"HR Excellence in Research" (HRS4R) award

In 2017, the university was awarded the "HR Excellence in Research" award by the European Commission after submitting a plan with 30 actions, making it one of the first French universities to receive this recognition.

Since then, the university has been implementing the HRS4R, reflecting its commitment to improving its practices and aligning with the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers.

The university's primary objective is to offer attractive recruitment and working conditions for talented individuals across all research fields.

Since 2017, the University of Strasbourg has actively been implementing the HRS4R. This award has enabled the university to:

• Increase its international visibility and enhance its attractiveness for both national and international recruitment
• Comply with the requirements of the Horizon Europe programme (Article 18)
• Improve its success rate in this programme
• Benefit from a framework for assessing the university's HR policy towards its scientific community, from PhD students to senior researchers
   

The self-assessment conducted in 2022 received a positive evaluation from the European Commission. The Commission's feedback confirmed the relevance of the university's approach and supported the continuation of key initiatives, including:

• The disabilty services at the university
• Supporting research through several central services
• Promoting and implementing the open-access platform univOAK 

The European Commission also highlighted the following good practices:

• The Scientific Integrity Officer
• The university's internal network to combat gender-based, sexual, homophobic and transphobic violence
   

This strategy remains a core component of the university's policy. The involvement of the university's leadership in the steering committee reflects this, as does the publication of the OTM-R checklist on the university's official website.

A renewal request for a new three-year cycle (2025-2028) was submitted to the European Commission in July 2025.

This renewal is based on the new European Charter for Researchers (2024), which sets out 20 key principles classified under the following four main pillars:

1. Ethics, integrity, gender equality and open science
2. Researchers’ assessment, recruitment and progression
3. Working conditions and practices
4. Research careers and talent development

The 2025-2028 HRS4R action plan was developed following a final self-assessment conducted across all departments. It includes:

• A new gap analysis based on the 2024 European Charter for Researchers
• Consultations with various central services
• An analysis of various strategic plans and institutional road maps
• The results of a survey conducted among the scientific community (with a 10% participation rate)

This action plan comprising 32 actions was approved by the university’s Research Committee and Board of Trustees on 13 May and 3 June 2025, respectively.
 

Concrete achievements

Beyond creating a positive work environment for research and professional development, the university has introduced numerous initiatives in recent years, which include:

• Implementing the Human Resources Strategic Plan (schéma directeur des ressources humaines – SDRH)
• Implementing the Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility Strategic Plan (schéma directeur du développement durable et de la responsabilité sociétale – SDDRS)
• Strengthening the univOAK open access archive
• Mapping research structures
• Launching the innovation pipeline leading to the university's certification as an Alsace University Innovation Hub (Pôle universitaire d’innovation – PUIA)
• Accrediting platforms (Cortecs network) and establishing the Datacenter