Environment submissions database

In April 2020 we paused REF preparations for 3 months. This allowed staff to become accustomed to home-working under lockdown without the additional burden of writing and reviewing REF material. Preparations resumed at the beginning of July. When we closed our sites, steps were taken to ensure that staff and PGRS could work from home. Laptops and other office equipment (desks, chairs, headsets, monitors and printers) were supplied along with software for virtual meetings as well as for specialist purposes. Small items of equipment (microscopes) were also made available for home use. Staff were supported by flexible working arrangements, allowing staff to work at times to suit their domestic situations. Contingency leave (on full pay) was available to staff and PGRS if required. No staff were furloughed or made redundant. A weekly update of how the OU was responding was communicated through e-mail and the intranet; each update included information about how staff and students could access health and welfare (especially mental health) support. As of March 2021, this is still continuing. Our PGRS were seriously affected: they were experiencing the same issues as staff, but with the additional stress of time constraints for thesis completion, exacerbated by closure of laboratories and prohibition of travel for fieldwork. We provided equivalent funding for our non-UKRI students to that provided for UKRI students so that there was no inequity within the PGRS body. We also awarded funds to 4th-year PGRS whose research was disrupted. Projects for PGRS starting October 2020 were modified so that a greater emphasis was placed on theoretical or online aspects of the research, on the assumption that practical work and travel could recommence towards the end of their first year. Our governance structure already had regulations that allowed for PhD vivas to be conducted remotely; we adapted these for vivas occurring in lockdown. In July 2020 we started opening up our sites to enable staff and PGRS to return. Laboratory support staff developed workarounds to enable research to continue, albeit at a reduced level. Instrumentation was either modified so that it could be operated remotely, or analyses carried out by support staff rather than by academics or PGRS. Training of PGRS continued online; following stringent risk assessments, limited ‘hands-on’ training has been allowed on a one-to-one basis. UK-based fieldwork deemed critical or time-sensitive (e.g., seasonal ecosystems research) was allowed following detailed risk-assessment; overseas fieldwork was (and, as of March 2021, still is) discontinued except under exceptional circumstances. Our library has remained open throughout the emergency, with librarians on-call supporting and facilitating access to electronic resources. Research to address the COVID-19 pandemic (link below): Our research and public engagement expertise was mobilised to support efforts to address and respond to the coronavirus pandemic. This also helped to motivate our staff by giving us a strong purpose aligned to our social mission in these difficult times. In September 2020 we established a Coronavirus Research Fund to provide a rapid-response funding stream for projects. http://www.open.ac.uk/research/news/ou-research-supports-society-across-multiple-sectors-pandemic-response