Environment submissions database

Citizens of Change. We are playing a major role in the fight against COVID-19. We were awarded £8.5M (UKRI/NIHR) to lead PHOSP-COVID, one of the world’s largest studies into the health impacts of COVID-19 (Brightling, UoA1). We were the first institution to raise concerns about the disproportionate number of COVID-19 deaths in BAME people. This led to UKRI/NIHR-funded research investigating the risks of COVID-19 on BAME healthcare workers (Pareek/Khunti, UoA2, £2.1M) and research examining why BAME people have a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 (Yates, UoA24, ~£0.12M). We led the design of the NHS COVID-19 rehabilitation resource (Singh, UoA24) and our CryoEM facility is providing vital data to develop a novel COVID-19 inhibitor (Brindle, UoA5). Khunti (UoA2) is Chair of the SAGE Ethnicity Subgroup and a member of the main SAGE group. We redirected £0.4M of our GCRF QR funds to a COVID-19-specific rapid-response call, resulting in collaborative research delivering benefits to communities in the global south. This includes provision of health care services to Kenyan sex workers (Sanders, UoA20) and mitigating the effects of exposure to air pollution on the incidence of COVID-19 in South Africa (Vande Hey, UoA7). COVID-19 has, however, negatively affected some research areas. Non-COVID research relying on specialist laboratories, facilities, and equipment paused for several months. Research involving travel, fieldwork, access to archives and collections, community engagement, and industry collaboration has almost completely halted. There has been an increase in clinical workload for our clinicians and research time has decreased across the institution to prioritise teaching and student experience. Research Income. During 2019/20, our research grant applications dropped by 16% compared to 2018/19; levels returned to expected numbers in June/July after the drop in April/May. The resilience of our research environment is evidenced by our record-breaking £77M in research awards reported for 2019/20 – a 5% growth from the previous year. People. Establishing a clear governance process from the outset of the pandemic enabled us to act swiftly, to reassure staff and students, and to support our external communities. As Leicester was the first city in the UK to face a local lockdown, we set an example for HEIs nationally, developing a UKRI case study with recommendations for other universities. Staff health and wellbeing remains our priority. We provided staff with the equipment, training, and support to work as effectively as possible from home. We quickly mobilised a Task&Finish group to understand and mitigate the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on staff who are shielding, with caring responsibilities, from BAME backgrounds, are female, or with disability. We put in place a sector-leading package of support for our PGRs. In addition to the UKRI recommendation of a 6 month funded extension for UKRI students, we also funded all students with UoL stipends for 3 extra months, negotiated fee waived extensions for students impacted by COVID-19 and opened a hardship fund for students including our internationals. PGR training is now available online and attendance doubled in March to July compared to the five previous months.