Environment submissions database

We developed innovative research responses to Covid-19. Our Covid Emergency Response Campaign raised over £450K for research support. We rapidly re-purposed IAA, GCRF, HEIF and major grants to pump prime Covid responses. We coordinated an extensive response to keep COVID labs open during lockdown and provide core support to UKRI rapid response submissions. We have had significant success in UKRI COVID grants awarded across all three Faculties. We have staff active as SAGE panel members. The Health and Life Sciences Faculty (HLS) has been central to the coordination of the Liverpool City Region (LCR) COVID response. The LCR academic community, led by UoL, formed a Strategic Research Fund of £650K that has funded 22 projects. HLS, with health partners and civic leaders, has been key to mass asymptomatic testing in Liverpool. We have re-purposed facilities to manufacture PPE and medical supplies for LCR. Our Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation Consortium has received more than £10M of funding. Working with partners we developed a portal for notification of neurological Covid cases. This made the UK the only country able to report neurological disease increase early in the pandemic, resulting in 3 lancet journal publications and UKRI funding. We have non-clinical COVID UKRI projects in: Zoology; Public Health; Arts and culture; Digital media; Social policy; Materials and Chemistry. Internationally we are supporting Covid clinical research in Horn of Africa and Malawi. We closed the campus in March and re-opened with Covid secure measures in May. Despite the strong research response described above, pandemic measures have had a notable impact. Laboratories are working at 50% capacity or less, limiting research time for staff and PGRS. We saw a fall in grant applications as compared to 2019. This was more detrimental to female researchers – a 48% decrease against 20% for males. The success of our Covid work and a general upturn in applications in second half of 2020 has led to a significant recovery – though notably slower for women. Overall we have seen a reduction in research activity (grant recovery) since March with over 200 studies affected. Reflecting the closure of laboratories, limits on field work and pauses to the start of projects. We have established the ‘Research in an Inclusive and Sustainable Environment’ in response to COVID impacts (eee REF 5a) – identifying issues across all staff groups, but especially ECRs. It has noted impacts on PGR progress, publications and grant development work that reflects the figures noted above. We were the first UK university to automatically offer an extension to final submission date for all PGRS. We matched the UKRI Phase1 and Phase 2 Covid funding for UoL funded PGRS and offered support and hardship funds to all other PGRS. We have instigated a programme of documenting and mitigating Covid impacts for all PGRS. The REF extension reduced pressures on staff and reduced risks to submission though remote working has limited the participation of key staff. The persistence of remote working has limited physical access to systems and campus for evidence checking.