New York, USA: Enago, a global leader in editing and publication support services, recently conducted a comprehensive global health survey on research laboratories to understand how researchers all over the world are working in labs during the pandemic. This broad research labs survey is the third part of a series of Research Risk Assessment surveys. It was conducted over a period of 16 weeks between October, 2020 and February, 2021. The survey findings represent 1400+ researchers across 40 countries globally.
What Does the Global Health Survey Address?
This research labs survey addressed the following aspects among a few others:
- How well-equipped were laboratories to re-open in this current situation?
- What were some of the issues faced by researchers while working during these times?
- How effectively were researchers able to manage their work from home?
- What were the precautions individual researchers took while working/re-starting work in the laboratories during the pandemic?
Key Highlights of the Report
Research had gone into a halt when the pandemic struck the world early last year. But one year later, the situation is gradually coming under control and research has slowly and steadily made its progress forward, in most of the countries. A part of this progress in science included the re-opening of laboratories.
Re-opening of research laboratories was not an easy task though, especially amidst these times. There were several precautions that had to be kept in mind while entering, working, and leaving the laboratories. Besides these individual precautions, the labs themselves had to be equipped to re-open and let researchers work in there, safely. They also had to be well-prepared for any emergency situation that could arise while working in the lab.
In fact, there were several labs that remained open during the pandemic. Researchers had to work in shifts, causing inconvenience for most of them. Besides this, several other related issues like unavailability of samples, delayed delivery of samples, funding issues, etc. were faced during these times. There were also social distancing norms that had to be followed while working in the labs. None of these conditions or changes was easy on academics working in labs.
This global health research labs survey report also helped us get an idea of the impact this pandemic has had on research laboratories, globally. It enabled us to have a better understanding of the preparedness of the laboratories and the modified measures taken, exclusively to continue research during these times. This awareness is instrumental in propelling discussions around the possible innovations for research laboratories in this new normal.
We plan to conduct more such research risk assessment surveys and will keep our readers posted on all developments. For any survey collaboration or partnership inquiries, please contact us at academy@enago.com.
To read the complete 26-page report, please visit the Global Survey Report on Research Labs Health to download your copy.
