July 1, 2022
Handling of Research Activities from July 1 onward at Ritsumeikan University
In accordance with the revision of the Ritsumeikan University Action Guidelines in Response to COVID-19 (Business Continuity Plan, hereinafter BCP)1,the BCP for research activities has now been downgraded to Level 12. Please refer to the following for specific handlings. We kindly request your understanding and cooperation to ensure compatibility between research activities and prevention of the spread of COVID-19 infections.
This policy will be enforced from July 1 (Fri.) and effective until the end of BCP Level 1. Having said that, it may be subject to change depending on the infection situation.
Ⅰ．Research Activities on Campus
１． Research activities on campus
(1) Faculty and staff are permitted to conduct experiments and research activities at faculty offices and laboratories
with basic infection prevention measures.
(2) Matters stipulated in (1) above are also applicable to graduate and undergraduate students (hereinafter “graduate students, etc.”). It is also possible for graduate students, etc. to be involved in research activities as Research Assistant (RA) or a part-timer for research assistance.
(3) Faculty and staff must respect the will of graduate students, etc. who are reluctant to enter the campuses from the perspective of infection prevention, and should be duly careful not to force them to do so.
(4) Campus visitors involved in research activities shall be handled as equivalent to the above.
(5) For other cases where it is necessary to use facilities for individual reasons, please contact the Research Offices of the Division of Research (Research Office at Kinugasa Campus, Research Office at Biwako-Kusatsu Campus, Research Office at Osaka Ibaraki Campus, and RARA Office; hereinafter “Research Office”). Taking situations into account, we will coordinate with relevant offices and others.
1 https://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/news/covid19/bcp/
2https://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/news/detail/?id=708
BCP “Research Activities (faculty members, researchers, graduate students, undergraduate students)” Level 2: Having first enacted measures to prevent the spread of infection, they are permitted to conduct experiments and research activities at faculty offices and laboratories.
“Ritsumeikan University Action Guidelines in Response to COVID-19 (BCP)“
URL: https://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/file.jsp?id=459354&if=.pdf.
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２． Facility use for research activities
- It is possible to use faculty offices as per usual. When faculty members give advice on research and respond to questions from graduate students, etc., we kindly request to enact basic infection prevention measures.
(2) Facility use under the jurisdiction of the Division of Research (including those under Research Organizations)
- Handling facilities of research institutes/research centers under the jurisdiction of the Division of Research (including those under Research Organizations), a person in charge of facility use shall use them, having first enacted basic infection prevention measures.
- To use facilities such as workshop rooms, etc. that need application for use, please follow the normal procedures. Please enact basic infection prevention measures when using the facilities.
(3) Facility use under the jurisdiction of Colleges, Graduate Schools, or the Division of Academic Affairs
- Handling a facility under the jurisdiction of Colleges, Graduate Schools, or the Division of Academic Affairs shall be based on the handling regulated by the Division of Academic Affairs.
(1) Thoroughly enact basic infection prevention measures (e.g. maintain sufficient distance from each other, wear a mask, wash hands thoroughly, ventilate facilities, disinfect doorknobs).
(2) Considering the situations of each facility, make plans for facility use to avoid the “Three Cs” of closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact settings, such as a plan for taking turns.
(3) Disinfect research facilities and equipment, especially areas that are touched by hands of multiple persons, such as terminal operation screens and switches, as needed. Moreover, reduce areas to be touched by hands, for example, by keeping doors open at all times if the nature of an experiment allows.
(4) When multiple persons need to operate simultaneously, take measures such as wearing a face shield, or shielding from one another with a transparent plastic curtain.
(5) From the perspective of preventing the spread of infection, Ritsumeikan University requests all to self-manage their health condition by taking their temperature before leaving home (before school and before work), and record their activities, and recommends to use the Contact-Confirming Application (COCOA), etc. The University has also prescribed the handlings of the cases where you have or may have been infected with COVID-19, or you have had or may have had close contact with someone infected. For details, please refer to the Manual for Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 (2nd edition)4 or the Ritsumeikan University Guidelines for Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 (2nd edition)5.
3 For details, please refer to MEXT's ”Guidelines for Ensuring Compatibility between Preventing Infection Expansion and Conducting Research Activities (revised on October 6, 2020).”
URL: https://www.mext.go.jp/content/20201007_mxt_kouhou01_mext_00028_01.pdf[in Japanese only]
4 Let’s Start a New Campus Life!: Manual for Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 (2nd edition)
URL: https://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/file.jsp?id=472363&if=.pdf
5 Ritsumeikan University Guidelines for Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 (2nd edition)
URL:https://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/file.jsp?id=472362&if=.pdf
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Ⅱ．Operation at Administrative Offices
Offices under the Division of Research carry out administrative duties with the counter open in staggered working hours and by enacting other measures to prevent the spread of infection (we would kindly ask for your cooperation to wear a mask when coming over). At the same time, as an effort to reduce face-to-face handlings during the period in question, we kindly request you to contact us by email to the person in charge at each office as much as possible
(https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/research/member/inquiry/in00.html/)[in Japanese only].
