action plan 2019-2021 template 4: action plan

Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä (JYU) HUMAN RESOURCES STRATEGY FOR RESEARCHERS

ACTION PLAN 2019-2021

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TEMPLATE 4: ACTION PLAN

Case number: 2018FI363519

Name Organisation under review:

University of Jyväskylä (JYU), Finland

Organisation’s contact details: P.O. Box 35, FIN-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland

SUBMISSION DATE: 18.2.2019

1. ORGANISATIONAL INFORMATION Please provide a limited number of key figures for your organisation. Figures marked * are

compulsory.

STAFF & STUDENTS FTE

Total researchers = staff, fellowship holders, bursary holders, PhD. students either full-time or part-time involved in research

1754

Of whom are international (i.e. foreign nationality) 247

Of whom are externally funded (i.e. for whom the organisation is host organisation) 597

Of whom are women 805

Of whom are stage R3 or R4 = Researchers with a large degree of autonomy, typically holding the status of Principal Investigator or Professor.

654

Of whom are stage R2 = in most organisations corresponding with postdoctoral level 302

Of whom are stage R1 = in most organisations corresponding with doctoral level 746

Total number of students (if relevant) 14500

Total number of staff (including management, administrative, teaching and research staff)

2384

RESEARCH FUNDING (figures for most recent fiscal year) €

Total annual organisational budget 204 021 000

Annual organisational direct government funding (designated for research) 132 251 000

Annual competitive government-sourced funding (designated for research, obtained in competition with other organisations – including EU funding)

40 115 700

Annual funding from private, non-government sources, designated for research 6 937 200

ORGANISATIONAL PROFILE (a very brief description of your organisation, max. 100 words)

The mission of JYU is to conduct significant, world-class research in its core fields and to train competent, motivated experts who possess lifelong learning skills in various fields. JYU interacts with society in an active and responsible manner in regional, national and international contexts. The JYU vision is to be an internationally renowned multidisciplinary research university and one of the world’s leading universities in the fields of learning and teaching by the year 2030.



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2. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE CURRENT PRACTICE:

Please provide an overview of the organisation in terms of the current strengths and weaknesses of

the current practice under the four thematic headings of the Charter and Code at your organization.

Thematic heading of the

Charter and Code

STRENGTHS and WEAKNESSES

Ethical and professional

aspects

Strengths identified by research staff in the recent staff and doctoral student

surveys include that researchers find their working tasks interesting and

challenging, they have sufficient influence over their duties, work involves

creativity, and one’s own competence can be used efficiently. Most

researchers find that their essential job tasks are appreciated at the

University. Professors have a chance for societal impact and they can acquire

research funding. Young researchers also have a chance to get familiar with

the acquisition of research funding. In addition, the preparation of research

projects is supported professionally and researchers are informed well about

research funding. Working in research groups is important for peer support

and is also very common for young researchers. They consider the library’s

electronic material and information seeking services sufficient and functional,

as well as the centralized publication data entry services into the research

database management system. Doctoral students find the availability of

language revision services to be sufficient. Researchers’ work abroad, support

for researchers arriving in Finland and researchers’ opportunity to get familiar

with research ethical questions are good.

Career advancement opportunities and induction to duties received lower than

average scores in the surveys and can be regarded as weaknesses. The

instructions of the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity (TENK) have

changed and the Ethical Committee of the University of Jyväskylä is strained.

Research staff’s time available for research varies between the Faculties and

both professors and senior researchers feel they have too little time for

research. Doctoral students find their salary level unfair in relation to their

performance and the complexity of duties. More than half of doctoral students

find that they have no support for science communication or they do not

recognize the need for support. Young researchers do not have that much

societal impact.

Almost one third of doctoral students consider they did not have a chance to

get familiar with the principles according which their merits are evaluated.



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Young researchers’ knowledge of the principles of open science is weak.

Doctoral students do not always know what support is available for self-

archiving (repositories). They are not as happy with the support for contracts as

they are with the funding support. Doctoral students do not know what support

is available for innovations or commercialization and they also know other

research occupation groups quite poorly. The group dissatisfied with language

revision services included mostly professors. In addition, it is difficult to find the

right service provider from the University organization.

