Community Data Science Lab (NU) Pandemic research plan

Northwestern CDSC Pandemic Research Plan

Response plan (prepared and submitted to the university)

Occupancy assessment

Identify each room in your lab and assign a maximum occupancy based on our guidance to maintain at least 6 feet of distance between people and workstations.

The maximum occupancy of the lab space (Frances Searle Building, Room 2-419) is 1 person.

Social (physical) distancing

Staying at least 6 feet away from other people and avoiding working face to face reduces the chances of catching COVID-19. In the space below please explain how you plan to implement social distancing in your laboratory.

We plan to conduct all research work, meetings, and collaboration remotely until a full return to campus becomes possible. This will ensure the maximum possible degree of physical distancing in conjunction with our research, which does not require in-person data collection, analysis, or interaction.

Individual lab personnel may occasionally want to access the lab space to retrieve personal items such as books or supplies that may be stored there. Anyone who accesses the space will be expected to disinfect any handles, surfaces, or materials that they interact with during their visit and send an email to the group email list serv to notify others of the timing of their visit at least 24 hours in advance.

Activity tracking

Explain how you will use a shared document to track which members of your team are in the lab at any given time.

Our research group maintains a shared wiki and we will create a page on the wiki dedicated to communicating this pandemic research plan as well as announcing and tracking any lab visits as needed. All lab personnel planning to visit/access the lab space will be required to record and announce their visit plans at least 24 hours ahead of time via this wiki page and our research group email list. The wiki page preserves accurate records of all edits and can thus serve as an effective public tracker.

Cleaning and disinfection

high-touch surfaces must be cleaned frequently, and not less than twice a day. High-touch areas include (but are not limited to) light switches, keyboards, doorknobs, and telephones. In the space below, please describe your method for regularly cleaning these areas within your lab and office spaces.

Note that because our lab space will be vacant and unoccupied, we plan to disinfect/clean surfaces only in the event that lab personnel make a visit to the space. Every visitor will be required to maintain the use of a facemask during their visit and confirm that they clean the following items using an appropriate disinfectant cleaner upon entering and exiting the space:

• Door handle
• Door keypad (lock)
• Light switch
• Any surfaces or materials inside the space that are touched, handled during the visit.

Face coverings

Face coverings must be worn at all times while on the Northwestern campuses. Please describe how face coverings will be utilized by your lab group.

Masks will be required for the duration of all visits to the lab space. As no routine work will be occurring in the lab and any visits will be brief/temporary, there is no reason to allow unmasked work in the space.

Gatherings

At this time, no gatherings are allowed on the Northwestern campuses. This includes lab meetings, lunch gatherings, journal clubs and any other gatherings of people regardless of numbers. In the space below please detail how you will prevent gatherings in your lab group. You must describe your plan to hold lab meetings, ensure staff breaks, and account for any other gatherings that are required for your research.

We will continue to conduct all work and lab activities remotely. Any and all gatherings will thus continue to occur online via video conferencing or similar systems.

Communication

please describe how you will communicate this plan to your lab staff and what method of ongoing communication you will use to ensure any modifications are effectively communicated to the staff. Additionally, PIs are responsible for ensuring laboratory staff complete the “Pandemic Essentials: Research on Campus” training module in MyHR. Please describe how you will communicate this training requirement with your lab staff and ensure completion.

Our research group maintains a shared wiki and we will create a page on the wiki dedicated to communicating this pandemic research plan as well as announcing and tracking any lab visits as needed. All lab personnel planning to visit/access the lab space will be required to record and announce their visit plans at least 24 hours ahead of time via this wiki page and our research group email list. The wiki page preserves accurate records of all edits and can thus serve as an effective public tracker.

The PI will create and monitor the wiki page immediately upon submission of this research plan. The PI has also invited input, feedback, questions, and discussion on this pandemic plan from all lab personnel prior to submission. The PI will confirm completion of the "Pandemic Essentials" training module via email and in upcoming (remote) group meetings. Any lab personnel found to be out of compliance with any aspect of the plan (including the completion of the training module) will be prohibited from conducting research on any lab supported projects or systems until they have scheduled and completed a debrief meeting with the PI to discuss the compliance breakdown and received written email confirmation from the PI that they have permission to return to lab research.