The ACA-led Horizon2020 CARe project (Career Advancement for Refugee Researchers in Europe) is in its second year of implementation. The first year was marked by a number of relevant data collection activities and the results of these efforts will be shared with the community in the coming months.

Between June 2019 and February 2020, the consortium has conducted focus groups in the 10 target countries, bringing together researchers with refugee background to share their personal and professional experiences and realities concerning the national labour markets of the host countries. This activity, coordinated by the Finnish partner EDUFI, has as its aim to map the relevant support needs for the target group and to identify the type and level of information they need in job search for advancing their career path in the research field in Europe. Secondly, the consortium has just closed the employer survey, which looked at the national and EU labour markets more closely, asking employers – HEIs, businesses, research institutes – about their experiences with employing - or not - the target group, aiming to understand the motivations, challenges and needed incentives for opening up the labour market for refugee-background researchers.

The two activities will result in two reports and a CARe brief with the main findings available in April. The results will be available on the CARe page of the ACA website and on the EURAXESS portal. The findings will be further used to develop the so-called country guides, which will contain the relevant information on the labour markets in the 10 countries and an overview of the European landscape in terms of employment and job support for researchers with refugee background. The consortium will consult national experts from EURAXESS and Scholars at Risk sections, with recognised track records in the area, in order to ensure fitness for purpose of the guides and information therein. The second half of 2020 will unroll several webinars, coordinated by DAAD, which will focus on national labour markets’ landscapes and provide in-depth information on the support needed and available.

Follow the CARe activities via Twitter. For any questions you can write to us at care@aca-secretariat.be.