Question reference: S5W-30284
- Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 29 June 2020
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Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 16 July 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the British Neuroscience Association’s recent survey into the challenges facing researchers as a result of COVID-19, what efforts it is making to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the neuroscience research sector.
Answer
The Scottish Government has established strategic and operational groups focussed on enabling health research studies which were paused due to Covid-19 to reopen as quickly and safely as possible. In respect to funding of research staff in NHS Scotland, as well as providing additional service support and generic infrastructure funding to meet the pressure of Covid-19 the Scottish Government is allocating the normal level of funding to support research infrastructure. In addition the Scottish Government has moved to support researchers funded by Chief Scientist Office (CSO) grants and fellowships paused due to Covid-19 by putting in place a system of funded and no-cost extensions and by publishing this advice on the CSO website