Brussels, 19 September 2024
Today, the Commission and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), with the support from the Horizon Europe programme, launched the Research and Innovation Careers Observatory (ReICO). This initiative will provide reliable data on research and innovation careers in EU and OECD countries. Providing researchers and innovators with attractive careers is key to boosting European competitiveness and retaining talent.
Iliana Ivanova, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said:
“Europe must attract and retain research talent to underpin its prosperity and competitiveness. Sound policies aiming to achieve this goal need to be based on reliable data. This is where the Research and Innovation Careers Observatory comes in – it will fill data gaps on research careers in Europe and provide information to policymakers as well as researchers themselves and their organisations. It is an important step forward in our efforts to strengthen research careers in the European Research Area.”
The signing ceremony for the official start of the project took place in Brussels at the conference ‘European Research Area: Fostering Greater Integration. Advancing Competitiveness’. ReICO will deliver data and analyses on a yearly basis, starting from 2025, and will be accessible from the European Research Area Talent Platform. ReICO will build on the expertise of the OECD, delivering data and insights that enable policy makers to develop evidence-based policies to strengthen research careers. This will be of key importance in areas such as researchers’ precarity, skills, or mobility. The observatory will also benefit the wider research and innovation community, including research organisations and individuals, allowing informed choices. The first set of data is expected in the first half of 2025, and it will be updated on an annual basis.
You will find more information here.