Recruitment and

selection

According to the OTM-R self-assessment, JYU in most parts follows the

principles of the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. All

essential matters related to the positions are visible for applicants in the call

for applications. A comprehensive comparison of merits is made for applicants

and they are treated equally throughout the selection process. The researcher

career model has been described openly, the criteria for progressing in career

have been defined and researchers know the issues in advance. Because of

the many phases of the recruitment process, the whole process is time-

consuming.

In accordance with surveys conducted at the JYU, the research staff considers

the fixed-term nature of employment, the recruitment process and the

University’s attractiveness as an expert community as weaknesses.

Researchers feel they know the criteria for proceeding in the career poorly.

The criteria are most well known among professors, and the criteria are also

found partly non-transparent. The views vary by Faculty.

The researchers who have passed the phase of doctoral training, excluding

professors, feel more often than others that the University is not an attractive

expert community. Moreover, they are also clearly more often planning to

move to another Finnish university or other organization or consider other

career options.

Working conditions According to the Staff Survey 2017, the strengths of working conditions

include support from the working community and a positive attitude towards

change, the work and family life balance, focus on research and the lack of

harassment.

In accordance with the JYU’s teaching, research and career survey, research

staff, particularly the junior research staff, is able to focus on research. In

addition to research, professors have more administrative duties than other

research staff and their teaching duties focus on student supervision.

Weaknesses, shown by lower than average survey scores, are related to

workload, competition, processing of difficult issues, meeting practices and

knowledge about instructions and guidelines. The survey results indicate that

many researchers do not have enough time to carry out their duties during

working hours, the work is considered mentally exhausting and changes in

work affect their ability to cope at work. Additionally, negative competition



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between individuals exist, difficult subjects are not faced effectively and

meeting procedures do not serve the achievement of the unit’s objectives.

Most young researchers (doctoral students) feel they do not know university

legislation or the rules, strategy and the operational and financial steering

mechanisms at JYU well enough. The model for proceeding in the career is

familiar only to 40% of researchers. The 2017 Teaching, Research and Career

Survey reveals that a vast majority of researchers do not know the operating

plan related to the European Charter for researchers and the Code of Conduct

for the Recruitment of Researchers, based on which the University has received

the HR Excellence label.

Training and

development

According to the self-assessment of 2018, researchers at JYU consider working

in international groups and focusing on the core fields of research selected by

the University as strengths. In some faculties, researchers are strongly

encouraged to innovate in order to support renewal. Researchers actively

participate in the research networks of their fields and in multidisciplinary

networks. They are encouraged to international publishing in all faculties and

at all levels of the researcher career. They have opportunities to follow the

latest academic discussion and develop new scientific approaches.

The weaknesses of competence development culminate in the opportunities to

participate in method and supervision training. The opportunities to participate

in method training varies substantially between faculties as well as the

opportunities to get familiar with ethical issues. In addition, there is

insufficiently supervision training available. Doctoral students are not strongly

encouraged to apply for funding for international research periods. All in all,

researchers should be encouraged to apply for funding for international

research periods more actively than they do. In addition, support for application

varies between faculties.

3. ACTIONS

The Action Plan and HRS4R strategy must be published in an easily accessible location of the

organisation’s website.

Please provide the web link to the organisation's HR strategy webpage(s):

*URL: https://www.jyu.fi/en/research/hrs4r

https://www.jyu.fi/en/research/hrs4r



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Please fill in a sum up list of all individual actions to be undertaken in your organisation's HRS4R to address the weaknesses or strengths identified in the gap

analysis:

Proposed ACTIONS GAP Principle(s) Timing (at least by year’s quarter/ semester)

Responsible Unit

Indicator(s) / Target(s)

Additional training for supervisors to be developed and offered. The training begins in the early stages of the researcher career. The training includes university pedagogy modules for PhD thesis supervisors and doctoral candidates. This action continues from the previous Action Plan.

Gap in Internal Review 2015: There is a need for systematic training for supervisors. Doctoral students could be better integrated in the University community by, for example, letting them participate in recruitment processes or providing them with pedagogical training or opportunities to teach. Gap in Internal Review 2018: Further training for supervisors is needed. Principles: Supervision, Supervision and managerial duties, Relation with supervisors, Continuing professional development, Access to research training and continuous development

Fall 2019 Vice Rectors responsible for research and education

Training organised for dissertation

supervisors: Yes – No

Training organised for doctoral students:

Yes – No

Training statistics compiled: Yes – No

Training is wanted. Training has an impact.