1． Ordering, acceptance inspection, expense settlement, etc.
(1) Ordering
- If the amount is less than 100,000 yen, it is possible for faculty members or researchers themselves to order and receive not at the University but at home during the period in question. Payment method will be reimbursement. Please pay in advance and obtain a receipt and a document of the transaction details.
(2) Acceptance inspection
- Research Offices and the subcontract company conduct acceptance inspection.
- To reduce face-to-face contact, we accept inspection by images as well during the period in question. Please take photos of the name, number, and the model number of the received goods and send them to the person in charge at the relevant Research Office as email attachments.
(3) Expense settlement
- To claim reimbursement, please submit the receipt attached with a document of the transaction details (in case you need to submit the “Requisition for Reimbursement Payment (Tatekaebarai Seikyu-sho),” please submit it as well). We can handle it at the counter at the relevant Research Office, but it is also possible to submit them by post, via campus mail service, or as email attachments to the person in charge, specifying the budget to execute.
*When submitting as email attachments, PDF receipts, receipts displayed on the web, or “credit card statement (photocopies acceptable)“ do not need to be signed or sealed. The“Requisition for Reimbursement Payment“ does not need to be sealed, either.
*Paper-issued receipts must be signed or sealed, and the original must be sent by post or via campus mail service, not by email.
- Please submit bills to pay for an agent, attaching vouchers such as photos for acceptance inspection.
(4) Work of part-time staff, including student part-timers
- Monthly attendance sheets can be submitted as email attachments (without being signed or sealed by employee or manager) from the supervising faculty member to the person in charge at the relevant Research Office when they finish their work for the month. The manager, after having verified the contents of the submitted employee attendance sheets, shall submit them to the relevant Research Office.
- Working from home of part-time staff, including student part-timers, is permitted when it satisfies the requirements and scope prescribed in the Ritsumeikan University Regulations on Faculty and Staff Members’Working from Home. Please give consideration to appropriate attendance and labor management by, for example, communicating via phone, email, etc. at the start/end of work.
Please ascertain schedules of screening committees in advance before submitting applications for research-ethics screenings. If you would like to have individual consultations, please contact the person in charge at the relevant executive office by email.
３．Research consultation regarding application to open recruitments, research exchanges, etc.
If you would like to have research consultation regarding application to open recruitments such as public research funds and foundation grants, or research exchanges with external institutions, please contact the person in charge at the relevant Research Office by email.
Ⅲ．Official trips and events
Official trips, events on campus, and entrance to campuses by non-University personnel shall be handled in accordance with the above-mentioned Ritsumeikan University Action Guidelines in Response to COVID-19 (BCP)6.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 “Ritsumeikan University Action Guidelines in Response to COVID-19 (BCP)“
URL: https://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/news/covid19/bcp/
- Domestic official trips: There are no restrictions on domestic official trips and in-campus meetings, but they shall be held online, etc. as necessary. Regardless of the descriptions in the BCP chart, official trips to regions subject to a state of emergency and regions where it is requested to voluntarily refrain from traveling due to the spread of infections shall be refrained in principle.
- Overseas official trips: For overseas official trips, the head of the relevant department shall decide whether or not to travel to regions where Level 2 has been issued. As a rule, overseas official trips are prohibited to regions where the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set the infectious disease risk at Level 3 or higher. As an operation outside of the principle, however, the officer in charge may be allowed to decide whether or not to travel, after comprehensively taking into consideration the necessity of the trip, the infection situation in the destination region, and the outlook for safety measures and safety assurance at the time of travel and during local activities.
- Events (on-campus): Events can be held, in accordance with guidelines, etc. for holding events issued by the government/local municipalities, having first enacted basic measures to prevent infection.
- Entrance to campuses by non-University personnel and their activities within the University: Campus visitors shall be handled as equivalent to faculty and staff members, or students and others depending on the purposes, etc. of entering the campus and the nature of their activities.
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【Inquiries regarding research activities】
During the period, staff in charge may not be available due to staggered working hours or for some other reasons, so please make inquiries by email in principle.
*The person in charge will reply to received emails.
| Contact | ||
| Research Office at Kinugasa Campus | liaisonk@st.ritsumei.ac.jp | |
| Research Office at Biwako-Kusatsu Campus | liaisonb@st.ritsumei.ac.jp | |
| Research Office at Osaka Ibaraki Campus | oicro@st.ritsumei.ac.jp | |
| Office of Effective Research Environment Management |
Safety Management | anzenka@st.ritsumei.ac.jp |
| Research Ethics | b-rinri@st.ritsumei.ac.jp | |
| Office of Research Planning and Development | res-plan@st.ritsumei.ac.jp | |
| RARA Office | rara@st.ritsumei.ac.jp | |