Both Organic Law 2/2003 of 22nd March on the University System (LOSU) and Act 14/2011 of 1st June on Science, Technology and Innovation (LCTI), amended by Act 17/2002 of 5th September, set out that public universities may recruit research staff and research, innovation and transfer support technical staff to undertake their R&D&i programmes.

Hiring staff is a key strategic component to attain the university’s institutional mission in the area of research, innovation and transfer. There is a direct link between support and institutional recognition for research staff and the quality and quantity of the research undertaken. In turn, and in accordance with the UIB policy to recognise and incentivise research activity and the policy linked to HRS4R recognition, Regulatory Agreement 14540/2022 of 15^th June calls on the Executive Council to set out a minimum salary table for contracted research staff.

In light of the above, the Executive Council has approved Executive Agreement 14891/2023 of 19th April  2023 the salaries of research staff, as well as technical or operational research staff affiliated to projects, competitive grants for recruiting staff, research groups, chairs, agreements and contracts under Article 60 in which this university participates.

Salaries for Recruited Staff and Working Hours

a) Staff recruited outside the remit of national or European public programmes to recruit human resources for research and innovation

Where applicable, the salary and working hours for contracts shall be set out in appendices to the corresponding public recruitment offers made by the UIB.

Staff who are recruited under projects, research groups, chairs, research agreements and contracts, included within the scope of this regulation, shall receive the minimum equivalent full-time salary set out in the following table, in accordance with the required professional category and academic qualifications, notwithstanding the proportional reductions that may apply as per the working hours for said employees.

Minimum annual salary for full-time commitment and qualifications required for the professional recruitment category.

The maximum salary in each professional category is 33% higher than the minimum salary for the category that is immediately above it. The categories for Senior Researcher and Senior Technician (category A) do not have a set maximum salary. This notwithstanding, the job offers in these categories that offer salaries above 50% of the established minimum must be approved by the Executive Council, which may propose reformulating the scope of the offer or lowering the salary.

Salaries for research staff in training recruited under projects, research groups, chairs, research agreements or contracts must be in line with the salaries set out in point b.i) of Article 5 herein.

Salaries for distinguished researchers shall be set individually in each instance. Nevertheless, annual salaries may not be below the benchmark set for the Beatriz Galindo grants in the senior category (74,402.64 euro in the 2022 call) or equivalent standard.

Contracts for less than half a full-time working day shall not be permitted where the tasks subject to recruitment or the corresponding addenda exceed a 12-month term.

Supervising researchers who propose these contracts must have an allocation of funds that enables them to cover possible salary rises recognised for public sector workers, assuming an annual increase of 2.5%.

b) Staff recruited under national or European public programmes to recruit human resources for research and innovation

With a view to improving the ability to attract and retain talent and competitiveness at the UIB in its research environment, staff recruited under grants within the framework of regional, national and European public programmes where the UIB participates as a beneficiary or collaborating institution shall, in general, receive higher salaries than the minimums set out in the corresponding calls or governing regulations, as long as this is in line with the governing regulations for the grants and there are sufficient funds to finance the corresponding complementary payments for institutional competitiveness.

i) Research Staff in Training (Article 21 of the LCTI)

The EPIF links the minimum salary for these contracts to the regularly updated Single Collective Bargaining Agreement for Non-civil Service Staff of the General National Administration (AGE). This increases the management workload and requires approval of additional budgetary allocations, which could be largely avoided if a minimum salary rise were implemented by taking this situation into account at the beginning of these contracts. In the 2016-2022 period, the largest salary rise over a four-year period four-year for group 1 staff in the Single Collective Bargaining Agreement for Non-civil Service Staff of the AGE was above 9%.

For this reason, and for the purposes of what is set out in Article 7 of the EPIF, we hereby propose that the salary for UIB predoctoral contracts match the salary for group 1 in the Single Collective Bargaining Agreement for Non-civil Service Staff of the AGE that is in force on the date where the corresponding call for the predoctoral contract is finally awarded, with a 10% increase.

Complementary payments for institutional competitiveness for staff recruited under the EPIF shall be lowered by an amount equal to the salary rises for group 1 staff of the Single Collective Bargaining Agreement for Non-civil Service Staff of the AGE awarded during the effective term of the contract. In the event that rises awarded to benchmark salaries exceed 10% over the effective term of the contract, the salaries of these contracts shall match the minimum amounts set in the EPIF.

ii) Grants from the National Programme to Develop, Attract and Retain Talent

The calls for grants to recruit postdoctoral staff within the framework of the National Programme to Develop, Attract and Retain Talent, which is integrated in the 2021-2023 National Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation, such as the Ramón y Cajal and Juan de la Cierva grants, and grants to recruit Technical Support Staff, establish the minimum salary and two types of grants, depending on scope of the grant:

1. Grants that cover the minimum salary (typically, the Ramón y Cajal and Juan de la Cierva grants): a complementary payment for institutional competitiveness is proposed to attract and retain talent, equal to 16% of the minimum salary established in the call
2. Grants that do not cover the minimum salary (typically, grants to recruit Technical Support Staff): a complementary payment for institutional competitiveness is proposed to attract and retain talent, equal to 5% of the minimum salary established in the call. This complementary payment shall be in addition to the allocation of funds that the institution must provide to cover the minimum salary established in the call.

Complementary payments for institutional competitiveness for staff recruited under section ii) shall be lowered by an amount equal to the salary rises awarded in application of national regulations during the effective term of the contract. In the event that rises awarded to benchmark salaries exceed 16% for type 1 grants and 5% for type 2 grants throughout the term of the contract, the salaries for these contracts shall be matched to the legally prescribed minimum amounts.

iii) Other Grants

Grants to recruit staff that establish the contract salary shall comply the terms and conditions therein, regardless of what is set out in the aforementioned points.

As for other grants, and on the motion of the relevant Office of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, the Executive Council may set a complementary payment for institutional competitiveness in line with what is set out in points i) and ii) above, preferably matching the salary tables set out herein.

The minimum salaries established in section b) above shall be conditional on the availability of adequate and sufficient allocation of funds in the corresponding sub-programme of the Research and Innovation Promotion Programme from the relevant Office of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research. Where sufficient or adequate allocations are not available, the Executive Council shall establish priority criteria as per the following order: contracts, calls and annual payments. Likewise, these salaries may be supplemented with funds provided by departments, institutes, research groups or individual researchers. Nevertheless, proposed complementary payments that exceed the established minimum salary by 33% must be approved by the Executive Council.