Back to the Lab
Re-Starting MIDAS Experimental Work
Labs at all MIDAS partner institutions are now slowly beginning to re-open, with rigorous social distancing and health and safety measures in place to ensure that researchers can undertake their work with minimal risk. One of our MIDAS Research Associates, Rhys Thomas, has written about his experiences of going back into the labs on the University of Manchester site, here.
In order to maintain safe working, only a small number of people are presently permitted to return to the labs, and there are limitations on movement between buildings. This has presented significant logisitical challenges, including that of simply moving samples from A to B to C to undertake planned experimental work. Through working as a team, however, we have overcome many of these challenges. One of MIDAS’s core principles, for example, was that our Research Associates would each bring unique expertise to the programme, and would work across Key Challenges, instead of focusing on a very specific, niche area. This approach has reaped benefits, we could never have anticipated when writing the initial proposal, in that it has enabled us to achieve coverage across a large number of labs and techniques at all partner sites, allowing work to start-up quickly and cooperatively as access restrictions ease. Furthermore, the members of the team more experienced in the use of certain equipment and experimental techniques have been able to support those with less experience, many of whom cannot yet return to the labs themselves, thus ensuring that everyone has been able to make some level of progress during this period.
As well as returning to labs at MIDAS partner universities, the team is making arrangements and preparations to return to the use of active facilities at NNL and MRF, working in partnership with colleagues at both sites to find innovative and flexible ways to continue work without compromising safety.
“Although a large part of my job requires work in the laboratory, the inability to do this over the past few months has allowed me to catch up on other important parts of my role including analysis and writing.”
MIDAS’s team working has also provided an infrastructure and support network during the tightest lockdown period and beyond, helping to ensure that no researcher feels isolated during this difficult time. As highlighted by Rhys, regular meetings and online social events have continued throughout at all partners, and we are holding an increasing number of smaller and full-group MIDAS meetings online, as we achieve a new level of fluency and comfort with remote communication.
We will also be shortly launching a MIDAS Seminar Series. This will begin online, and while we may eventually host speakers in person the option to join online will remain, allowing a wide audience to attend and participate without the time and financial cost of travelling to be there in person. Further details on the seminars will be posted here when confirmed.
Inevitably, as with virtually all global research activity, Covid-19 has had, and will continue to have a significant delays and impact on the work we have been able to undertake. Working together, however, the MIDAS team and its stakeholders have been able to mitigate this adverse impact, and even find new and creative ways to drive the programme forward.