The term career is by many perceived as a value-laden concept, but for those who work in academia this is a reality. At present there are great demands to recruit the best talents and follow them up so well that they remain at the institution, in our case Department of Clinical Science. This applies to ensure that Norwegian institutions will be able to assert themselves in the international competition for talents and research funding. To make this work, leaders at all levels need to prioritize good recruitment and career policy. Recently a working group appointed by UHR delivered an inspirational document with proposals for a coherent framework for career policy at Norwegian higher education institutions. The report can be found here (in norwegian): http://www.uhr.no/documents/230615KarrieredokumentetUHR.pdf

In the inspiration note Better Career Policies for academic staff in the higher education sector (UHR June 2015), that the report has been called, the working group proposes to systematise career and HR policy into four phases in a scientific career:

• Phase 1. Those who are in a doctoral program (PhD)
• Phase 2. Employees in qualification level (postdocs, researchers etc.)
• Phase 3. Permanent employees in combined positions (Associate professor, professor, etc.)
• Phase 4. Internationally leading professors

Career Politics is of course about the whole career path, from PhD to internationally leading professors. We should embark on and continue to work with this. The best time to bring this up is in the appraisal interview.

Roland