Research and coronavirus

• Research funding

  Last updated: 30 March 2020

  The Research Business Development and Contracts (RBDC) team will continue to provide research funding opportunities, application and contract support via e-mail, Microsoft Teams and Skype. RBDC have developed a webpage listing updates from research funders regarding Covid-19. Please contact your Business Development Manager or your FAS team should you have issues relating to research projects affected. In addition, there are Covid-19 specific funding opportunities which we will keep up to date and can be accessed via the following Microsoft Teams link: Covid-19 Research Funding Opportunities. Please contact your Business Development Manager should you be interested in obtaining research funding for a COVID-19 project.

  Last updated: 26 March 2020

  The Finance Advice and Support (FAS) team will continue to provide support via e-mail, Microsoft Teams and Skype. Please continue to liaise with your FAS team with regards any costings for new applications, and please continue to copy your FAS team in when liaising with funders regarding any project changes e.g. project extensions, extensions to reporting deadlines so we can ensure that our records are accurate.

• Research integrity

  Last updated: 24 March 2020

  Nothing has changed here – the policies outlining the principles of good research conduct, our desire for individuals to ask questions and raise concerns, and our procedures for handling allegations of research misconduct are unaffected. For further information about research integrity, and contact points, please go the research integrity web page.

• Research governance

  Last updated: 24 March 2020

  Due diligence on overseas research partners and compliance with export control legislation are both operating as usual. However, it is noted that international travel has effectively been postponed indefinitely, and therefore that many projects for which these processes are relevant are postponed to further notice. For further information about research governance, and contact points, please go the research governance web page.

• Research involving human participants, their samples or data

  Regarding all such research 

  Last updated: 27 July 2020

  At the current time, researchers are strongly encouraged to use online or remote methods for research involving humans. If this is not possible, research involving in-person face-to-face contact with participants can only start or resume if it is permissible, safe and ethical - if these conditions cannot be satisfied the research must continue to be postponed. This includes research which has been given ethical approval in principle.  

  The interim guidance page for research involving humans describes what is required in more detail but briefly, researchers must:

  • Obtain or update risk assessments in line with current travel and fieldwork guidance or that relating to incoming visitors
  • Ensure that any travel or fieldwork is covered, or still covered, by University insurance
  • Submit an ethical application, or amendment application form to your School ethics committee (they will only accept this the prior steps have been completed and evidenced).

  This page also details the risk proportionate review process, which has been temporarily introduced to mitigate the impact on review timescales and School ethics committee workloads, and the enhanced ethical issues to consider when conducting research during the coronavirus pandemic.

  Guidance on ethical issues for research involving humans

  The cure guidance on ethical issues for research involving humans was reviewed in light of the current circumstances. Existing topics such as Consent have been updated and new topics such as Online interviews and focus groups have been added to reflect the increased focus on online and remote methods. These guidance topics describe best practice plus some of the practical and ethical issues researchers may need to consider when making an ethical review application for research involving these methods

  COVID-19 Ethics Forum

  The University Teaching and Research Ethics Committee (UTREC) has instated a weekly Covid-19 Ethics Forum to allow for more communication and knowledge-sharing between School ethics committees(SECs). This forum gives SECs the opportunity to discuss new or challenging ethical issues they may encounter. It also provides a mechanism for SECs to regularly feedback to UTREC any issues, such as where there may be a need for additional guidance or adaptations as circumstances evolve.

  Regarding all such research that involves engagement of fieldworkers and working with collaborators

  If another person is undertaking work on a St Andrews researcher’s behalf it is important that:

  • the activity is permissible, safe, ethical, and culturally appropriate
  • the fieldworker or collaborator is not subjected to pressure or coercion from those in St Andrews to undertake this work, or assume risks, such as through threat of financial or other disadvantage
  • the relationship between the St Andrews researcher and the fieldworker or collaborator must be in line with pre-COVID norms as appropriate to the situation. For example, paying individuals to collect certain types of data might be an established pre-COVID norm in some situations, but where participatory collaboration is the norm this may be unethical.

• Research involving the NHS

  Last updated: 27 July 2020

  NHS resources continue to be under pressure and researchers wishing to start or restart research involving the NHS should consult the research involving the NHS webpage and contact researchgovernance@st-andrews.ac.uk to discuss this.

