University of Bath reacts and adapts to the global pandemic

The University of Bath community has been reacting and adapting to the pandemic through its student support, research and community engagement. The alumni community, including its US Foundation, raised over £45K in just three weeks to help students facing financial difficulties due to COVID-19.

Supporting the local community, our engineers have made over 28,000 pieces of PPE for medical staff, with alumni and partner organisations providing essential materials, whilst staff at the city’s hospital have been given free access to University-owned accommodation in order to isolate from their families. Meanwhile students who headed home before the UK’s lockdown commence donated items to the local foodbank and the Students Union provided support for regional third sector organisations.

Our academic researchers have received funding to assist the UK’s rapid response to the crisis – by building innovative devices to access the lungs and by collaborating with doctors and policymakers on behavioural change techniques for infection control behaviours. In addition, our Centre for Business and Society has highlighted the human cost of the economic crisis and the global supply chain and researchers from the Centre for Healthcare Innovation and Improvement (CHI²)have developed and disseminated an open source computer tool to help health care organisations with decisions around surge intensive care capacity.

With teaching moving exclusively to online delivery, staff have also provided content for external stakeholders, including a free online autism course with advice for parents facing difficult situations during lockdown. The University’s Institute for Policy Research launched a virtual pairing scheme to help policymakers navigate coronavirus priority areas, School of Management academics offered advice on working from home and our Sports Scientists were featured in the New York Times for their research which shows that regular exercise benefits immunity even in isolation.

Finally, the University’s political scientist Brad Evans has curated ‘The Quarantine Files’ for the LA Review of Books, bringing together some of the world’s leading thinkers to help make sense of the coronavirus crisis.