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Dear PI Colleagues,
After several weeks of careful planning with your associate deans for research (ADRs), and with critical insight from UT health experts and the university-wide COVID-19 Recovery Executive Committee, I am pleased to announce a multi-phase plan to resume research operations. The full plan and research phases are described on our Research Restart website, and I encourage you to read the plan and our accompanying FAQs carefully.
The plan outlines a phased system – ranging from 0 to 5 – that will restore our full research enterprise over time while aiming to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission on campus. This phased strategy establishes new policies regarding face coverings, social distancing, screening, and other workplace practices to balance the need to resume research activities with the need to keep faculty, staff, and graduate students healthy and safe.
Research has been operating according to the plan’s Research Phase 4 guidelines, during which most campus research has been paused, and only essential personnel and research teams with approved exemptions have been permitted on site. As we begin transitioning to Research Phase 3, these parameters are expanding to include some forms of research activity that are time sensitive.
Beginning today, Thursday, May 21, 2020, PIs who wish to restart their time-sensitive research on campus may request approval through their colleges, schools, or units. Approvals to restart research operations at a substantially reduced workforce capacity, adhering to strict social distancing, face covering, and personal hygiene policies, will be managed by your ADR. Your dean or ADR will send more specific guidance about the research restart process for your college, and links to each college or school’s research restart request form are included on our website.
The target date for beginning Research Phase 3 operation levels is Monday, June 1, 2020. Once PIs have obtained formal approval, authorized personnel may enter laboratories to perform preparatory activities prior to June 1, such as lab cleaning, instrument activation/calibration, and supply ordering, while following the safety and social distancing policies outlined in the plan. No new research activities should be initiated before June 1, 2020.
Only those PIs who wish to resume research activity on-site on June 1 need to take action. If you do not need or want your researchers to return to campus yet, you do not need to submit a research restart request at this time. Also, any research that can be done remotely (such as data analysis or manuscript preparation) still should be, and no formal approval is required for remote research activities.
My office has created a PI Research Restart Toolkit to assist you in your own planning process. The toolkit outlines UT policies and best practices for resuming research operations in your group or laboratory. Additional questions regarding the research restart plan or approval process may be directed to your ADR.
Your safety and health are paramount. Together with the university executive leadership and your deans, I will continually reassess conditions on campus and communicate any changes to you as soon as possible. Our team will also regularly update the toolkit and our website to reflect the most current information available.
The research we do here at UT is extremely important. The core purpose of the university is to transform lives for the benefit of society. Every day, you achieve this purpose by providing training to the next generation of researchers and making critical discoveries that create new economic opportunities and possibilities for a better life. I look forward to supporting you and your research teams as you begin returning to campus to continue your important research mission.
Sincerely,
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Alison R. Preston
Interim Vice President for Research
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