Environment submissions database

1) The effect of COVID-19 measures on our environment has been largely limited to delays in research outputs, manageable at a local level and the withdrawal or re-focus of funding streams. 2) Business travel was suspended, and in-person events cancelled from March 2020. Use of shared facilities/equipment was restricted. Negotiations took place with external funders and supporting staff to redesign research to focus on online methods where appropriate. Institute directors and professional services revised PGR Strategy, institutional research guidelines, processes and ethics statements to incorporate COVID-related risks, online methods of data collection and reinforced data security measures/assurances. 3) The university reviewed publications for COVID relevance and contributed to special issues, although there have been some delays in publications due to difficulties of getting permissions from copyright holders due to changes in working practices. Effective communications ensured PGR recruitment was not significantly affected by the popular perception that COVID prevents research. 4) Research institutes conducted reviews of all staff/PGR student projects, resulting in several ethics applications to UREC to date, mostly due to issues surrounding data collection using online teleconference software. PGR supervisory sessions moved online and internet access for students and supervisors was improved. Only one PGR student had a COVID-enforced change of supervisory team (at time of writing). Opportunities for face-to-face interaction are being explored and will be reintroduced in due course. Activities also involved providing advice to PGR students (most in-person fieldwork), negotiating delays as sites closed, and redeveloping events. 5) The lockdowns caused delay in some vivas of PGR students, which would normally be awarded 31st July. However, vivas are now held online and the subsequent backlog has been addressed. 6) As indicated within Section 4, research bidding activity dropped as adjustments to existing research took place, but rebounded including (e.g.) a rapid ESRC proposal to study effects of the pandemic on the health and well-being of young people leaving care, followed by rapid implementation from November 2020. 7) Funding for existing projects is mostly delayed; for example, our EU REAMIT project within BMRI has been granted an extension of 12 months, but data collection and analysis from fieldwork in Brazil could not proceed as the country was not accessible for researchers and the Brazilian PI had to shield due to underlying health problems. Hence, evidence of important impacts may not be fully gathered in time for REF submission. 8) Some extremely positive stakeholder impacts have resulted from the resourceful approach shown by staff. By reconfiguring events to run online, organisers have successfully doubled the number of external participants. External stakeholders have often fallen into two categories: SMEs who exited projects as businesses went into survival mode, and others who continue to collaborate and find ways to complete planned research together. 9) Where events were cancelled, this primarily impacted global projects and those involving governmental policy makers e.g. planned end of GCRF project symposium with government officials in Sierra Leone was abandoned. However, in most cases events ran successfully online.