JYU will determine how the connections to surrounding society, industry and research networks as well as the opportunities to connect with different stakeholders could be improved and further developed together with the faculties. Systematic career guidance possibilities will be organised and made visible.

Gap in Internal Review 2015: Doctoral students should also be encouraged to interact with industry or surrounding society to improve employment prospects. When students are integrated in research groups or centres or act as co-authors, it gives them opportunities to learn from more senior researchers and to have access to research networks.

Fall 2020 Vice Rectors responsible for research and education, Vice Deans responsible for research and education

The current state of connections to the world of work is reviewed and a development plan is made. Good practices recognised in the evaluation of doctoral training.



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This action continues from the previous Action Plan.

Gap in Internal Review 2018: Career advancement possibilities low, young researchers do not have that much impact in society. Principles: Career development, Access to career advice, Research Environment

Doctoral students' satisfaction in their opportunities to create connections to the world of work. Graduated doctors’ quality of employment (doctoral student survey) There is a systematic career steering model that is connected to the guidance of doctoral students and the operation of follow-up groups. (Yes – No)

The intercultural and multicultural awareness of the Finnish staff will be increased through systematic learning and staff training, which needs to be developed. This action continues from the previous Action Plan.

Gap in Internal Review 2015: Intercultural awareness and understanding should be increased because the understanding of Finnish working life varies among the international staff. Gap in Internal Review 2018: None Principles: Continuing professional development, Access to research training and continuous development, Working conditions, Non-discrimination

Spring 2019 Rector Systematic staff training organised for the Finnish staff on intercultural and multicultural awareness (Yes – No) Training on intercultural and multicultural awareness for the Finnish staff (percentage of participants) – target value increasing

Equality in communication must be ensured by developing ways to cooperate in a multilingual environment. This action continues from the previous Action Plan.

Gap in Internal Review 2015: The use of Finnish at the departmental level hinders the international staff from participating in meetings. Gap in Internal Review 2018: None Principles: Continuing professional development, Access to research training and continuous development, Working conditions, Non-discrimination

Fall 2020 Rector Model for multilingual working community is created: Yes – No Model for multilingual working community is implemented: Yes – No Feedback survey meters for international staff



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The availability of certain employment-related benefits to the University community members with different statuses are decided and communicated. This action continues from the previous Action Plan

Gap in Internal Review 2015: Not all University community members have the same possibility for participation, for example, researchers on grants and the limited number of participants for language courses. Gap in Internal Review 2018: None Principles: Working conditions, Research environment, Non-discrimination

Fall 2019 Rector Benefits available for different researcher groups are decided and communicated: Yes (date of the decision, decision’s network address, notification date) – No

JYU offers opportunities to develop leadership competences on all levels of researcher careers. This action continues from the previous Action Plan.

Gap in Internal Review 2015: The University offers training for the current supervisors, but training is also needed for young researchers who will become supervisors in the future. Gap in Internal Review 2018: None Principles: Continuing professional development, Access to research training and continuous development, Supervision and managerial duties

Timing according to the Osaava, luova ja hyvinvoiva yliopistoyhteisö (University community that promotes skills, creativity and wellbeing) development programme which will be completed in spring 2019

Rector and Vice Rector responsible for research

Definition of the content of leadership competencies is made. (Yes – No) Leadership competencies are defined for each step of the research career. (Yes – No) Opportunities to develop leadership competencies are offered on each step of the research career. (Yes – No)

JYU will run a self-assessment in ethics of research. HR-related actions will be defined based on this self-assessment taking into account the actions from the 2015 Action Plan.

Gap in Internal Review 2015: Continuous need for increasing awareness, better training opportunities and especially a forum for senior researchers for the exchange of best practices in ethical issues. Additional guidelines are needed, for example, for the management of open data and about applying ethical principles in cooperation with partners. There is a concern about developing unnecessarily strict ethical principles and related bureaucracy that may complicate research work. Gap in Internal Review 2018: Changed instructions of the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity (TENK) and

Spring 2019 Vice Rector responsible for research, Vice Deans responsible for research

Self-assessment in ethics complete. HR-related actions defined.



