Pandemic Relief Fund
To support primary tenure-track faculty whose work has been significantly disrupted by COVID, resulting in funding gaps, this special fund was created in response to collective input regarding concerns about forgone research funding and support.
Starting September 1, 2021, if you are facing or anticipating a funding gap due to COVID, you may submit a short questionnaire explaining how COVID has directly impacted your work and has created a need for bridge funds. Please note that this relief fund is meant to be distinct from other bridge funding options and will be administered through the Dean’s Office. We understand that the impact of COVID may be variable across different types of research and may depend on where you are in the promotion trajectory. As such, this mechanism is meant to be flexible, and all requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis. We will work with each faculty member who submits a request to determine level of support and timing. We also recognize that the negative impact of COVID may last beyond one year or may not present themselves immediately, so we will extend the availability of these funds over at least a two-year period, to cover AY 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Our hope is to provide critical support to those of you whose research productivity has been negatively impacted by the pandemic. Please email Dean for Academic Affairs Jane Kim directly at jkim@hsph.harvard.edu with any questions or concerns.
COVID review guidance
SCARP has been working on a set of protocols for incorporating COVID Impact Statements and review guidance into our existing faculty appointments review and promotions processes. You will receive formal guidance soon about how to draft and incorporate COVID Impact Statements into your academic reports and CVs.
In summary, this supplemental statement should describe any significant effects the pandemic had on your regular activities and plans, indicating ways that your focus or priorities may have necessarily shifted and articulating any deliberate choices you made to concentrate on specifically accessible opportunities and goals, given the constraints. It will not be necessary to explain why your work has been impacted (by describing specific childcare or health issues, e.g.), only to explain how (e.g., critical reduction in available working hours, inaccessible field site, loss of funding or unexpected new research expenses, etc.).
You’ll also be invited to highlight examples of innovation, training, additional mentoring or other service activities (e.g., clinical or first-responder service), new directions in research, or other unplanned but concrete accomplishments that came out of this period. A list of related resources is provided to assist you in reflecting on potential categories of impact and assessing extent.
Look out for an email to all primary faculty soon on what to include, and how to include it. Contact Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs Jennifer Ivers with questions ivers@hsph.harvard.edu.
