COVID-19: Curtailing research activities on UBC campuses

This directive pertains to all faculty, staff, students, post-docs, visiting scholars and visiting student researchers, who are engaged in on-campus research activities at UBC’s Vancouver and Okanagan campuses, fieldwork, or in-person research involving human participants.

Faculty, staff and students conducting research in Health Authority-based facilities must follow the directives of the Health Authorities. Further information can be found on the UBC Faculty of Medicine FAQs.

Only exempted research such as critical COVID-19 research, essential clinical trials or exempted critical research continuity activities can continue. All research on campus that is not time-critical and/or that would not result in significant data loss must be postponed.

While maintaining social distance, the continuing on-campus research teams must have plans in place to ensure: 1) at least two members of a research group are present, or 2) if a researcher must work alone in a lab that there is a documented process in place that has been shared with anyone who will be working alone to report and/or monitor their presence and safety in the building. 

Researchers seeking to continue work on campus at UBC-V and UBC-O must apply for a critical research exemption by using the form. The Department Head (relating to the researcher’s primary appointment) will provide initial approval for such requests, followed by Dean’s office, with final approval at UBC-V provided by the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation. At UBC-O, final approval will be provided by the Office of the Vice Principal, Research and Innovation.

In the case of maintenance of critical research resources, if a unit or group of researchers has organized to maintain resources in multiple labs or research space in the same building, a single application may be submitted. In this case, a researcher, department head or director of an institute may serve as the principal investigator.

Researchers and Heads will be notified once a decision is made.  Approvals can be revoked as circumstances change.

Researchers working in Health-Authority-based facilities must follow the directives of those institutions.

Summary of Process

1. Complete the form for on-campus research activities at our UBC Vancouver and Okanagan campuses
2. Obtain pre-approval signature of the Head of Department relating to the primary appointment of the PI
3. Obtain pre-approval signature of the relevant Associate Dean, Research or Dean
4. Submit form to research.continuity@ubc.ca
    

Researchers should consult with their Faculty about the status of their Phase 1 planning for a resumption of on-campus research, as exemptions will not be processed after a plan is submitted. We do not anticipate further exemptions being issued for Faculties opting not to submit a Phase 1 plan.

Yes, research activities that can be conducted remotely and safely without in-person contact can continue. On-line access to databases housed in university servers and library materials will be maintained.  Remote work must be conducted in compliance with UBC information security standards.

We must avoid situations in which multiple researchers are present in the same workspace at the same time.  Therefore, essential access required for sustaining research capabilities will be governed by the exemption process outlined above.  All other access is discouraged.  This includes individual access to collect research materials.  Critical research materials required for off-site work during the research curtailment must be retrieved before March 24.  If you need access to material beyond that date or if you feel inappropriately pressured to continue working in a research lab or space, please contact your Head of Department or Faculty Dean.

Yes. Although most VPRI portfolio units are largely working remotely, they continue to offer services to the UBC research community. Vancouver-based units and services | Okanagan-based units and services

Please visit https://srs.ubc.ca/2020/04/06/ubc-personal-protective-equipment-supply/ for information on UBC PPE supply.

If you need to procure materials from outside of Canada, the University’s customs broker Livingston International will need to clear your shipment through customs. Please see https://finance.ubc.ca/vendor/livingston-international for more information.

For urgent issues, please email bryan.antenor@ubc.ca and copy klaw@livingstonintl.com or call 604.374.2985

See the guidance for off-campus fieldwork activity.

For all research involving human participants, the guidance of the UBC Research Ethics Boards must be followed.  Since the COVID-19 situation is very fluid, their guidance will be updated to reflect current requirements. The requirements vary depending upon the policies of the reviewing/monitoring Board so please ensure that you contact the relevant board to ascertain current restrictions on continuation of your research.

Clinical research

All researchers conducting studies at any of the Health Authority sites must first and foremost, follow the directives of the relevant Health Authority.  These are being updated regularly.  The relevant Health Authority institutional approval offices should be contacted for additional information.

• VCHRI:  E-mail Stephania.manusha@vch.ca
• PHC: E-mail: Julie.hadden@ubc.ca
• C&W: E-mail: jprasad@bcchr.ubc.ca
• BC Cancer: http:www.bccancer.bc.ca E-mail: reb@bccancer.bc.ca

In addition to the advice received from the relevant institutions, UBC’s clinical REBs have developed operational advice.  This is being updated regularly.  The relevant Research Ethics Board administrative offices should be contacted for additional information.

• VCH:  https://ethics.research.ubc.ca/clinical-research-ethics E-mail:  Pia.ganz@ors.ubc.ca
• PHC: http://www.providenceresearch.ca/research-ethics E-mail: Julie.hadden@ubc.ca
• Children & Women’s REB: www.phsa.ca/researchethics E-mail: jprasad@bcchr.ubc.ca
• BC Cancer REB: E-mail: reb@bccancer.bc.ca or kristie.westerlaken@bccancer.bc.ca

BC’s clinical research ethics boards have developed a rapid ethical review process for Provincial clinical research pertaining to COVID-19.  For more information, see https://researchethicsbc.ca/rapid-review-process/

Please see Health Canada’s Notice to clinical trial sponsors on the management of clinical trials during the Covid-19 outbreak. Please contact your institutional clinical trials operations or your research ethics board for more information.

