Staff Exchange

Staff exchange between the PEER centres is the next strategic step in developing PEER from a ‘hunting community’ to a ‘living community’. In PEER as a hunting community the focus was on joint actions in the EC lobby and the submission of collaborative proposals for FP6/7. This has been quite successful in the past period and will be continued in the future. A first strategic step towards PEER as a living community was the development of joint research initiatives on climate change and ecosystem services.

So far, the impulses to develop PEER as a living community were mainly top-down oriented. To further develop this process, bottom-up initiatives are essential and staff exchange is seen as the key factor to achieve the goals of joint projects, knowledge exchange, dissemination of best practices and collaboration at all levels. Therefore the PEER Directors decided to stimulate this process by generally promoting staff exchange as an essential element in building a ‘rich’ CV, by creating the facilities to support individual bottom-up initiatives in this field, and by exchanging experiences and recommendations from colleagues who spent some time at another PEER centre.

I’m interested in staff exchange, what do I do?

Although there are general principles between the PEER centres on how to treat opportunities for staff exchange, we deliberately did not develop a fixed framework at this stage. All cases are treated on a case-by-case basis for maximum flexibility. The conditions will therefore vary, for example concerning the nature of the contract, duration of the stay, financial arrangements etc. Many of the previous examples of staff exchange have formed from existing connections that the person has had with another PEER centre, for example through a joint research project.

Where can I get more information?

The PEER contact persons at each centre will be happy to discuss the issue further and help you along. You can find their contact information here. If the centres have specific skills shortages for which they would like to invite applications from PEER personnel, the positions will be posted on the Vacancies page. There you can also find other vacancies which are open for application from anyone - also from outside the PEER centres.

So who are the people who have already done this?

On these pages we will publish interviews from persons who have already spent time at another PEER centre, and any practical documents from the centres.

I do not work at a PEER centre, can I still apply?

Staff exchange is reserved for personnel from the PEER centres, but you are welcome to apply to any of the other positions on the Vacancies page. The jobs pages of each centre will give you an even wider selection of open positions.