Environment submissions database

UCL researchers have been at the forefront of the COVID-19 challenge, from developing testing and tracking systems to leading on projects such as the UCL-Ventura breathing aid, deployed worldwide to treat patients during the first wave. In March, clinical academic staff were released to provide front-line NHS support. Governance was restructured into a Gold / Silver / Bronze structure to facilitate campus closure and to rapidly co-ordinate planning for 2020-21. Following risk assessments, ongoing infrastructure projects continued with a limited pause, but new projects within the capital programme were suspended. Acutely aware of the effect of the pandemic on staff careers, particularly of those with caring responsibilities, UCL sought to mitigate negative effects within processes such as academic promotions. We allowed staff to outline the effect of pastoral issues on their contributions in the period, so they were taken account of by promotion panels. Furloughed staff were paid in full with UCL contributing the difference. Emergency funds for research students were provided. Sabbaticals were retained. Funding was rapidly deployed to develop wellbeing initiatives including the ‘remote not distant’ hub and for trauma and mental health support for frontline clinical care staff. An 18-month Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Plan was developed that included access to digital health CBT programmes. UCL extended carers leave from five days a year to unlimited time off with full pay and allowed flexible working for caring reasons. Non-essential research was temporarily suspended during lockdown with lab closures and resources diverted to essential COVID-19 research. Those unable to undertake their ordinary work were offered internal opportunities to volunteer their skills elsewhere. Contracts were extended that would ordinarily have terminated. Staff were furloughed, if necessary, where they had caring responsibilities or where labs were closed, and staff were allowed to work from abroad. In UoA2, where the UoA Lead was a member of NERVTAG and SAGE, additional REF support had to be sourced. Support for PIs researching COVID-19 was coordinated centrally, notably external funding applications and funding allocation; this enabled us to map and support over 100 projects. Between January - July, UCL staff made >500 major media appearances related to COVID-19, detailed on our ‘In The Media’ webpages. In line with our support of the Open Research agenda, UCL’s Open Science network lists all UCL contributed published content related to COVID-19 (1003 research outputs during the REF publication period). UCL raised over £1m to accelerate the university’s response to the pandemic through donations from supporters and alumni. UCL academics play key roles in three nationally funded studies (£3.8m) to improve understanding of the links between COVID-19 and ethnicity. UCL were provided £10.8m under the UKRI COVID-19 Extension Allocation to mitigate the impact on UKRI-funded projects, ensuring that grant outcomes continue to be met and preventing disadvantages to protected groups. By June 2020, UCL had been competitively awarded the largest COVID-19 research funding of any UK university. Despite inevitable disruption, the crisis has demonstrated UCL’s resilience and world leading expertise in facilitating global recovery from COVID-19.