OTM-R Policy

Case number: 2020PL323447

Name Organisation under review: The Institute of the Polish Language at the Polish Academy of Sciences

Organisation’s contact details: al. Mickiewicza 31, 31-120 Kraków, Poland

OTM-R Checklist

Legal basis:

Law on Higher Education and Science (https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/download.xsp/WDU20180001668/U/D20181668Lj.pdf);

Act of 30 April 2010 on the Polish Academy of Sciences (https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20100960619);

Labor Code (https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/download.xsp/WDU19740240141/U/D19740141Lj.pdf);

Internal legal acts of the Institute consistent with the superior acts mentioned above, among them Regulations for conducting competitions for scientific positions at IJP PAN (https://ijppan.ssdip.bip.gov.pl/regulaminy-i-dokumenty-wewnetrzne/1-regulamin-przeprowadzania-konkursow-na-stanowiska-naukowe-w-ijp-pan.html).

OTM-R checklist for organisations
	Open	Trans-parent	Merit-based	Answer: ++ Yes, completely +/- Yes, substantially -/+ Yes, partially — No	*Suggested indicators (or form of measurement)
OTM-R system
1. Have we published a version of our OTM-R policy online (in the national language and in English)?	x	x	x	+	https://ijp.pan.pl/logo-hr/otm-r-policy/
2. Do we have an internal guide setting out clear OTM-R procedures and practices for all types of positions?	x	x	x	-/+	We have an internal guide (in the form of by-laws approved by the Research Council) for the faculty staff position. It should be noted, however, that based on the framework conditions described in the Regulations, the Council establishes specific conditions/requirements for specific competitions for specific positions before each competition. These arrangements are public and are included in the competition announcements. However, 3 important issues have arisen recently which require reflection and intervention by both the Institute authorities and the Scientific Council and must be clearly described in the documentation.
3. Is everyone involved in the process sufficiently trained in the area of OTM-R?	x	x	x	+	Both the entire Council and its individual members who are members of the recruitment committees and all other persons who are members of these committees are obliged to familiarize themselves with the Regulation. The substantive composition of the recruitment committees changes depending on the position for which the recruitment is being conducted and the terms of the competition. The committee comprises at least 3 people with an academic title or a postdoctoral degree (habilitacja). The head of the Department in which the candidate is to be employed (or a person indicated in writing by the head) is also a committee member. If the specificity of the position requires the participation of external experts then researchers affiliated outside the Institute are invited to the committee.
4. Do we make (sufficient) use of e-recruitment tools?	x	x		++	Yes.
5. Do we have a quality control system for OTM-R in place?	x	x	x	-/+	The Institute Director announces competitions for research positions after consultation and after formal approval by the Institute’s Scientific Council. The Council appoints a competition committee, which, after conducting the competition, reports to the Council with the candidate who won the competition. The Council, as a body, conducts a discussion and decides whether to accept the candidate. The Institute Director makes the final employment decision. It can be postponed due to serious reasons, e.g. if the current financial situation does not allow for hiring new people. It should be emphasized that the director may only employ people who have won competitions and whose candidacies have been approved by the scientific council.The procedure for selecting a candidate therefore consists of several stages. Decisions made by the Director need to be approved by the Research Council, and the same applies to the decisions made by the recruitment committee, this means that another body verifies decisions made by one body. However, 3 important issues have arisen recently which require reflection and intervention by both the Institute authorities and the Scientific Council and must be clearly described in the documentation.
6. Does our current OTM-R policy encourage external candidates to apply?	x	x	x	++	We post job advertisements on 5 different websites: on the Institute’s one (https://ijp.pan.pl/aktualnosci/ogloszenia-o-pracy/), in Public Information Bulletin (https://ijppan.ssdip.bip.gov.pl/konkursy-stanowiska-naukowe/), on the website of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (https://www.gov.pl/web/nauka/informacje-o-naborach2), in euraxess (https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/group/10232/nodes), and – if the position is financed from external funds – on the website of the (grant) agency financing the position, in Polish and English, respectively. In the two years since we were awarded the HR Award, we have announced 12 open competitions for scientific positions (by the way, this number results solely from the state of the Institute’s finances: there are vacancies in the Institute, but there are no funds to finance more positions), of which 4 were financed from external sources, so they were subject to the regime of the agencies financing them. The remaining 4 were won by researchers already employed at the Institute (scientific promotion), and 4 – by researchers not yet associated with the Institute, of which 1 is a foreigner and one is a person with special needs. Statistics therefore prove that our recruitment policy encourages external candidates to apply.
7. Is our current OTM-R policy in line with policies to attract researchers from abroad?	x	x	x	++	We currently employ 2 researchers from abroad, last year there were 4, but one person obtained Polish citizenship, and another changed affiliation. In addition, half of the PhD students affiliated with the Institute are foreigners (young researchers from Australia, Brazil and Ukraine), which is optimistic. Apart from the OTM-R policy and friendly environment in the Institute and flexible working conditions (e.g. there are no problems with reorganizing working hours or working remotely if an employee has to take care of children, elderly people or sick pets), which are confirmed by surveys conducted at the beginning of 2024 for the implementation of the Gender Equality Plan, we offer work in teams conducting competitive research using modern interdisciplinary methodologies. We are beneficiaries of the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education: mobilities under the program are becoming increasingly popular: both for outgoing and incoming employees. The Institute is a member of international research networks; in 2024 it