Website: SECURE Project
Start: 01-01-2023 - End: 31-12-2024
Project Number: 101094902
Programme: Horizon Europe
Topic: HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ERA-01-50
Key Action: Developing an effective ERA talent pipeline
Action Type: Coordination and support action
Coordinator: PLOCAN 

The Sustainable Careers for Researcher Empowerment (SECURE) project will develop coordination and support measures to create, trial, implement, and mainstream a common Research Career Framework (RCF) that offers a suite of options to support organisations in the recruitment, employment, training, development, progression, and mobility of researchers with the aim of improving research careers and reducing career precarity. The RCF will recognise the research profession across sectors, provide a career development and progression structure for research careers, recognise both research and transferable skills and competences, facilitate intersectoral collaboration and mobility, and offer solutions to the precariousness of research careers in academia. It will further develop a range of tenure track-like (TTL) models integrating best practices from existing use cases. The TTL models will offer a variety of options to support organisations employing researchers in sustainable ways for different research career paths.

SECURE will test aspects of the RCF and TTL models in trials in four RPOs, one RFO, and one recruitment agency . The trial organisations will first conduct a scoping exercise to map the RCF onto their existing policies and activities for research careers before developing integration plans on how the RCF could be adopted into their existing policies and activities. Due to the short duration of the project and window for trials, it is expected that only some aspects of the RCF and TTL models will be tested. The trial organisations will thus develop action plans, selecting relevant aspects from the integration plans, to test and implement during the trials. SECURE will mainstream the RCF and TTL models through a series of policy briefs and a summit that explain key aspects of the RCF and TTL models to relevant organisations employing researchers. The RCF and TTL models will be further promoted through key partner organisations in the project targeting researchers, RPOs, and companies. The RCF and TTL models will lastly be promoted in the EURAXESS network including the many EURAXESS service centres, the newly established EURAXESS hubs, and through the ERA Talent Platform being developed.