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the work amount of the Ethical Committee of the University of Jyväskylä. Principles: Ethical principles, Professional responsibility, Accountability, Good practice in research

Development of systematic data acquisition in recruitment

Gap in OTM-R Self-Assessment (OTM-R Checklist sections 10 and 23) Principles: Recruitment

Fall 2020 Rector Definition and systematisation of data acquisition.

JYU will solve the mismatches between job titles and duties of the research staff

Report of the 2018 International Research Assessment Panel: In this wider context a limit should be set on the amount of teaching that is undertaken by funded doctoral students and we would suggest that Academy of Finland guidelines are adopted for all doctoral students, regardless of the source of their funding, and that Post-Doctoral researchers attached to research projects should only undertake the amount of teaching permitted by the funding body. Post-Doctoral Researchers who are not attached a specific funded research project, but who are undertaking what is often a substantial amount of teaching are something of a misnomer. Principles: Teaching

Spring and fall 2019 Rector, Deans Deans of Faculties have reported the need for job title or job description changes and the actions taken.

JYU will improve the research staff’s science communication skills so that they are better prepared to convey the economic and social impact of their research

Report of the 2018 International Research Assessment Panel: There is much discussion of the importance of both understanding and documenting the impact of research, across Europe, with the intention of assessing the value of public investment, as well as increasing understanding of how research is utilised. There is the strong likelihood that there will be increased pressure to monitor the impact of publicly funded research in other European countries (including Finland).

Fall 2021 Vice Rector responsible for research, Vice Deans responsible for research

Annual number of attendees, by staff category, in science communication training events, with special focus on conveying the economic and social impact of research



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Principles: Professional responsibility, Accountability, Dissemination, exploitation of results

JYU development programmes for research, education and personnel composed from 2018 to early 2019 will raise new needs for the HRS4R-linked actions. The results of the HRS4R Internal Review will be taken into account when planning the actions in order to meet strategic gaps.

Gaps defined based on the Staff Survey, the Teaching, Research and Career Survey as well as the Research Assessment Review

2019-2021 Rector, Vice Rectors responsible for research and education, Deans and Vice Deans responsible for research and education

HRS4R-related actions included in the JYU development programmes. Actions implemented and monitored.



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The establishment of an Open Recruitment Policy is a key element in the HRS4R strategy. Please also indicate how your organisation will use the Open, Transparent and Merit-Based Recruitment Toolkit and how you intend to implement/are implementing the principles of Open, Transparent and Merit-Based Recruitment. Although there may be some overlap with a range of actions listed above, please provide a short commentary demonstrating this implementation. If the case, please make the link between the OTM-R checklist and the overall action plan.

If your organisation already has a recruitment strategy which implements the principles of Open,

Transparent and Merit-Based Recruitment, please provide the web link where this strategy can be found

on your organisation's website:

URL: https://www.jyu.fi/en/research/hrs4r

In 2016, a self-evaluation has been carried out on the basis of the OTM-R checklist and toolkit.

Based on the observations made in the self-evaluation, measures of development have been

accomplished. An OTM-R policy has been created utilising the abovementioned tools. Human

Resources Services has completed the self-evaluation and the HRS4R Steering Committee has

monitored and assessed it. Based on the self-evaluation, the current JYU recruiting guidelines and

procedures are mainly in line with the EC OTM-R principles.

The JYU Personnel Policy 2016–2020 includes actions, for example, about developing the

international recruitment process, renewing the job advertisements and strengthening recruitment

competence with supervisor training. These actions are directly linked with the OTM-R principles

and guidelines.

From now on, awareness of the OTM-R policy will be increased in the University community, and

the policy can be updated if needed.

n 2016, a self-evaluation has been carried out on the basis of OTM-R checklist and toolkit. Based on the

observations made in the self-evaluation, measures of development have been accomplished. Utilizing the

above-mentioned, the OTM-R policy has been created. The Human Resources Services unit completed the

self-evaluation and the HRS4R Steering Committee monitored and assessed it. The JYU current recruiting

guidelines and procedures are mainly in line with the EC OTM-R principles based on the self-evaluation.



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4. IMPLEMENTATION

General overview of the expected implementation process:

The JYU HRS4R Action Plan 2019–2021 includes 11 actions to be completed during 2019–2021. Six

(6) of the actions derive from the HRS4R Action Plan 2015 and will be continued in order to be

completed within this revised Action Plan.