• Research involving animals, their samples or data

  Last updated: 30 March 2020

  The amount of research involving animals being conducted within the University will be significantly scaled back; only essential research involving animals that has already begun will be allowed to continue and no new projects will be permitted. This response has been considered in consultation with the Home Office and is in line with the approach being taken by other Universities. For further information about Covid-19 and research involving animals, and contact points, please go the research involving animals web page.

• Research impact

  Last updated: 24 March 2020

  The Research Impact Team continues to support ongoing work with regards to the EPSRC and STFC Impact Acceleration Accounts and the KE & Impact Fund. To date, UKRI have released limited information on the Impact of Coronavirus on UKRI-supported research.

  Due to the coronavirus, all new funding decisions under KE& I Fund have been put on hold. We will inform you once the situation changes with either of the above funds. In the meantime, please contact us via impact@st-andrews.ac.uk with any queries that require our attention.

• SFC GCRF

  Last updated: 24 March 2020

  The St Andrews Global Challenges Forum continues to support ongoing work with regards to SFC GCRF funded projects. We will inform you as we are notified of any changes. Until the situation changes, all new Top-Up funding decisions are on hold. In light of the disruption, the new deadline for the GCRF PhD Competition is 5pm, 30 April 2020. In the meantime, please contact ris_gcrf@st-andrews.ac.uk with any queries that require our attention.

• Technology transfer

  Last updated: 24 March 2020

  The Technology Transfer Centre (TTC) will continue to support academic colleagues in the protection and management of intellectual property, and where possible will continue to support commercialisation activity.

  TTC staff will contact inventors in advance of any patent deadlines, and where new disclosures arise please send a copy of draft manuscripts to ustanip@st-andrews.ac.uk and a member of the TTC team will contact you to discuss further. To support compliance with the terms and conditions of funding we will continue to protect new intellectual property as it arises. When required, meetings can be arranged via Microsoft Teams.

• REF2021

  Last updated: 29 June 2020

  The RIS team are continuing work on our institutional REF preparations in line with the published schedule from the UK REF team. The official response from the UK REF team on Covid-19 can be found on the REF website.

  A new submission date of 31 March 2021 has been announced along with an extension to the assessment period for impact to 31 December 2020. The impact assessment extension has been put in place to enable case studies affected by, or focusing on the current response to, COVID-19 to be assessed in REF 2021. The significant effort that has been invested so far by institutions in preparations for the current REF cycle has been recognised and in view of this, the REF staff census date (31 July 2020) currently remains unchanged. The funding bodies plan a review in November 2020 to consider whether further contingency arrangements for the REF may be necessary. We will keep you informed as we hear more from the national level. 

  We are here to support you with any questions you may have regarding REF.  Please feel free to get in touch via the usual email channels, as detailed on the REF 2021 web page.

• Open access publishing

  Last updated: 24 March 2020

  Online publishing activities are likely to continue, and the Open Access (OA) team are available remotely to answer your queries about open access options. We aim to provide the support you need to make your publications openly available where possible. Contact openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk in the first instance and we can arrange virtual meetings via Teams or Skype if you wish to discuss your query. 

  Pure remains available for deposit of accepted manuscripts and we have guidance on how to deposit in Pure. We can arrange APC payments and open access with publishers according to the current criteria for OA funding. New agreements are being put in place with several publishers – check the Publisher OA memberships page for details.

  For the moment we recommend following funder and REF OA policies where you can, bearing in mind all the benefits of making as much research publicly available as possible. See Essential information about Open Access.

• Research data management

  Last updated: 24 March 2020

  The research data management team are available remotely to support key activities for managing and sharing your research data. We can continue to provide DOIs and accept data deposits in Pure where you choose to do so. We recommend you continue to follow all existing guidance and funder policies on sharing research data where possible. The processes for data underpinning theses will also continue as normal. Contact us at research-data@st-andrews.ac.uk. 

  When you contact the team please bear in mind that the team may be working flexible hours, and we will aim to respond to queries as soon as possible. Further information available on the research data management web pages.

• Risk assessment

  All overseas business (i.e. including research) travel has been suspended in line with government guidelines. All ongoing research work, including lone working, must still abide by the University’s health and safety policy. Further information and contact points are available on the environmental Health and Safety Services web page.