This message contains important information about research operations.

Please refer to the University of Calgary’s Emergency Management website for up-to-date information about the university’s COVID-19 Response.

Dear University of Calgary Researchers,

The situation with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the operation of the University of Calgary remains fluid, and our response evolves on a day-to-day basis. Please visit research.ucalgary.ca/covid-19 for guidance specific to researchers.

Today, the University of Calgary issued a directive for faculty, staff, postdocs, and students to work from home. Accordingly, all research teams and units must do their utmost to follow this directive to work remotely. However, it is possible for allowances to be made for critical research, scholarship and creative activities to continue on site.

For selected research activities to proceed on campus, they must be registered and approved by the University – see below.

First and most important, no member of the University community should feel pressured to work on campus if they are not comfortable to do so. If any individual is feeling inappropriately pressured to carry out on-campus research, scholarship, or creative work, they should contact one of:

• Office of the Vice-President (Research) at [email protected], 
• Dean of Graduate Studies at [email protected],
• Or, if they prefer to report the concern confidentially, they can do so through the Office of Equity, Diversity and Protected Disclosure.

Note that at this time we do not know what the future of our response to COVID-19 needs to be. So, in the spirit of preparing for the unknown, we suggest that in your move to a work-from-home environment, you plan for the possibility of an extended period of remote work. 

As research, scholarship, and creative work are key components of the University, we must ensure that critical research (this term includes scholarly and creative work) is maintained as long as it is safe and reasonable to do so.

Identifying critical research on our campuses

a. All researchers are asked to continue as much of their work as is feasible in a virtual or work-from-home setting. If you are able to do all of your work in this manner, only requiring access to online systems, you do not need to take further action.

b. Please evaluate whether you are able to shut down the on-campus portion of your work, and focus on work that can be done from home for the duration of the COVID-19 situation. However, if your work depends on having individuals work on campus, or access to on-campus infrastructure (either in your own on-campus workspace or shared facilities), then please carefully read the rest of this message.

If you have critical research, scholarship or creative work requiring access to on-campus facilities or infrastructure, then you must take action now so the University can review and approve your access to campus.

Similarly, if you are reducing or shutting down your work on campus, but must continue the operation of infrastructure on campus that requires maintenance or attention (e.g. sample storage system that requires regular liquid nitrogen refills, or an experimental apparatus that cannot be easily shut down), you must take action to maintain your access to campus in the event of wider access restriction.

Defining critical research

CRITICAL RESEARCH

The University of Calgary currently considers critical research to be research, scholarship, or creative work that satisfies one or more of the following criteria:

1. Research that is part of the Canadian COVID-19 Rapid Response Research Grants Program;
2. Other time-sensitive COVID-19 related research that is vital to dealing with the current COVID-19 pandemic;
3. Clinical Research in which participant health might be put at risk if the program is suspended;
4. Ongoing research in which significant amounts of data would be completely lost or compromised, if the experiment or project was terminated early/suddenly;
5. Research contract work that can be undertaken while meeting COVID-19 safety principles and in which contract deliverables must be met in order to continue funding.

CRITICAL RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES

The University of Calgary currently considers critical research infrastructure and services to be those that satisfy one or more of the following criteria:

1. Research infrastructure or services identified as required in support of critical research;
2. Research infrastructure or services required to ensure human health and safety;
3. Research infrastructure or services required to ensure animal health and safety;
4. Research infrastructure that cannot be shut down in a timely manner (less than one day) without significant risk of damage or destruction of the infrastructure in question. This includes sample/material storage infrastructure requiring regular maintenance or consumable replenishment.

Next steps

If you feel that your on-campus work must continue and it meets the criteria outlined above, then you must complete the following approval process.

Approval from your Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) or Department Head (if applicable) and the Office of the Vice-President (Research) is required to ensure that your team can access campus during this time.

Principal Investigator (or their designate) should initiate the following process:

Step 1:

Visit the research.ucalgary.ca/covid-19 website, and download and complete the Critical Research Designation Form. All fields are required.  

Step 2:

E-mail the completed Critical Research Designation Form to your Associate Dean Research AND, if you have one, your Department Head. Please send to both simultaneously as their reviews may be completed in parallel.

Step 3:

Your ADR and/or Department Head will review your Critical Research Designation Form against the criteria above, and either endorse or decline to endorse the designation. Regardless of their decisions, your Critical Research Designation Form will be forwarded to the VPR Office at [email protected], where the final decision will be made. 

Step 4:

If your Critical Research Designation is approved, you will receive a notification from the VPR Office. Approval means that your work and the individuals involved will be registered with the University of Calgary.

Regardless of whether work is designated ‘critical’ through the above-described process, please continue your work to the best of your ability in a virtual or work-from-home setting. Consider whether you and your research groups can use this time to focus your efforts on activities that can more easily be done remotely, such as writing, submitting grant applications, data analysis, and discussion via Zoom or Skype.

Many of the services our researchers rely on, such as those offered by the Research Services Office, have transitioned to remote work and we do not expect significant delays or interruptions in support.

We understand that limiting access to campus is disruptive to the work of faculty, staff, postdocs, and students. The University will continue to support your efforts, and we deeply appreciate your perseverance through this difficult situation.

Stay organized, plan ahead, and stay safe. If you have questions or comments, please contact me at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Dr. William Ghali

Vice-President (Research)