received a grant from the (Polish) National Agency for Academic Exchange to organize an international methodological school. Researchers at the Institute have unlimited access to one of the two largest scientific libraries in Poland (the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków), as well as to numerous scientific databases. The Institute’s website is adapted to the needs of people with visual impairments. One headquarters of the Institute (in Warsaw) is fully adapted to the needs of people with disabilities, and as for the other one (in Cracow), we are in the process of obtaining funds to eliminate architectural barriers. The factors mentioned ensure good and substantive working conditions. However, some issues can effectively discourage researchers from abroad, which we cannot influence: these are low wages, inadequate to the cost of living in Poland, and a rather modest list of benefits that we offer employees (collective medical insurance, sports cards, partial compensation of expenses for cultural events, social fund).
8. Is our current OTM-R policy in line with policies to attract underrepresented groups?	x	x	x	++	If we kept an eye on strictly understood gender balance, we would have to increase the number of male employees, which is not our intention. Natural imbalance skewed towards women is a consequence of the fact that the vast majority of students and graduates of philological studies are women, of which the Institute’s researchers are graduates. Consequently, the employees of the Institute are also mostly women. Interference in this area is therefore not justified. As regards employees with special needs see pt 7 above.
9. Is our current OTM-R policy in line with policies to provide attractive working conditions for researchers?	x	x	x	++	Cf. remarks in pts 6-8 above.
10. Do we have means to monitor whether the most suitable researchers apply?				++	I. The role of the selection committee is to assess whether the most suitable researchers apply. If the committee evaluates all candidates negatively, the competition remains unresolved. In this regard cf. also pt 5 above a decision made at one level can be questioned at a higher level. II. In addition, employed researchers are regularly evaluated according to the Regulations for periodic evaluation of research employees at the IJP PAN (https://ijppan.ssdip.bip.gov.pl/regulaminy-i-dokumenty-wewnetrzne/1-regulamin-oceny-okresowej-pracownikow-naukowych-ijp-pan.html), which post factum allows for drawing constructive conclusions concerning recruitment process. III. The fact that the best candidates were selected is also proven by the cyclical parameterization (evaluation) of scientific units conducted by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. In the last parameterization (2022), the Institute received category A (the highest possible is A+) in the discipline of linguistics. The results of the evaluation confirmed the high rank of scientific research conducted in our Institute, as well as the significant scope of its impact on society.
Advertising and application phase
11. Do we have clear guidelines or templates (e.g., EURAXESS) for advertising positions?	x	x		++	Yes.
12. Do we include in the job advertisement references/links to all the elements foreseen in the relevant section of the toolkit?	x	x		+/-	Every time we consider whether references/links are necessary, which means that we do not automatically give up this possibility. Our job descriptions are rather concise, and therefore not always all the relevant links/references are provided. But the applicants are always encouraged to ask us about further details.
13. Do we make full use of EURAXESS to ensure our research vacancies reach a wider audience?	x	x		++	Yes.
14. Do we make use of other job advertising tools?	x	x		+	Cf. pt 6 above.
15. Do we keep the administrative burden to a minimum for the candidate?	x			++	Definitely yes. We limit administrative procedures to the minimum required by law.
Selection and evaluation phase
16. Do we have clear rules governing the appointment of selection committees?		x	x	-/+	The rules are clearly described in the Regulations for conducting competitions for scientific positions at IJP PAN. However, 3 important issues have arisen recently which require reflection and intervention by both the Institute authorities and the Scientific Council and must be clearly described in the documentation.
17. Do we have clear rules concerning the composition of selection committees?		x	x	++	Yes, the rules are clearly described in the Regulations for conducting competitions for scientific positions at IJP PAN.
18. Are the committees sufficiently gender-balanced?		x	x	++	According to the § 3 of the Regulations for conducting competitions for scientific positions at IJP PAN each competition committee consists of at least 3 members, of whom at least 1/3 must be representatives of one sex.
19. Do we have clear guidelines for selection committees which help to judge ‘merit’ in a way that leads to the best candidate being selected?			x	+	In the academic world, “merit” is easily measured by (1) the academic degrees and titles, and (2) the peer-reviewed publications. Our search committees are always using these measurable factors to help them make the final decision. Consequently, no specific guidelines are needed, since the said factors are universal across academic institutions.
Appointment phase
20. Do we inform all applicants at the end of the selection process?		x		++	Yes, every applicant is informed about the results of the selection process by e-mail by the administrative director. The name of the winning applicant(s) is made public (on the Institute’s website, on the website of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education), along with the justification for the choice, cf. https://ijp.pan.pl/aktualnosci/ogloszenia-o-pracy/). By the interpretation of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the names of applicants who were not accepted are not made public. The decision not to employ applicants is not subject to the administrative decision regime, so applicants do not receive justification for negative decisions. However, they have the right, by § 9 of the Regulations for conducting competitions for scientific positions at IJP PAN, to request written feedback from the competition committee on their candidacy.
21. Do we provide adequate feedback to interviewees?		x		++	Yes, see above.
22. Do we have an appropriate complaints mechanism in place?		x		n/a	By Polish law, the decision of the Institute’s director regarding employment is final and therefore cannot be appealed.
Overall assessment
23. Do we have a system in place to assess whether OTM-R delivers on its objectives?				–	No, in a written form not yet.

OTM-R Policy

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