Environment submissions database

For the Glasgow School of Art, COVID-19 occurred after two major fires. Mitigation to address the impact initially focused on risks to the researchers, students and members of the public. Wherever possible researchers applied alternative methods and methodologies to support remote or online methods (for instance, surveys, workshops), and the R&E office issued revised research ethics and field work health and safety guidance. Inevitably, some research was delayed or curtailed, and support was provided for the extension or rescheduling of grants and projects. Mitigation funding was received from the SFC and was deployed primarily to support researchers on grant-funded/fixed term contracts, PhD extensions, to provide hardship funds for students on a case-by-case basis and to develop a ‘resilient researcher’ programme, which includes a pilot mentoring scheme aimed at Early Career and Emergent researchers and a series of remote academic writing retreats. To address COVID-19-related inequalities, financial support was offered to researchers whose research or research productivity was directly and adversely affected by changes to their roles or circumstances during the pandemic, e.g. caring, shielding or ill health. An enhanced research leave scheme is planned, to enable researchers to compensate for lower productivity during the pandemic. GSA’s DHI researchers played a key critical role in tackling the pandemic; contributing to the development of the digital products that underpin Scottish Government’s comprehensive test and protect (TAP) nationwide approach to COVID-19 management, which includes a national notification service, tools for contract tracing and digital services for community co-management (See ICS 4, Health & Care Services).