Award was given to eight parts of the UWB, some of which also successfully renewed it. Because of differences in the schedules for the implementation of action plans, however, the UWB management decided to apply for the HR Award on the university level. For this reason, the UWB as an institution signed up for the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers in February 2022.

“The European Commission received our letter in April 2022; in the meantime, together with the working group ‘University-Wide HR Award and Equal Opportunities Plan’, we started to prepare a university-wide HR strategy for researchers. We consulted the strategic documents regularly with the UWB management, which approved the strategy this March,” said Petr Šimon, head of the working group. In April, the university submitted the documents to the European Commission for review and on 12 June received notice that the HR Award had been granted.  

In order to present itself as an internationally recognised trustworthy employer, the UWB must renew the HR Award after two years on the basis of an internal review of the action plan.