Human Resources Strategy for Researchers

An elaborated recruitment process has been developed for academic staff and researchers, adhering to the principles of Open, Transparent, and Merit-based recruitment, as well as transparency in our employment conditions. Within recruitment, we are working on a toolkit to support academics in the recruitment process, paying attention to our employer branding, and emphasizing the quality of our HR data. Our international staff is supported by a dedicated 'internationals' department and can rely on support and information.

Wellbeing, internationalisation, onboarding...

To promote psychological and physical wellbeing of employees VUB introduced several initiatives, such as establishing the team Wellbeing within People&Organisation, an academic coordinator Wellbeing and training initiatives under the umbrella of the VUB LRN platform.

Most of the (internal and external) wellbeing partners provide guidance and support for all staff (e.g. the confidential counsellors) and some have a focus on researchers such as the ombudspersons for PhD researchers. Also, multiple partners (e.g. the Brussels University Consultation Centre BRUCC) have been engaged to reinforce individual coaching, team coaching and support trajectories for staff. On top of that the Prevention and Environmental Service supervises all matters relating to (physical) safety and wellbeing, risk management and transgressive behaviour. With the development of its You Are Not Alone policy (YANA) the university is putting maximum effort into prevention and support for victims 

Internationalisation is highly valued at VUB: we welcome international researchers to consider working at VUB (see website International staff: welcome at VUB | Vrije Universiteit Brussel). We also have invested in better information flows for professorial staff and support staff who want to hire international researchers (see sharepoint International Staff (sharepoint.com). To provide an optimal start at VUB to all researchers several initiatives are taking place to make them feel more at home in the first months. At the same time VUB also stimulates its researchers to go on a stay abroad and increase their international aspirations and experiences.

Engaged leading, career development, skills & competences for researchers, doctoral schools...

The VUB invests heavily in training and development for all staff. The VUB LRN (learn) platform centralizes training initiatives from different departments (P&O, Research, Education) and stands for a collaboration that enables a vision-driven approach to professionalisation at our university. In this way, it contributes to a learning organisation and an attractive work culture from a holistic perspective that creates development opportunities for all VUB staff members, including PhD candidates. Over the last years, our offer has become more inclusive by upping the amount of place- and/or time-independent learning formats (digital workshops, e-learning modules and platforms, blended learning trajectories, etc.). VUB LRN also collaborates with other Belgian and international Universities and networks (such as the VLIR, EUTOPIA, EUA-CDE, etc.) to shape an increasingly relevant and extensive offer.

VUB wants to stimulate leadership attitudes and behaviors suited to the academic context in which they work via engaged leading. “Engaged leading” views leadership as a collective activity, involving formal and informal leaders working with intent and enthusiasm towards shared goals. As such, it offers a framework for the growing training offer on all things that concern personal or team leadership.

Specific training is being offered tailored to the needs of PhDs, postdoctoral researchers, and supervisors. A compulsory doctoral training program in collaboration with the Doctoral Schools stimulates PhD researchers to develop into broadly skilled and independent researchers, prepared for the next career step – in or outside academia. The researcher training offer itself shows a growing focus on transferable skills (such as communication, collaboration and leadership) as well as on future-proof research skills (including topics such as open science, scientific integrity and AI for research). A still-expanding career support offer (with individual counseling, webinar series, interuniversity job markets, an exit-survey, etc.) aims to empower young researchers further to plan their next steps. More senior researchers are encouraged to hone those skills that strongly impact other researchers via initiatives such as the Supervisor Training, as well as other trainings that explore engaged leading in a broader context.

In the upcoming years, we want to further consolidate and improve the training offer both in research and transferable skills, and focus on optimizing the transfer from course to workfloor by putting stronger emphasis on team professionalization and trajectories where relevant.

The VUB supports its research community by raising awareness of ethical issues and providing guidelines on how to address them. The VUB also provides a regulatory framework, training and services to ensure researchers meet their ethical obligations and to obtain the necessary authorisations. 

• The VUB Charter for Researchers  stipulates good professional conduct and the ethical requirements and expectations for researchers and supervisors. 
• A dedicated Legal and Ethics Office  provides training and support.
• VUB organises trainings and workshops on research ethics and integrity. It is also one of the main components of the doctoral training program. VUB cooperated with other Flemish universities towards creating an online research integrity course: Mind the GAP, which is mandatory for VUB PhD researchers. 
• Every year an Ethics Week takes place.

The Gender Equality Plan 2024-2026 gives an overview of the actions and measures within different domains related to gender and equality, targeted towards academic staff. Especially of interest in the context of HRS4R is the anti-bias training and the optimalisation of diversity monitoring aimed at developing evidence-based policies and targets.

Furthermore, the VUB aims at creating an inclusive and supporting working environment, respecting sociocultural differences, and stimulating professional and personal growth of researchers and their wellbeing.