Ressort Presse

• von Ulrike Bohnsack
• 30.04.2020

UDE will start carefully loosening the strict restrictions, starting from 4 May. ‘We will gradually loosen restrictions, starting with selected units and with a view to the required precautions to minimise risks’, the University Board stressed. An action plan for operations will be communicated in the first week of May. It will cover workstations, public access, protective material and its use, among other things.

The first restrictions to be loosened concern the library and research activities. Even though individual regulations will be revised step by step over the next few weeks, operations at UDE will continue in a reduced manner, with work-from-home regulations remaining in place until 31 May and teaching being conducted in digital form (hybrid semester).

In many respects university operations are subject to requirements defined by the federal and state governments, which can change rapidly depending on developments in the coronavirus crisis. For instance, the Corona Protection Ordinance for NRW (CoronaSchVO) has recently been updated and the Ministry of Health of NRW has issued a new general directive. Among others, these legal requirements serve as a basis for the guidelines and concepts developed by UDE management. Some questions are yet to be answered, e.g. how online examinations can be conducted in a legally compliant manner.

University Library

UDE students will be happy to hear: starting on Monday, books can be borrowed and returned once again at the branch libraries with the largest number of holdings, LK (Duisburg) and GW/GWS (Essen). You can also order media from other branch libraries, which continue to be closed, to these locations.

However, the University Library cannot be used as a place for learning yet. The opening hours are initially limited to Mondays to Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and only students and employees will be granted access.

In order to limit contact to a minimum, access control will be in place. Thus, it will be ensured that not more than 40 visitors will be using a branch library at the same time.

Moreover, media can only be borrowed and returned via the self-service stations. The information counters and the e-Point are not staffed. Information is provided by telephone or e-mail. Further information, also on the protective measures applied at the University Library, will soon be available here: https://www.uni-due.de/ub

As we expect a large number of visitors on the first day of opening (4 May), the library would like to request that you postpone your visit to one of the following days if it is not urgent. And: ‘Please make absolutely sure that you keep a distance of 1.5 metres from the person in front of you in queues.’

Examinations

The examinations that had to be cancelled in the winter semester are to be rescheduled in June. UDE is currently developing a concept for this purpose. The examination dates will be communicated in due time.

Research:

Externally funded projects, final theses, field studies: Research being suspended is a great problem for everyone involved. The University Board does not assume that unrestricted research operations will be possible this semester. However, it has discussed under which conditions research can be conducted and which types of research work are a priority with UDE’s research commission, in which a virologist from the University Hospital is involved, and with the faculties.

General regulations for laboratory work will presumably be defined in the course of the first week of May.

Face masks

Initially, it will not be mandatory to wear protective masks throughout the university. However, it is recommended that you cover your mouth and nose on traffic routes inside buildings (corridors, staircases, lifts).

Different safety requirements apply to work situations where the safety distance cannot be kept as well as in laboratories and departments that have direct contact with the public. More detailed information will be provided in the action plan for operations, which, as mentioned above, will be published soon.

Work-related travel

Domestic work-related trips are permitted if it can be proven that travel is essential for the matter at hand. International travel is still not allowed.

What will remain unchanged?

• The currently applicable work-from-home regulations will remain in place until 31 May. Over the next few weeks, decisions will be made as how a gradual return to working in the office can be organised.
• The shuttle bus still does not run.
• With the exception of the branch libraries specified above, the buildings will remain locked. The canteens and cafeterias will also remain closed.

Further questions?

For further information please refer to the websites of the individual units, our news blog and our corona information pages: https://www.uni-due.de/de/covid-19/index-en.php