COVID-19 or coronavirus is here and every one of us is taking action to reduce the impact it has on our
families and communities. We’re washing our hands, we’re staying at home, we’re thinking of those who are
most vulnerable. But many of us may have additional roles to play.
While institutes of education are winding down activities, the HSE is ramping up its efforts in
contact tracing and SARS-CoV-2 testing. Those with expertise in research administration and laboratory
techniques may be needed.
Though we are not directly affiliated with the HSE or any HE institution in Ireland,
we would ask that scientists in Ireland consider offering their help to the following initiatives.
Please follow the links below to contact them directly.
To inform us of any new initiatives for laboratory scientists and researchers, please contact scientistsoncall@gmail.com
We are asking all healthcare professionals from all disciplines who are not already working in the public
health service to register to be on call for Ireland.
We will be creating extra hospital and care beds and will need extra hands to provide the care that’s
needed. We need your help to meet the challenge that’s ahead.
Maybe you aren’t a healthcare professional, maybe you’re studying to be one, or maybe you have other skills
to offer or just want to volunteer to do your bit if needed.
Hopefully we won’t need to call, and if we do, we may not need every one of you. But knowing you are there
if we do will make all the difference.
To get more information about being on call for Ireland, go to our sign-up page.
You can read more about the people we need, how this will work, and fill in the enquiry form.
What about non-healthcare professionals?
If you are a retired or a student healthcare professional student, we would still be interested in hearing
from you. If you are not a healthcare professionals but you have other skills to offer, we are also
interested in hearing from you.
More information
An urgent request from the Minister for Health in regards to the potential availability of
scientists to assist in the national action against Covid19 at DAFM Laboratories in Backweston, Co. Kildare.
They are specifically looking for persons to assist in:
- Data entry – this is “clean” work that is to be done using scanned copies of the forms that are submitted with specimens; the original forms will remain within the level 3 bio-containment laboratory where packages are opened and sample prepared.
- Sample preparation – this is work for any laboratory staff who have experience in sample handling and dealing with biological risks (and preferably have experience of working at biosafety cabinets and of pipetting) – this work will be done under DAFM /NVRL supervision within a level 3 bio-containment laboratory.
- PCR testing – this is work for laboratory analysts/scientists with experience of PCR testing or other molecular biology techniques – this work will be undertaken under DAFM /NVRL supervision in a conventional BSL-2 laboratory using specimens in which any virus will have been inactivated during sample preparation.
Please send the following details to Ewen Mullins who will collate all information.
Name
Position (Research/Technical/Student)
Skills/Experience
Contact details (Email/Phone)
Area to support (Data entry/Sample prep/PCR testing)
Any queries email/call Ewen directly (087 2924555).
This is likely a full-time position to cover 24/7 shift patterns to maximise output.
It is possible that accommodation will be provided nearby. Please be aware that you may be handling coronavirus-positive swab samples in biosafety level-3 conditions.
An urgent request from the Minister for Health in regards to the potential availability of
scientists to assist in the national action against Covid-19 at Enfer Group in Naas, Co. Kildare.
They are specifically looking for persons to assist in:
- Data entry – this is “clean” work that is to be done using scanned copies of the forms that are submitted with specimens; the original forms will remain within the level 3 bio-containment laboratory where packages are opened and sample prepared.
- Sample preparation – this is work for any laboratory staff who have experience in sample handling and dealing with biological risks (and preferably have experience of working at biosafety cabinets and of pipetting) – this work will be done under DAFM /NVRL supervision within a level 3 bio-containment laboratory.
- PCR testing – this is work for laboratory analysts/scientists with experience of PCR testing or other molecular biology techniques – this work will be undertaken under DAFM /NVRL supervision in a conventional BSL-2 laboratory using specimens in which any virus will have been inactivated during sample preparation.
Please send the following details to John Clarke who will collate all information.
Name
Position (Research/Technical/Student)
Skills/Experience
Contact details (Email/Phone)
Area to support (Data entry/Sample prep/PCR testing)
Any queries email/call John directly (086 811 5710).
This is a full-time position to cover 24/7 shift patterns to maximise output.
It is likely that accommodation will be provided nearby.
Please be aware that you may be handling coronavirus-positive swab samples in biosafety level-3 conditions.
The ACSLM are reporting shortages of viral lysis buffer.
Reagents for testing are in huge demand. If anyone in the science community
has any to spare, could they please send a DM to
the ACSLM twitter account. Míle buíochas.
Alternatively, contact: the ACSLM by email.
This is a coordinated effort from scientists throughout the EU and South America to crowdsource additional scientific expertise for labs researching Covid-19.
How does this work?
A small group of coordinators receive requests from COVID-19 researchers, and identify other scientists who can fulfill those requests. You can be one of those scientists (or become a coordinator, if you have the right skills and are willing to make that commitment).
What kind of tasks will I perform?
It depends a lot on your skills and availability.They may contact you to ask a very specific question related to your discipline, or to ask if you know someone else who can answer it. Other tasks are time intensive, such as manually curating or transcribing data.
More information for volunteers.
More information for Covid-19 researchers.
Contact the core team.
As a result of the increased laboratory workload due to the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, the
ACSLM are compiling a register of volunteer laboratory staff.
More
information
Join this Open Source Ventilator Project to give your time and expertise to help develop low-cost ventilators
to fight #COVID19. 3D printing and testing is underway so all help is welcomed. Fast action needed.
More
information here or contact directly on Twitter
We are going to be helping the National Virus Reference Lab with their unprecedented amount of testing at
present. If you have any students interested can you please ask them to email ndoyle@altesting.ie as soon as
possible. There is no experience needed as all staff will be trained as some of the work is very manual and
will not require lab experience.
Contact: Noel Doyle
Dear Colleagues,
The HSE is urgently looking for volunteers from IT Sligo to take part in contact tracing during this
national emergency. They have two areas of request:
1. Clinical/Nursing/Health Disciplines
2. People with experience in Research, Admin, Data.
Contact Tracing is a hugely important part of the delay process as it helps identify people who have been in
contact with a person with Covid19 who can be quickly told to self-isolate until testing. By identifying
those in contact we can help slow the spread of the virus. The role requires people to interview those
affected by phone and entering the information into a database with further follow-up calls to those in
self-isolation.
If you can help, please fill out the form below. We will need as many people as possible. Thank you.
More
information
We are requesting that any relevant Science graduate - i.e. Health Science, Medical Science, Biopharm
Science graduates who are available for work to please consider a request from the Department of Health for
assistance in the response to the Coronavirus crisis.
The Department of Health are looking for relevant personnel to help with contact tracing and the training of
non-clinical personnel in the area of contact tracing.
Contact: Sarah McGauley