Wednesday, 1 April

15:50

National COVID-19 lockdown and other updates

The latest campus announcement provides information about the national lockdown, updates by the UCT leadership, and an update about confirmed cases of COVID-19 at UCT. It also encourages members of the UCT community to check the COVID-19 feature page on the UCT News website.

Read the Campus Announcement.

14:00

Research and postgraduate work during lockdown

Although UCT has halted all research in the laboratory, studio or field, research remains as active as possible using communications and networking technology. For data-intensive research, UCT’s virtual private network (VPN) should be used to access campus systems.

Laptops will be distributed to identified students. Please complete the Student Access Survey, which will help the university understand students’ connectivity status and to prioritise according to need.

UCT is working to secure finances for postgraduates with time-limited funding, and the Postgraduate Funding Office will ensure that bursaries and scholarships are paid and applications for new and renewed funding processed. Universities South Africa and UCT are liaising with funders to secure funding for soft-funded researchers.

Principal investigators must please respond to an email from Research, Contracts & Innovation (RC&I) distributed last week about research contracts and the likelihood of delays.

While UCT is conducting innovative COVID-19 research to address this pandemic, it’s essential that the need for benefit doesn’t outweigh the risk according to regulatory processes and lockdown rules.

Read the DVC’s Desk.

12:55

Support for staff health and wellness

While university operations are continuing virtually and online wherever possible, the UCT executive wants to ensure that all staff remain healthy, both physically and mentally. The UCT Human Resources department has been working to further increase the availability of, and access to, counselling services to support the mental health of our staff through this period of lockdown and remote working.

Read the VC’s Desk.

10:15

Important: Student access survey & conditions for receiving a loan laptop

As the university leadership prepares to continue academic work in the context of COVID-19, it is vital that we understand your circumstances, and that we explain clearly how we as the leadership are able to help.

We are asking ALL STUDENTS to complete the Student Access Survey as soon as possible.

Read the DVC’s Desk.