Project I: Open, Transparent and Merit-Based Recruitment

Subproject I of the UZH Gender Equality Action Plan 2017–20 addresses the need to promote “equal opportunity in academic career development” and focuses on the aim of increasing the percentage of women gaining professorial appointments and joining the professorial staff of the University of Zurich. The gender-specific “leaky pipeline” effect remains evident in the career paths of women. The total percentage of female professors employed at UZH is currently 24.4%, although this rate varies from faculty to faculty.

OTM-R is a core component of the Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R) issued by the European Commission (European Research Area, ERA). OTM-R promotes open, transparent and merit-based appointment procedures that comply with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers: Charter/Code of Conduct. The League of European Research Universities was involved in developing the toolkit.

The link between quality assurance and equal opportunity in professorial appointment procedures is a major area of reform in both Swiss and European academic policy-making. In this project, the University of Zurich will use the OTM-R toolkit to examine the appointment procedures of the faculties involved, in order to identify where action may be needed. The project combines the issues of gender equality with the current challenges of quality and HR management in the university context. In this way, new perspectives that address the structures and practices of professorial appointment procedures can be prioritized.

Project Duration

1 April 2017 - 31 January 2021

Project Management

PD Dr. Nina Jakoby

Governing Body

Prof. Dr. Gabriele Siegert (Deputy President and Vice President Education and Student Affairs)

For more information, go to the website: Massnahmen und Aktivitäten (in German)

For more information, go to the website: Further Links (partly in English)