For many, the welcoming in of 2021 has been as much about bidding good riddance to 2020 as it has been about looking forward to the prospect of significantly fewer restrictions on our lives, hopefully by early summer.
The return to a new lockdown is a sobering reminder of how precarious a position we continue to find ourselves in, and how unpredictable the course of the pandemic continues to be.
And while last year was the most difficult many of us have ever faced, I think – even now, when we are in the grip of further restrictions – we should take a moment to reflect on 2020 and recognise the strength, resilience and endeavour we showed, and use this experience to give us optimism as we begin this latest trying time.
As a region, we can take heart from how the north-east has risen to the challenge – the NHS staff, the key workers, the volunteers, the good neighbours and many more. Within the University of Aberdeen community alone there are hundreds of stories of individuals going above and beyond in order to help others and to raise money and spirits, and this was replicated across the country and, indeed, all over the world.
As an institution we are particularly proud of our students who had to deal with very difficult circumstances at the start of the academic year in September. Our international students who arrived from overseas adhered to strict quarantine rules in order to protect their fellow students and the wider community. Others were required to self-isolate after either contracting Covid-19 or having been in close-contact with others who had.
I think it’s worth remembering that many of these students were away from home for the first time – and although the university supplied them with support, free food and made regular calls to ensure they were coping – I don’t think any of us should underestimate the strength and consideration they showed by adhering to the restrictions and self-isolating in order to protect others.
Graduating early to serve NHS
As a research-intensive university and with a leading School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, our staff and students have also been on the front line in the fight against Covid-19. Many of our staff in the medical school increased their NHS hours to bolster the workforce and we gave over our Suttie Centre to allow essential training for new and returning staff.
I was deeply moved when I watched our medicine graduates take their oaths, after opting to graduate early, so that they could volunteer to support the fight against the pandemic. In addition, there were of course the dozens of Covid-related research projects undertaken – from understanding how the virus works, to the effects of cancelled appointments on vulnerable individuals and much more besides.
The weeks before the winter break brought some positivity as well, with the creation from scratch of a student asymptomatic testing centre in just two weeks – a massive undertaking from many of our staff and the students who came forward with offers of help to run it. The fact that more than 4,000 students booked in for voluntary tests is testament to their sense of social responsibility.
There’s no doubt that the introduction of another lockdown has serious social and economic consequences for all of us. Nevertheless, this lockdown should be endurable because we now have vaccines available that provide a way out of our current problems. The very fact that these vaccines have been developed within a year is truly a triumph for global scientific endeavour, and shows what the best collaborations between universities, industry, governments and the NHS can achieve for our collective benefit. We now need to match this scientific achievement with an organisational and managerial achievement that enables the vaccines to be provided quickly, and at huge scale, to the parts of our community in greatest need of protection from the virus.
Refreshing and inspiring
While it may seem far off just now, I dearly hope that as 2021 unfolds – and only when it is safe to do so – we can start to see the gradual return of the elements that help to make the university campus such a refreshing and inspiring environment.
Until then the university will continue to provide education and undertake research that makes a positive difference to the world around us, and to
We are an institution that is grounded in the north-east of Scotland. Our responsibilities as an institution at the heart of the community, that supports the livelihoods and learning of thousands of staff and students, could not be clearer in the context of the current pandemic.
Professor George Boyne is principal and vice-chancellor of Aberdeen University