Clinical researchers should also be aware of the US FDA Guidance on Conduct of Clinical Trials of Medical products during the COVID-19 outbreak.

For all research involving human participants, the guidance of the UBC Research Ethics Boards must be followed.  

Behavioural Research

Detailed information about conducting research during the COVID restrictions is provided on the Behavioural REB websites:

BREB – Vancouver

BREB – UBC-Okanagan

Since the situation continues to evolve, please check these pages regularly for the most current information and guidance.

Effective immediately, the ACC is reviewing all submitted protocols, amendments and renewals and is continuing to expedite the review of all COVID-19 related protocols. Online training modules are available, and in-person training is being resumed with smaller classes. Animal Care Services facilities remain open, and will support a phased increase of animal research activities.

Plant Care Services will support the phased resumption of on-campus research. Please contact Taylor Scriber (taylor.scriber@ubc.ca) for greenhouse enquires or Glen Healy (glen.healy@ubc.ca) for field work enquiries.

 UBC Advanced Research Computing is available to provide consultation and advice regarding suitable data storage and access options.

PopDataBC operates a Secure Research Environment, which is a virtual space enabling secure storage of data. UBC Researchers can access a project-specific space that provides all the standard tools needed for research, including statistical software and office tools as well as an ability to export research outputs. During this period of research curtailment, PopDataBC is offering this service to researchers who are working with sensitive data who need a secure location that will help them continue their research remotely. Charges for this service will be waived during this period in the interest of supporting researchers. Please note that this service is not limited to people who request data through PopDataBC – it is available to all researchers. If you are interested or have questions, please write to SREinfo@popdata.bc.ca.

As the university has moved to remote work, learning and research, UBC IT has been able to enhance some software offerings. 

SPSS: IBM SPSS Statistics is an advanced statistical package software for Windows, Mac and Linux. UBC IT offers access to the IBM SPSS Premium license. This software license previously was only available for UBC-owned devices (referred to as ‘Network’ Licenses). A home use (standalone) license is now available to allow SPSS to be downloaded and installed on non-UBC owned devices. This is available to faculty, students (including student employees), and research staff and only for Teaching and non-commercial Research purposes related to UBC.

Additional details on SPSS and download instructions for home use are available here.

NVivo:  NVivo is now also available to UBC faculty and staff for download. The software was previously only available to students. Details on NVivo and how to download are available here.

Please note that devices must be compliant with information security standards.

• It is critical to ensure open and frequent communication among all lab members/personnel, highlighting that health and safety must come first.
• Ensure that anyone who can work from home is equipped to do so in line with UBC IT security standards; meetings should be held by Skype for Business or another platform rather than in person.
• Use the attached lab checklist to facilitate safe procedures.

We encourage the UBC research community to consider the following:

Communications Planning

• Is the contact information for your lab members up-to-date?

Compliance/regulatory

• Are there compliance or regulatory requirements certifications that may be impacted by a change in the location of your work?

Backing up data and records

• Which processes are automated or can be initiated remotely? Which require physical presence on campus?

Alternate location/working from home

• Do you have everything in place to access email/voicemail/network drives/web conferencing remotely and in compliance with information security standards?

Knowledge/Skills

• Would the absence of individual members of your team with specific skills or knowledge result in difficulties in your research program? Would cross-training, documentation or sharing of information mitigate this risk?

Sponsors

• Do any sponsored research agreements have procedures for requesting exceptions in the event of disruption (deadline adjustments, budget adjustments etc.?)

Contractual requirements

• Does your project or lab provide any services to external users that may be impacted? Is this documented in a contract and are there sufficient “out” clauses in the event your lab was not operational?

Monitoring of equipment

• Does any of your equipment need in-person monitoring (e.g. to ensure constant temperature) or do any of your materials require transference between equipment? Can any monitoring be done remotely?

Supplies

• Are there important supplies (consumables) that could lead to a disruption in your research program should their stock diminish? Are you able to maintain a greater stock of any important supplies to cover any disruption?

Hazardous Waste

• Are the appropriately trained members of your team available to handle hazardous waste?

The federal Tri-Agency funding bodies (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC)  are looking at a number of issues relating to grant applications and funding. We encourage you to visit the ORS website for major external funding deadlines and to check funding agency websites.

The federal Tri-Agency funding bodies have announced that non-refundable travel cancellation fees will be deemed eligible. Please see their announcement for more details. For other agencies, please visit their website or contact UBC Research Finance.

Pease visit the ORS website for updated information on Tri-Agency funding deadlines and project extensions. For all other funded research, please contact the Office of Research Services or University-Industry Liaison Office as appropriate.

Physical and secure PDF signatures require the form to be sent consecutively to multiple signatories. To support remote work, physical and secure PDF signatures can currently be foregone, providing that the completed RPIF and all email approvals from the faculty member, Department Head, Centre Director and ADR (as applicable) are sent as attachments in one email to the Office of Research Services or the University-Industry Liaison Office as applicable.

Please see our FAQ above for more information.

	Vancouver Campus	Okanagan Campus
Human Research Ethics	Laurel Evans	Lisa Shearer
Animal Care	Michelle Tan	Naomi Winckler
Plant Care	Taylor Scriber ( greenhouse enquires) Glen Healy (field work enquiries)
Sponsored research agreements	Mario Kasapi	Derek Gratz
Advanced Research Computing	Steve Cundy	Steve Cundy
All other questions	Helen Burt	Paul van Donkelaar