{"id":43941,"date":"2020-03-24T09:27:59","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T13:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/?p=43941"},"modified":"2020-03-25T09:34:15","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T13:34:15","slug":"covid-19-research-impact-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/2020\/03\/24\/covid-19-research-impact-update\/","title":{"rendered":"March 24: COVID-19 Research Impact Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

As indicated in my last\u00a0communication\u00a0on March 18th<\/a>, and as mentioned by President Ferrini-Mundy in her March 20th\u00a0communication,\u00a0research\u00a0labs have moved to ‘remote\u00a0research’ when possible, with small numbers of staff coming in to conduct\u00a0essential\u00a0<\/em>research\u00a0activities to sustain the most critical functions.\u00a0Essential<\/em>\u00a0means either that the\u00a0research\u00a0activity during this period is critical to the health of the public; is of national or state importance; involves the protection of valuable resources such as cell lines, animal lines, instrumentation requiring regular attention, etc. which cannot be shut down and must be kept going at a basal level; is necessary to avoid prematurely stopping an experiment or\u00a0research\u00a0process in progress that would result in an irrecoverable loss; or is necessary because experimentation or related activities for the coming year are tightly linked to season phenology and even a short delay will result in long term impacts.<\/p>\n

My office has requested that all faculty who intend to continue performing\u00a0research\u00a0on the University of Maine Orono campus and its other facilities in the state\u00a0 complete an\u00a0online form<\/a>\u00a0to report their projects.\u00a0 The form also requests information regarding the associated\u00a0research\u00a0personnel (including students) and the steps that will be taken to ensure the safety of lab participants during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

My office will receive these reports and identify any that represent areas of concern. All reporting forms and information on concerns will be forwarded to the appropriate college dean or center director who will ensure that established unit-specific safety protocols are followed.<\/p>\n

As a reminder, COVID-19\u00a0Research\u00a0Guidelines are available at the links below:<\/p>\n