Andrew Chen 29 Posted March 9 It's no news that the COVID-19 virus has many institutions concerned about public health and safety. Many schools and universities around the world are thinking about switching to remote classes or even shutting down schools to minimize the risk of transmission. Unfortunately, many biological researchers do not have the option of teleworking because they have animal colonies and cell lines to care for, not to mention time-sensitive experiments. How are you preparing for these situations in case of mandatory closures? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gabriella Panuccio 11 Posted March 12 I live in Italy and the situation is worrying. Schools and Universities have been closed for quite a long time now. And the latest news is the mandatory shut down of all the places for social gatherings, like pubs and restaurants. I work in a research institution, which is still open according to the latest directions. But we're implementing teleworking since the very beginning. My lab is still standing, but yesterday I had to schedule an extraordinary lab meeting to establish a calendar of the crucial activities that can't be stopped nor postponed. This is a time when it comes to make important choices on who is working to get results and who's not. Luckily, at least for now, the activities in my lab are not so affected. We can safely work the minimum necessary to keep the lab activities going even if in idle mode. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stephanie Vose 42 Posted March 12 The NIH posted this announcement: General Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - Proposal Submission and Award Management Related to COVID-19 https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-20-083.html 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew Chen 29 Posted March 12 10 hours ago, Gabriella Panuccio said: I live in Italy and the situation is worrying. Schools and Universities have been closed for quite a long time now. And the latest news is the mandatory shut down of all the places for social gatherings, like pubs and restaurants. I work in a research institution, which is still open according to the latest directions. But we're implementing teleworking since the very beginning. My lab is still standing, but yesterday I had to schedule an extraordinary lab meeting to establish a calendar of the crucial activities that can't be stopped nor postponed. This is a time when it comes to make important choices on who is working to get results and who's not. Luckily, at least for now, the activities in my lab are not so affected. We can safely work the minimum necessary to keep the lab activities going even if in idle mode. @Gabriella Panuccio good to hear from you and thank you for sharing your experience! I've been reading a lot on how Italy is approaching this situation and appreciate you giving us your perspective on how you are approaching it in this difficult time. How are your lab members and collaborators doing? I hope that morale hasn't been dampened too much. @Stephanie Vose thanks for sharing that resource. That's really nice that NIH is addressing these impacts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hugo Sanchez-Castillo 10 Posted March 12 I work from Mexico and here the situation is no so bad (yet). We have the phase 1 activated, that means that we are only worried about precautions and to report if there s some symptomatology. However if the phase increases to 3 the university it will be close and the online activities it will be mandatory not optional. In the research field, we have more or less the same situation, however the research it will not shut down. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gabriella Panuccio 11 Posted March 14 On 3/12/2020 at 7:10 PM, Andrew Chen said: @Gabriella Panuccio good to hear from you and thank you for sharing your experience! I've been reading a lot on how Italy is approaching this situation and appreciate you giving us your perspective on how you are approaching it in this difficult time. How are your lab members and collaborators doing? I hope that morale hasn't been dampened too much. No, no issues with enthusiasm, luckily. We all die hard and are super driven!!! Same thing for my EU collabs. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KathiaRamirez 3 Posted March 23 Hi, I work from Mexico City, we still are in phase 1 but we are taking precautions. Our local authorities (at the Institute) suggested that, starting this week, only 4 people/lab are permited. So, as we work with rodents, we had to diminish the mice populations and cut down some experiments. It was hard because we had to priorized, but our PI encouraged us to work in our papers and thesis at home. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Raquel Maria Campos 4 Posted April 17 I'm from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and in the Federal University of Rio we were advised to reduce or end our animals colony and stop all experiments one month ago. But, at same time, we recivied an email from the Institute announcing that all masters and PhD deadlines are reamin the same, so I know many student that are going back to the University to do experiments, even though Rio is in quarentine, so they can present their work in the right date Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
