COST launches career development programme for young researchers

Back in December 2024, COST launched its latest Cross-Cutting Activity (CCA) on career development for young researchers, dedicated to improving career conditions to attract and retain the best researchers in Europe.

This is a unique new network, consisting of (young) researchers, career advisory experts, and key stakeholder organisations, who will work together towards achieving a more balanced brain circulation and improved career development for young researchers. Fully supported by COST, the CCA core network is represented by 2 Co-Chairs, 14 researchers and 18 career advisors, together covering 21 COST Member Countries. In addition, there is the wider CCA network, represented by 8 key stakeholder organisations that will support the CCA by providing a strategic outlook and advice on CCA activities to be implemented.

But what are the main challenges facing young researchers today? Any why is a project like this necessary?

“Being a young researcher means entering an exciting but hyper-competitive and poorly structured global workspace. This environment prioritises rapid academic paper production over robust, long-term innovation. Researchers face obstacles created by poor working conditions, like low or uncompetitive salaries, limited access to welfare benefits, inadequate career support and planning opportunities, and burdensome relocation processes complicated by bureaucracy. These factors take a significant toll on individual well-being and work-life balance, directly affecting researchers’ ability to focus on producing high-quality research.” explains Nicola Dengo, Co-Chair of this CCA and Vice-President of Eurodoc.

“Why improve career development and prospects for young researchers? It’s simple! If we want to have high quality research, it needs to be conducted in high quality conditions. By keeping the career development options limited, the current system makes sure to deter some of our best researchers who cannot start or continue a career with such precarious working conditions. And then, there is an economic argument as well. A lot of effort and money from countries, universities, and researchers themselves, goes into training young researchers. It is a shame not to make the most out of it to ensure they can have long, stable, and fruitful careers.” adds Joanna Rutkowska, Co-Chair of this CCA and Postdoctoral researcher at the Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development.

The primary aims of the Cross-Cutting Activity on career development for young researchers are to create a community of practice, improve communication, and ensure consistent human resources strategies across Europe. Many tools have been developed to support career development but they are not widely known, so how can we make these tools more accessible, visible, and interoperable between countries? The projects is broken down into four Working Groups and will run until November 2026:

Working Group on young researchers. Lead by Ivana Herglová & Patricia Clement.

Working Group on career advisory and support services. Lead by Mostafa Moonir Shawrav & Naoimh O’Connor.

This article was first published on 17 January by COST.