The Institute of Photonics and Electronics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (ÚFE CAS) is a public research institution of the Czech Academy of Sciences. As such, it is committed to complying with the European Charter for Researchers | EURAXESS and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. In 2025, ÚFE endorsed the twenty principles of the European Charter for Researchers and officially launched the process leading to the award of the HR Excellence in Research (HR Award).
The HR Award for an institution and its employees primarily represents:
- the creation of a working environment that supports excellent research and innovation;
- increased attractiveness of the institution at the national level as well as enhanced international prestige;
- improved quality of human resources management and strategic support for career development;
- better opportunities for obtaining funding from grants (e.g. Horizon Europe, TA ČR);
- greater internationalisation, openness, transparency, and increased attractiveness when recruiting staff from abroad.
The Institute of Photonics and Electronics of the Czech Academy of Sciences is implementing activities related to the introduction of the HR Award in the years 2025–2029 within the project Improvement of the Research Environment at the Institute of Photonics and Electronics of the CAS – HR Award – HRA (registration No. CZ.02.01.01/00/23_026/0011459), which is co-funded by EU funds.
The implementation of the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers, to which ÚFE CAS has committed itself, involves multi-level steps. In 2025, the Initial Phase was completed, during which ÚFE officially launched the process on the EURAXESS portal under registration number 2025CZ352159. In this context, the HRS4R Working Group and the Steering Committee were established, with the Steering Committee guiding and overseeing the activities of the Working Group.
The HRS4R Working Group is composed of representatives from all departments and across all research career levels R1–R4. It actively participates in the organisation’s self-assessment process and in the implementation of strategic measures. The key outputs of its activities include the preparation of a GAP analysis and the development of an HR Action Plan for the following two years. The Group works in close cooperation with the Steering Committee, which supervises the implementation of individual phases and also serves as an advisory body.