Environment submissions database

The University of East Anglia (UEA) has suffered major impacts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has also shown how our core values; interdisciplinary ethos; strong research, teaching and innovation mission; and excellent civic partnerships come to the fore in times of need. Most UEA staff began working from home in March 2020, and many continue to do so. Due to resident students, our campus was not completely closed, but access remains restricted. Supporting staff wellbeing has become more of a priority. The new Employee Assistance Programme has been highlighted to staff and has taken over 200 calls and delivered 78 counselling sessions since its introduction in November 2019, with an increase since February 2020. Further flexible working arrangements were introduced to enable staff to accommodate childcare and other challenges, such as online teaching and assessment. All grades of staff received six additional rest days in 2020 (annual leave) in recognition of the pressures of working through the pandemic. The diversion of senior academics to pandemic response planning has made REF preparation particularly difficult. A staff survey (December 2020) showed that research productivity had fallen for 66.7% of respondents. As soon as parts of campus were able to safely reopen, the library, study space for PGR students, and key research laboratories were prioritised, made COVID-safe and available to researchers. This has enabled some facilities to remain partially open through subsequent periods of lockdown, minimising ongoing disruption to research requiring on-campus facilities. Due to the pandemic, UEA has a forecasted deficit of £17.5m for 2020/21. Some of our ~£13.5m portfolio of ODA research grants is now at risk of research funding cuts. UEA’s UKRI COA allocation (£1.77m) has prioritised research staff retention, and some World Class Laboratories funding (£1m) was allocated to deliver Covid-safe research facilities. To minimise essential redundancies and cuts to core research activities, strategic capital campus development projects have been postponed or cancelled, and staff recruitment frozen. UEA has been very active in supporting the local community and health and social care providers throughout the pandemic. Clinical academic staff and medical students were redeployed to the NHS, which severely impacted their research activities. Across the Norwich Research Park, which contains the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital (sixth largest hospital in the UKi), UEA worked collaboratively with NRP research institutes to develop the Norwich Testing Initiative, trialling effective templates for community virus testing with 11,200 tests completed (to December 2020); converted research laboratories to produce 4000L of hand sanitizer; and used 3D printing technology to make 12,000 face shields and 12,000 ear comfort bands for distribution to local healthcare providers via our Health and Social Care Partners network. UEA also provided childcare, car parking and accommodation facilities for local NHS workers. A key member of the Norfolk Resilience Forum and as part of our Civic University Agreement, UEA is already, and plans to continue to play, an active part in regional COVID-19 recovery discussions and projects.