Salir
HRS4R
Human Resources Strategy for Researchers

Logo hr excellence

working

Working conditions

Última modificación
Thu , 03/10/2024 - 04:03

14 of the 40 C&C principles are dedicated to the working conditions of researchers in our University:

  • Recognition of the Profession. UZ recognises all levels involved in the research career as researchers.
  • Research working environment. The UZ favours my research and learning with resources and opportunities. 3.3. Working conditions. UZ offers flexibility to researchers to reconcile professional and family life and attention to disability to ensure scientific success.
  • Employment Stability. The UZ strives to improve the employment stability of the researcher.
  • Funding and salaries. The UZ ensures that the researcher enjoys adequate economic conditions and social coverage.
  • Gender Balance. The UZ strives for equal opportunities and gender balance at all levels of recruitment.
  • Professional Development. The UZ contemplates a strategy to support the professional development of the researcher.
  • Value of Mobility. The UZ recognises the value of geographical, inter-sectorial, trans-disciplinary and virtual mobility, and between the public and private sectors within the evaluation system.
  • Access to Career Guidance. The UZ offers professional guidance to the researcher in its different stages. 3.10. Intellectual Property Rights. The UZ ensures adequate protection of the intellectual property rights of R&D results.
  • Co-authorship. The UZ provides researchers at all levels with their rights to be recognised in the co-authorship of research results.
  • Teaching. The UZ values teaching in the evaluation of the research career.
  • Complaints. The UZ has adequate mechanisms to assist all researchers in resolving conflicts and complaints.
  • Participation in decision-making bodies. The UZ admits researchers in the information, consultation and decision-making groups of the Institution.

---

The working conditions of researchers at the University of Zaragoza are assimilated to those of any other worker at our University, are regulated within the institution and are supervised by the workers' representatives. In any case, there are certain aspects of working conditions that are specifically related to researchers and which have been developed in recent years. These include:

All researchers hired as Contratado Doctor Investigador, or CD-I (28 in 2018) had the possibility of transforming their type of employment contract to Contratado Doctor, which allowed them, if they so considered, to continue their career at the University of Zaragoza following a teaching and research career. 

From 2020, researchers with a temporary research contract can participate as directors of students' Master's Theses. The topic of the Master's Thesis must be related to the subject of their research. However, although this regulation has been highly valued, R1 and R2 researchers demanded to be able to teach more hours, as their accreditation to permanent Professor needs a minimum of 500 hours to be positively evaluated. Thanks to the recent approval of the Science Act, where indefinite contracts can be signed,  the teaching capacity of contracted researchers has been updated.

In 2017, the regulation of the new access contract modalities allowed by the Science Law was developed at the University of Zaragoza. This includes all levels, from PhD students (level R1) to the distinguished researcher level (level R4). However, due to the recent modification of this law, this new regulation will possibly have to be modified.

Since 2018, law 17/2018, the Regional Organisation for Quality Assessment ACPUA contemplates the evaluation of research merits (regional sexennial evaluation or "sexenio") to researchers hired by the Ramón y Cajal modality and by the modalities of Access Contract to the Spanish System of Science, Technology and Innovation.

In addition, the University of Zaragoza allows the reduction of teaching hours for staff contracted as labour staff and civil servant staff who have participated in competitive research projects and technology transfer contracts.
 
Finally, in January 2024, the new Collective Agreement of the University of Zaragoza was approved. As the most important aspect, contract researchers are included in the agreement as any other permanent researcher, which means a recognition of their figure and improves their working conditions, which are now fully comparable to the rest of UNIZAR researchers.

Related documentation