Research strategy update during the COVID-19 outbreak
30 Apr 2020
A message from Professor Colette Fagan, Vice-President for Research and Professor Melissa Westwood, Associate-Vice-President for Research
Dear colleagues,
COVID-19 has disrupted all University activity since the middle of March. Research continues where this is possible as colleagues contend with a variety of challenging professional and domestic circumstances.
Our Senior Leadership Team are involved in sector wider discussions with government, UKRI and other funders, including through the letter from The Russell Group calling for an emergency fund to cover the salaries of externally funded research staff, postgraduate researchers’ stipends and other research costs during this period. We will continue to keep you updated as soon as information is received in this rapidly changing environment.
Last week’s message from President and Vice-Chancellor Nancy Rothwell outlined that we are already facing a significant loss of income in the current financial year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that we face difficult decisions in the months ahead.
In this context over the coming weeks and months, we must all take a collective responsibility to work with Heads of Schools and Departments to decide how best to progress research and which research to prioritise in the context of other priorities: over the coming months we have to focus on accelerating the development and delivery of online teaching; and many of our clinical and health professional colleagues have diverted to deliver vital frontline health care for which we are all thankful.
All this while everyone contends with heightened health risks and the practical and wellbeing challenges of physical distancing and adapting to working from home, often juggling this with looking after young children or elder relatives, financial worries or struggling with loneliness and isolation, in the context of a pandemic. Many of our postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers and research staff in the final stages of their projects face additional uncertainties about their research funding and next steps in their careers.
Here we provide an update on key developments in relation to research.
Navigating the impact of COVID-19 and remote working on research
To help guide everyone through this period a set of FAQs have been compiled:
Support for final year Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs)
We are pleased to announce additional support for our final year PGR students. UKRI, the Wellcome Trust and several other funders have confirmed that they will permit final year PGRs to make an evidence-based application for an extension of their stipend and tuition fees for up to six months if the COVID-19 lock-down has significantly disrupted the final stages of their research. Through our Manchester Doctoral College we have made financial provision to extend this arrangement to all of our final year PGR students in receipt of a stipend, and for self-funded final year PGRs to apply for their tuition fees to be waived.
- Further information will be available shortly on the PGR FAQs page.
Externally funded research staff
The deferral of start dates for many new awards means that recruitment to new posts has slowed. While the vast majority of funders are willing to provide ‘no- cost’ extensions to awards and indicate that they will take a pragmatic approach to delays (UKRI and the main medical charities), few are providing costed extensions to cover the staff costs for project funded staff. In this situation the PI must contact their local research services team (and business engagement team for industry contracts) to establish whether the funder will cover these staff costs. Where the funder has not agreed to meet these additional staff costs, the Research Services team will establish the additional cost likely to be incurred by the University and the Dean of Faculty will need to approve. For industry funding, any renegotiation should be done in conjunction with the business engagement team: researchers must not offer a ‘no costs’ extension when the additional staff costs would have to be met by the University For industry funding, any renegotiation should be done in conjunction with the business engagement team: researchers must not offer a ‘no costs’ extension when the additional staff costs would have to be met by the University.
Research staff and furlough options
The University is now in a position to review the level of disruption to externally funded research projects brought about by COVID-19. This starts next week and will include a process for assessing the eligibility of non-publicly funded project staff for furlough leave. Further details of this exercise will be circulated to Faculty leadership teams shortly and the exercise is being coordinated across PS through Research and Business Engagement, HR and Finance.
COVID-19 Research Rapid Response
As you may have heard through Faculty channels we have established a COVID-19 research rapid response group to manage COVID-19 related requests from academics, the NHS, and industry to deploy services and research as effectively and efficiently as possible whilst ensuring safety and appropriate use of resource during this challenging time.
Preparation of new research funding applications
Researchers who are preparing new funding applications must liaise with Research Services at the outset to allow additional time for costings and submission support and the approval sign-off processes with Heads of School and other authorised approvers. Priority will be given to supporting the submission of applications relating to COVID-19 rapid response call and those with submission deadlines before the end of June 2020.
The latest funding announcements, new opportunities and a list of funders that have delayed or cancelled calls are on StaffNet and are communicated through our usual research services channels.
Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 and the staff census date
Research England have deferred the REF2021 submission deadline but the REF staff census date (31 July 2020) has not changed. Our REF preparations continue and we are working closely with Unit of Assessment teams to adapt our work plan, wherever required. Impact Case Study authors with concerns about their ability to work on a case or to collect supporting evidence are advised to contact their assigned Impact Officer for advice. General queries about REF preparations can be answered by faculty-based local contacts.
Financial pressures on research resources
Given the acute financial pressures and uncertainties that we face we have cancelled or postponed unallocated investments for research that were due to commence in the next academic year. These include unallocated Presidential Fellowships and Doctoral Scholarships, Simon and Hallsworth early career fellowships and visiting professorships, and the UMRI open competition for pump priming awards for 2020/21 We hope to resume some of these funding opportunities for 2021/22.
Thank you for your continuing collegial leadership and team work during this exceptional period. Please stay safe and thank your teams for their work and commitment to ensuring the wellbeing of our staff and students.
- Note: We are regularly updating the coronavirus website with the latest news, useful links and frequently asked questions.
Colette Fagan
Vice-President for Research
Melissa Westwood
Associate-Vice-President for Research and Chair of Manchester Doctoral College