COVID-19 update – 30 March 2020

30 March 2020

Hi everyone

This was our first entirely remote day for the University! Of course there will be teething issues but we will continue to work through these as quickly as we can and appreciate everyone's understanding and patience.

We have finalised our support package for our research community.

This email will cover:

Support for research staff

Administration support
College Research Offices and Research Services Division will continue to provide support remotely to our research staff. This includes assistance with applications and variations to Funding organisations and Ethics committees, and communications with external funders.

We have created a support package for research leaders and research supervisors to assist remote research and research supervision. You can view this information here.

Support for HDR candidates

We have measures to help support our HDR candidates impacted by the COVID-19 situation. Your supervisors will work with you directly to assist as best they can.

Support measures include:

Extended HDR deadline
To support our candidates who have been disrupted in their research work, we will extend your candidature to make sure you have the time you need.

We will also support an extension of your scholarship to 3.5 years if you need the extra time due to the impact of this crisis. More details of the support we will provide to you can be found here.

Financial support
For HDR students who are on scholarships, these payments will continue as long as you remain enrolled and are meeting the Conditions of Award of your scholarship. Please work with your supervisor on a plan to manage your research for the next few months.

We also announced a $1 million emergency funding package last week, for more details and support measures visit our website here.

Support for Honours and Master thesis work

Remote supervision
Your supervisors will continue to support your research component of your degree and help reduce the impacts on your research. Please contact your supervisor and discuss your current situation.

We have created a support package for Honours and research thesis work which you can find here.

ARC/NHMRC deadlines

Please note that the deadlines for application to a number of schemes within the Australian Research Council and National Health and Medical Research Council have been extended. A number of programs within the NHMRC have also been cancelled. You can find a list of funding schemes and the changed application deadlines here.

Ethics applications and variations

During this time, the ANU Human Research Ethics Committee (and delegated committees), the ANU Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee and the ANU rDNA Committee will only consider ethics applications or variations that are:

required for research directly related to the COVID-19 response
essential variations to existing protocols that will minimise risk/distress to participants/animals/storage of genetically modified material.

For more information, including details on animal research and Indigenous research, please visit our research website here.

On-site support for lecture recordings

We are supporting staff who need access to lecture theatres on campus to record their lectures. If you would like to record your lecture on-site, please book with one of our IT technicians here.

More information about booking is available under 'remote teaching' here.

Ongoing communications

I am grateful that we have such an engaged community and I appreciate you taking the time to read my daily updates. This week I will try to send you fewer emails. We will still provide administrative and other essential updates via our website and social media.

This year has been an incredibly difficult year and everyone has had adjust to the temporary new way of remote living. Please reach out if you need support. You can find more information about support available to you and our community here.

Stay safe everyone and I hope you are all settling into your remote workplace.

Brian