Regretfully, we are announcing the closure of all buildings under DPAG effective from noon on Friday 27 March. This includes the Sherrington Building, which houses the Burdon Sanderson Cardiac Science Centre, the Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, the Centre for Integrative Physiology and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology (formerly the Oxford Centre for Gene Function), the Le Gros Clark Building, and the Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, which is housed in the Tinsley Building on Mansfield Road. No entry will be permitted with the exception of those individuals required to carry out essential services. Our dedicated Facilities team, assisted by a band of DPAG volunteers, will be responsible for managing these services.
Our department is contributing to the national effort by providing both key pieces of equipment for testing for COVID-19 and personnel. Many of our staff and postgraduate students will be continuing their day-to-day work from home, while our medically trained staff have been re-deployed to our hospitals in the fight against the virus.
Head of Department Professor David Paterson says: "I have been so impressed by the professionalism you have all shown. We are all in this together, and it is often a time of crisis that brings out the best in people. I have not been disappointed. This Department is rated the best in the world by subject. We are now being called upon to help the people of the United Kingdom, which we must do."
Discussions are taking place throughout the University and colleges to identify how we can deliver teaching and examinations in an online format in Trinity Term. Plans are being formulated to ensure that our students will be able to continue their studies and continue or complete their degree. The University is also developing plans to accommodate the disruption to A-level studies that our next intake of undergraduates will experience in the coming months.
The University of Oxford COVID-19 research hub features regular updates about the latest research publications and longer-form pieces covering the many ways Oxford is approaching this pandemic.
Funding for Oxford's COVID-19 research requires unprecedented speed, scope and ambition and anyone wishing to fund the university's efforts can donate here.
We continue to encourage our departmental members to keep an eye on the University's advice and updates page.
Internal information for DPAG staff and students is available on a dedicated page on the DPAG intranet (SSO required).
For more information please contact communications@dpag.ox.ac.uk in the first instance, and we can direct your enquiry to the appropriate team.