Equal opportunities at IOCB Prague

The mission of IOCB Prague is the pursuit of scientific knowledge through innovative research and the education of new generations of scientists.

We understand that the success and productivity of our researchers require a stable and supportive social environment.

We take into account the personal circumstances that might affect our employees and their partners and/or families and make every effort to support them in achieving a healthy work-life balance.

As an institute, we are committed to providing a positive working environment for all employees regardless of their nationality, gender, ethnicity, or disability status.

These principles have been formalized within the Equal Opportunities Plan, which was approved on 29 October 2021 and is effective through 31 December 2026.

Formally, IOCB Prague’s support for the equal-opportunity agenda is underpinned by the HR Excellence in Research Award.

• Blanka Collis: blanka.collisinvalid-email-name@invalid-email-domainuochb.cas.cz, +420 220 183 163

As of 8 November 2023, the institute employs a total of 950 employees (a tiny decrease of 6 people compared to the July 2022 total of 956), of which 451 are women and 499 are men, and include academic staff, PhD students, and technical and administrative staff. Of this number, 232 staff members (24.4%) are foreign nationals (remaining similar over the last two years: in 2021 there were 23.8% foreigners, in 2022 there were 25.6% foreigners).

Since July 2022, the number of employees at IOCB Prague has remained almost the same. The number of scientific staff reduced marginally (by 22), whilst there was a small addition (of 16) in the number of non-scientific staff. The scientific staff includes 15 undergraduate students, possibly reflecting the fact that the data were collected in November, after the end of the academic year 2022/2023, when many undergraduate students will have completed their degrees.

Overall the proportion of women has gone down slightly (by about 2%), although the overall distribution still remains relatively balanced (47.5% of staff are female). Of the scientific staff, the lower proportion of women remains more pronounced (43.8% of scientific staff are women) compared to the technical and administrative workforce where, despite a 1.9% reduction, there remain more women than men (57.9%).

• Childcare supplement for mothers returning to work before their child has reached the age of four years
• Financial support for parents of disabled children on a case-by-case basis
• Financial support for parents of young children traveling to conferences and workshops to help cover the cost of childcare in order to take their child to the conference with them
• Financial support for parents of children up to the age of 15 to cover the cost of a children’s camp
• Parent employees commuting to Prague from greater distances have priority in the allocation of parking spaces within the IOCB Prague campus.

The action targets of the Equal Opportunities Plan are broken down according to the planned timeline of their achievability.

• Equal Opportunities Plan available publicly and to employees ✔️
• Create a role of equal opportunities officer ✔️
• Gender-neutral language in job advertisements ✔️
• Publication of the equal-opportunity agenda on the intraweb and website ✔️
• Visibility of female researchers (invited lectures, personal career path workshops) ✔️
• Mapping the needs and requirements of employees at IOCB Prague
• Need to collect sex/gender disaggregated data on staff and students ✔️
• More women to apply for awards and IOCB Prague fellowships ✔️

• Awareness of possible bias in hiring decisions
• Training/mentoring available for underrepresented groups
• Ensuring that English and gender-neutral language is used in internal communication
• Transparency in internal issues relevant to equal opportunities
• Ensuring that anti-sexual harassment and bullying policy exists
• Raising awareness of the gender dimension in research and science ✔️

• Review of previously achieved goals and formulation of a new Equal Opportunities Plan
• Summary information on equal opportunities measures available to all candidates for the positions in the groups and Equal Opportunities Officer available to attend hiring interviews
• Mapping the needs and requirements of IOCB Prague employees