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UF Research Resumption Plan > Sponsored Programs Related Telework Activities

Sponsored Programs Related Telework Activities

The need and opportunity for telework offers unique venues for work productivity and professional growth using online tools and science connectivity. At UF Research we are concerned for the safety of our science workforce during the current pandemic while also intrigued with the notion that time away from the grind presents very real prospect for enhancing typical progress in our work. We at UF Research offer the following as suggestions for activities that advance research productivity while also keeping in active work status. While this guidance is directed to those typically working in laboratory, field or clinical research funded by sponsored programs, it is applicable to a wide range of research associated positions at UF. As a secondary support, we offer suggestions for administrative and financial staff to supplement and diversify their administrative and financial support responsibilities should that be necessary.

Technical, Laboratory & Field Personnel

  1. Document your technical duties, lab SOPs, and other documentations that typically get shoved to the back of the drawer:
    • If your lab didn’t have an emergency shutdown procedure, document the steps you have recently taken or are about to take to produce that SOP.
    • In turn, now take the time to document an SOP on how to reactivate your lab when that time comes (e.g. maintenance and calibration, gas levels, reagent supplies, etc.). This particular activity will take on increasing importance as the time away from the laboratory potentially increases.
    • Review EH&S GatorTracs: http://www.ehs.ufl.edu/programs/lab-research/gator-tracs/
    • Move traditionally paper records to electronic formats
  2. Participate in journal clubs and literature reviews (including setup Zoom/GoToMeeting/Skype Journal Club(s)). Most graduate programs will continue their journal club activities throughout each semester. Connect with the program administrators for access to the discussions.
  3. Write. It is likely that manuscript and other writing will take an outsized role in laboratory activities for the coming months. Join the group activities involved in preparing data for publication, writing papers and reviewing. Similarly raise your activities in the proposal writing of your laboratory.
  4. Formalize an approach to get deeper into the literature in your research field. Have a reading goal that is formalized with your supervisor and enhances the research in your unit. As a reminder you’ll need to use the off-campus access to the UF Libraries material.  See: https://cms.uflib.ufl.edu/offcampus
  5. Consult with your professional societies for online training, conference and discussion training options. Most large societies offer a wide range of online materials that are both historically recorded and scheduled for real time. (See for example: https://plantae.org/)
  6. Take Responsible & Ethical Conduct of Research training (see training section below)
  7. Review equipment manuals. For your current instrumentation download the latest operation manuals and do a formal update and familiarization.
  8. Update all applicable recurring and new training that may be required after research laboratories re-open. See section below for training suggestions for all staffing types.

Clinical Personnel

  1. Develop and Finalize SOPs for your Study Team: https://www.ctsi.ufl.edu/research/research-support/irb-consults/clinical-research-toolkit/
  2. Attend CTSI Clinical Research Professionals Daily “Zoom Room” Open House
  3. For more information on Clinical Research Professional Development and the DAILY “Zoom Room”, please email Holly Morris (hlmorris@ufl.edu), Bob Kolb (kolbhr@ufl.edu), or subscribe to the Clinical Research Professional listserv at CLINICALRESEARCHCOOR-L@LISTS.UFL.EDU.
  4. Attend virtual Research Coordinator Certification Study Groups: https://www.ctsi.ufl.edu/education/research-coordinators/research-coordinator-certification-study-groups/ for ACRP (Association of Clinical Research Professionals) or SOCRA (Society of Clinical Research Associates)
  5. Participate in Refresher Training Courses: Most OCR classes are available by Zoom. The few that were not convertible are available as “one-on-one” consults arranged between the individual and the instructor using the modality of their choice (e.g. phone, Skype, chat, email, etc.)
  6. Review the training section below for all jobs types

Administrative & Financial Personnel

  1. Document your duties and best practices
  2. Review University Research policies at: http://generalcounsel.ufl.edu/regulations-and-policies/
  3. Review DSP & C&G websites and the RAP portal: https://raportal.research.ufl.edu/
  4. Review UF Finance & Accounting Procedures & Directives: https://www.fa.ufl.edu/directives/
  5. Review sponsor regulations:
  6. Review online training opportunities from your professional societies. Many are available for free:
  7. Review training section below for all job types

Training Suggestions for All

As a first priority, to determine what training you are required to take we suggest you access the Research Training Utility at: https://research.ufl.edu/research-operations-services/rtu.html

In addition, links to available training resources for refreshers or new opportunities are available at:

Compliance & Administration Personnel

  1. EH&S http://www.ehs.ufl.edu/training/
  2. IACUC https://iacuc.ufl.edu/secure/
  3. IRB http://irb.ufl.edu/index/requiredtraining.html
  4. NIH IRB: https://grants.nih.gov/policy/humansubjects/training-and-resources.htm
  5. Export Controls: https://research.ufl.edu/compliance/export-controls.html
  6. Responsible Conduct in Research: https://research.ufl.edu/compliance/responsible-conduct-in-research-rcr-training.html
    1. UF is working with experts in responsible conduct in research to develop responsible and ethical conduct of research courses. More information to be available soon. See: https://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/stemrcr
  7. myUF Training: http://mytraining.hr.ufl.edu/
    • UF offers training in Research Administration, Finance, Internal Controls, Human Resources, Privacy, Data Security and more. While it is impossible for us to list every suggested course in this guide, we suggest consideration for those in the Research section (any course beginning with RSH) and the PRO3 series (see: https://learn-and-grow.hr.ufl.edu/courses-registration/pro3-series/pro-3-competencies/).  Use the library icon (image below) to identify courses by type.
    • In addition, review courses that must be renewed. To identify these courses, select your training transcript by selecting Self>Reporting>Training transcript. Update the date selection to ALL then look for courses with expiration dates.
  8. LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype, Excel, Adobe and other tools: https://training.it.ufl.edu/linkedin/

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