Covid-19 confusion in the UK as European infrastructures get used to remote working
Research Fortnight—coronavirus content from this week’s issue of our digital magazine on UK research policy:
News
Disappointment over ‘bailout shortfall’
Confusion over government’s lockdown-easing plan
Rival Sage group launches amid criticisms
Contact-tracing app draws privacy fears
Opinion
Pandemic is amplifying the toxic aspects of academia
Advisers must put political duty before scientific integrity
More coronavirus news from the Research Professional team:
UK
Three vice-chancellors are among members of the government’s University Research Sustainability Taskforce, Research Professional News can reveal. The body met by teleconference for the first time on 12 May having been set up as part of the government’s response to a bailout plea for higher education.
And a pro vice-chancellor has warned that his university will not be reopening labs on 13 May as it is “far too short notice” to put the right safety measures in place.
Europe
Many research infrastructures in Europe have either shut down or shifted to remote working during the Covid-19 pandemic, a survey has found, with others expected to shift even as governments begin to ease restrictions on people’s movement and activities.
The Joint Research Centre, the European Commission’s evidence service, has launched a call for input on the effects of Covid-19 to address a lack of data on the public’s reaction to the pandemic.
Universities and research institutions in France will remain closed until September, even though schools and shops reopened on 11 May after lockdown conditions were lifted.
Australia
Australia’s universities could lose up to 7,000 research jobs over the next six months as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, with women and early-career researchers likely to take the brunt of these cuts, a report commissioned by the federal government has said.
Australia could lose a generation of medical scientists unless the impact of Covid-19 on research institutes is addressed by federal government support, a national group of medical research institutes has warned.