Corona-News

In the wake of the corona epidemic, the European Commission has postponed the registration deadlines for EU projects. A list of the new deadlines and important contact details are available on the website of the Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA).

According to information from the crisis management team of the city and city region of Aachen (as of March 31, 10:30 a.m.), there are 920 positive cases of corona infection, 463 of which are in the city of Aachen. Doctors of the public health department have determined that 322 persons who had previously tested positive for the virus are now healthy again. According to the guidelines of the Robert Koch Institute, a further smear test is only to be carried out exceptional cases, such as serious illness in hospital.

AStA has announced that the registration form for the make-up exams is open until 23:59 on April 13. The exams will be credited to the winter semester 2019/2020. Students should contact the student councils or exam planners in case of overlapping exams. Priority Master’s subjects will be easier to take in the summer semester. Registration for the summer semester is mandatory in order to take catch-up exams.

Experts assume that the next few weeks will determine what effects the corona virus will have in Germany and what restrictions in public life will still be necessary. RWTH sees the Easter holidays in particular as an opportunity to reduce its activities even more than before and has called on all employees to take a two-week Easter holiday if possible. This would further reduce the number of possible contacts among each other, which is seen as a further contribution to the containment of the virus.

During this time, RWTH will maintain operations in all relevant areas of the administration and ensure that all essential or urgent work in research and teaching can be carried out.

It is the express goal of the university to offer more digital services in the area of teaching and examinations in the coming weeks. Despite the existing restrictions on normal operation, this should enable courses to be offered by the beginning of the summer semester on 20 April 2020 at the latest and in some areas as early as 6 April 2020. The state of NRW grants this possibility to the universities: face-to-face lectures may only start on April 20, but online offers may already start on April 6. As a pioneer in the digitalization of teaching, RWTH also wants to use this opportunity for the benefit of its students.

RWTH therefore asks employees who are directly or indirectly involved in ensuring the operation as well as the creation of digital courses to understand that they cannot take any or only limited leave.

For all employees who do not take Easter vacation, it is of course still permitted to work at home as far as possible.

The Institute of Textile Technology at RWTH Aachen University has reacted to the lack of protective masks and created the “NeedMask” platform. A non-profit project for the procurement of protective masks in Europe aims to connect those manufacturers of masks with people who need masks. The goal is to establish a link between the demand and the supply of protective clothing, especially face masks.

The children’s university will also not be able to take place for the time being. The four dates of the first half of the year will initially be affected. Further information will follow as soon as more definite plans can be made.

The crisis committees of the City and StädteRegion of Aachen have opened a second municipal smear centre in the Tivoli in Aachen. The first one is located in Eschweiler. Up to 600 citizens per day can now be tested there. The facility in Eschweiler has already been running since 4 March. Very important: “All people who want to be tested must first call the telephone hotline on 0241/5198-7500. You cannot simply come to the smear centre. And even with a doctor’s referral, you have to call the hotline beforehand,” explains Andreas Nowak, head of the municipal smear centre. Deaf people can send an e-mail to KAZ-Leitung@staedteregion-aachen.de to get an appointment after testing.

Dr. Verena Bochat from the public health department of StädteRegion Aachen adds: “The two centres are intended to relieve doctors’ practices and hospitals of the burden of testing and to bundle information at the responsible public health department. Doctors’ surgeries and hospitals can thus concentrate more on treating patients, but can also continue testing themselves if need be”.

In view of the progressive spread of the corona virus and the associated effects on society, RWTH Aachen University has decided to cancel the festivities for its 150th birthday this year. “We find ourselves in a difficult situation where none of us feels like celebrating. There are much more important things than the birthday of our university”, explains the university’s rector, Professor Ulrich Rüdiger.

Even RWTH’s “Science Evening” in Berlin on 11 March 2020 did not take place. Now the university management and the anniversary steering committee have decided to cancel all further events for the current year. All other centrally organized RWTH events have also been cancelled for the coming months, including the university’s graduate party on September 5, 2020.

A later version of the anniversary events under the motto “Lernen. Forschen. Machen.” will be scheduled at another time, when the crisis situation is more manageable. Corresponding plans will be announced in due course. It has already been decided that the joint anniversary exhibition of the City of Aachen and RWTH, which was to be opened on 15 May 2020 at the Centre Charlemagne, will be postponed until winter semester 2021/22.

Originally, blood donation was to take place exclusively in the Couvenhalle (Kármánstraße 17 to 19) from 23 March to 17 April 2020. However, due to the distancing regulation of at least two metres that came into force at the beginning of the week, blood donation must be moved from the Couvenhalle to the Sparkassenforum SuperC, Templergraben 57. This new regulation applies for the present from 30 March until 17 April. The donation time is Mondays to Fridays from 11:30 to 17 o’clock. Today and tomorrow (26/27 March) donations can still be made in the Couvenhalle, but from 30 March onwards they will be made exclusively at Templergraben 57. Further information can be found here.

In Germany, BAföG regulations are changing. Anyone who is involved in the fight against the current corona pandemic in the health care system, in social institutions or in agriculture will be credited for the additional income only for the period of their activity. The German Bundestag today passed a corresponding amendment to the law. According to the current law, the total amount of earned income is credited against BAföG for all months of an approval period.

“In the current exceptional situation we must stand together and mobilise all our forces. If, for example, students with medical knowledge get involved in the healthcare system, this will be a valuable contribution to overcoming the pandemic crisis. We want to motivate young people and support them in this. To this end, we are amending BAföG,” explained Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek in a press release. The willingness of many students to work for our health system deserves support and recognition. It is also important, she said, that all BAföG recipients have clarity and planning certainty in the current crisis. “If schools and universities are closed due to the pandemic, BAföG will continue to be paid. I already clarified this in a decree a week and a half ago. Nobody should worry about their BAföG because of the corona virus,” emphasised Karliczek.