The Action Plan 2019–2021

1) focuses on finalising the actions from the Action Plan 2015,

2) proposes three (5) new actions based on the Internal Review 2018, the 2018 report from the

International Research Evaluation Panel, and the OTM-R-self-assessment, and

3) embeds the HRS4R process and development with JYU’s development and strategy

implementation so that the JYU development programmes will also partly define the HRS4R actions.

As mentioned in the Internal Review, the University of Jyväskylä has renewed its academic

management and working group structure and is in the process of renewing its strategy. The working

groups, the Science Council and the Education Council have essential roles in implementing the JYU

strategy. The JYU will prepare five development programmes which will be used to implement the

JYU strategy as of 2019. The development programmes will have systematic implementation and

follow-up procedures. One of the development programmes will be Osaava, luova ja hyvinvoiva

yliopistoyhteisö (University community that promotes skills, creativity and wellbeing), including

Human Resources-related policies and actions as well as the HRS4R Strategy and actions. Another

programme of great importance will be the Programme for Development of Research which

explicitly focuses on the position of researchers.

The University’s management is responsible for the implementation based on roles. From the HRS4R

process point of view it means that the current HRS4R Steering Committee will cease to exist and

will be replaced with a new group taking over the tasks of the Steering Committee.

The internal review 2018 shows that JYU has had challenges to finish the actions from the Action

Plan 2015 during the set schedule. The level of ambition was high and many of the actions proved

to be more complex than expected. Therefore, it is important to define the actions and their

timelines as well as the resources the actions would need in a realistic way and to embed the HRS4R

development within the JYU development programmes. The JYU also has confidence that the

renewed academic management and organisational structure will clarify the previously somewhat

unclear responsibility issues within the organisation.



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Make sure you also cover all the aspects highlighted in the checklist below, which you will need to

describe in detail:

Checklist *Detailed description and duly justification

How will the implementation

committee and/or steering group

regularly oversee progress?

In early 2019, a new implementation committee will be

appointed to oversee the progress in the HRS4R process

as part of JYU’s strategy implementation process. The

follow-up of the progress will be part of normal follow-up

and quality assurance procedures at JYU. This means that

the implementation of the action plan as well as the

progress will be monitored regularly. If the

implementation will not meet the content or the

timeline, needed actions to improve the implementation

will be decided and taken.

How do you intend to involve the

research community, your main

stakeholders, in the implementation

process?

JYU has renewed its academic management structure

with systematic development procedures involving both

University-level development groups and the Science

Council. In addition, the defined management roles will

ensure that the staff at faculties as well as the students

will be involved in the implementation process. In

addition to staff representatives, JYU’s university-level

development groups have student representatives.

How do you proceed with the

alignment of organisational policies

with the HRS4R? Make sure the HRS4R

is recognized in the organisation’s

research strategy, as the overarching

HR policy.

The HRS4R will be embedded in the organisational

policies by the JYU development programmes with which

the JYU strategy will be implemented. The central

development programmes will be Osaava, luova ja

hyvinvoiva yliopistoyhteisö (University community that

promotes skills, creativity and wellbeing) that will include

actions related to HR issues, and the Programme for

Development of Research.

How will you ensure that the proposed

actions are implemented?

The JYU development programmes will have a systematic

monitoring process which will ensure the

implementation of the actions. The JYU management,

that is, the Rector, Vice Rectors, Deans and Vice Deans

are responsible for implementing the actions. Sufficient

resources and roles for implementation will be ensured.



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How will you monitor progress

(timeline)?

The HRS4R actions will be part of JYU’s development

programmes, which implement the JYU strategy. The

progress will be monitored with the follow-up of these

development programmes and with the staff surveys

which are part of JYU’s normal procedures and quality

assurance mechanism. In the implementation of the staff

surveys, the questions must stay the same so that it is

possible to measure progress and quality.

How will you measure progress

(indicators) in view of the next

assessment?

Every action has indicators and the indicators have

measures and set target values, with which the progress

and the impact will be monitored and evaluated. JYU uses

surveys (the Staff Survey, the Teaching, Research and

Career Survey, the Doctoral Student Survey and the

Research Review that are part of JYU’s normal

procedures and quality assurance. They are run at a

specified time span to follow the progress, quality and

effectiveness.

Additional remarks/comments about the proposed implementation process:

(free text, 1000 words maximum)

action plan 2019-2021 template 4: action plan

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