ICoRSA Newsletter December

Author

ICoRSA
December 23, 2025

In today’s email:

This December issue brings updates from across the ICoRSA community and beyond. We share news of ICoRSA’s newly elected Executive Board and highlight recent activities and publications from our member associations, including a major study on the career paths of postgraduate researchers in Brazil. You will also find updates on European research policy developments, with insights from the European Research Careers Conference and the launch of the European Doctoral Day.

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NEWS ABOUT ICORSA

ICoRSA Has a New Executive Board 

The International Consortium of Research Staff Associations (ICoRSA) held its annual Board Election online on 10 December 2025. The strategic governance event brought together member associations on organisation's strategic direction for the next two years.

ICoRSA extends sincere thanks to all member associations that participated in this important governance process, particularly Dr Silvia Vilches for her leadership as ICoRSA 2025 AGM Chair.

Dr Mikey Creane has been elected Chair, marking a significant leadership transition. The election reflects both continuity and new perspectives, with several board members continuing their service while new directors bring additional expertise to the leadership team.

ICoRSA wishes to express appreciation to the outgoing Chair, Dr Gianna Avellis, for her dedication throughout the past term. Gianna Avellis continues as Legal Director of ICoRSA.

NEWS ABOUT MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS

ICoRSA’s member association in Brazil, the Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduandos (ANPG), has released the Dossiê Newton Sucupira, an in-depth investigation into the professional insertion of master’s and PhD graduates in Brazil’s labour market. Produced in partnership with the Centro de Estudos e Memória da Juventude (CEMJ), the study analyses national employment data, international benchmarks, and interviews with leaders from academia, government, and the productive sectors. It highlights persistent challenges such as the limited absorption of highly qualified professionals outside academia, precarious working conditions, weak integration between science policy and industrial strategy, and the need for stronger state-led investment in R&D. The report emphasises the importance of valuing research careers, strengthening innovation ecosystems, and aligning postgraduate education with national development, reindustrialisation, and sovereignty goals, calling for structural policies to ensure that Brazil fully benefits from the talent it trains. 

Read more about this study here (in Portuguese). 

NEWS ABOUT RESEARCH POLICIES

European Research Careers Conference 

The European Research Careers Conference took place in Brussels last week, from 10 to 12 December, and all session videos are now available here. The conference showcased the latest European Commission policy initiatives supporting research careers and brought together ERA Forum stakeholder groups to discuss these issues and share their input. 

Featured discussions included Choose Europe, an umbrella initiative aimed at attracting international researchers to Europe by the European Commission. It brings together several funding instruments, such as ERC Super Grants, MSCA Choose Europe, and ERA Chairs, alongside policy measures like the upcoming EU Visa Strategy. Similar initiatives are also emerging across Member States, including Choose France for Science and Germany’s Global Minds Initiative. 

While these funding schemes are valuable for attracting talent, they do not provide long-lasting, sustainable solutions to the persistent issue of contract precarity at national level. 

The final day focused on existing tools such as the European Research Career Framework and the HR Excellence in Research Award, which are used by European research institutions in their recruitment and career development practices. Best-practice examples were presented, including strategies implemented by CERN and the University of Siegen. These highlighted the importance of involving researchers in the design and implementation of HR4SR strategies and action plans through advisory boards, focus groups, and surveys to better understand and respond to researchers’ needs. 

All the videos are available here. 

Launch of the European Doctoral Day 

Europe now marks European Doctoral Day on 13 May to celebrate the vital role of doctoral education and the impact of PhD graduates as key drivers of innovation. The initiative raises awareness of the value of doctoral qualifications, inspires students to pursue research careers, and highlights the diverse career paths and societal contributions of doctoral graduates in shaping Europe’s scientific, economic, and technological future.  

Institutions are invited to join the initiative by: 

  • Spread the word within your networks, communication resources are available online 

  • Downloading and sign the event charter 

  • Register their activities celebrating the Doctoral Day on the platform by 15 February 2026 to promote it across Europe 

  • Organising event on or around 13 May (in-person, hybrid, or online) and sharing feedback afterward 

More information about the initiative here.

ONGOING STUDIES ON RESEARCH CAREERS

Research Management Competences in Academics Study 

Deadline: 28 December 2025 

The project addresses a major gap: institutions often rely on subjective self-assessments, whereas this survey provides an objective, evidence-based analysis of skills across eight core competency areas, including cognitive abilities, technical proficiency, subject-matter expertise (pre-award, post-award, ethics), and stakeholder engagement. 

Results help individuals identify training needs and support institutions in strategic planning, mapping skills, and designing targeted professional development programs. 

The survey is coordinated by the Polytechnic University of Bragança (Portugal) with support from the University of Bologna (Italy), the study aims to create a robust diagnostic tool to assess research management competences across the academic community. 

Who should respond 

All academics involved in research (researchers, PhDs professors, fellows, lab managers, administrators) 

Duration  

15–20 minutes (full anonymity). 

Link to the survey: https://shorturl.at/VerUa 

COST-Action CCA on career development of early-stage career researchers 

Deadline: January 31, 2026 

The survey aims to capture perspectives on career development practices and perceptions at research performing institutions in Europe. 

Who should respond 

Researchers (R1-R2), PI/Supervisors, career advisors 

Duration 

8 minutes 

Link to the survey: https://bit.ly/3LFeaqI 

Opportunities 

  • The Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026–2027, including calls for proposals under programmes such as MSCA, Pillar II, WIDERA, and EU Missions, has now been published. You can find the research topics and dedicated funding per programme here.

EVENTS

Save the date for the UNESCO 2026 International Day of Women and Girls in Science - Wednesday, 11 February 2026, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (CET) at UNESCO Headquarters (in Paris), with the possibility to join online. 

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN (mandatory for all participants): 

  • Click here to visit our webpage. 

  • Click here to register for in-person participation (Paris). 

  • Click here to register for online participation (on Zoom). 

Sustainable Careers for Researcher Empowerment (SECURE) project closing summit

The European project Sustainable Careers for Researcher Empowerment (SECURE), with ICoRSA as a partner, will hold its final closing summit on March 6, 2025, in Brussels. The event will feature policy roundtables and the presentation of the project’s final results. 

A videostream will be available for remote participants. Stay tuned for the publication of the final links on the project’s website. 

Vitae events for its members

RELEVANT READINGS

The report brings together the key messages and policy perspectives shared by experts and ministers at the Global Ministerial Dialogue on Science Diplomacy. Through summaries of panel debates and national interventions, it outlines global views on the role of science diplomacy across the conference’s main themes: open science and research security, emerging technologies, shared scientific and natural resources, and science in times of crisis.