BRF Update Sept 2021
I hope the week has gone well. We have quite a lot of important updates for this month, please read on:
COVID-19 impacts
Unfortunately several of our team members have already been affected by the latest exposure sites and we have a couple of team members who at this stage have needed to test and isolate. The situation does change rapidly but it may affect our capacity for training and technical services so our team are working to reschedule any affected bookings, and will be in touch with updates for affected labs.
Recruitment updates
I am very pleased to announce that we have the following staff appointed to new roles, starting Tues 5th Oct:
Gemma Smith – HEW 4 animal technical officer, based in the breeding team
Monique Poli – HEW 4 animal technical officer, based in the experimental team
Both Gemma and Monique are both experienced technicians from within UQBR and we are very much looking forward to having them step up into these roles and expand their skills and experience further. Congratulations!
Internal transfers (moving animals from the breeding wing to the research wing at TRI)
Thanks to progress with recruitment and training of new staff we are now able to return to twice weekly internal transfers, starting this week. Transfers will be done on Weds and Fri at this stage, and the form to request transfers has been updated and can be found on the intranet here: https://www.tri.edu.au/intranet/internal-animal-transfers
Update on animal ethics processes
Please see attached an important update including the formation of an additional animal ethics committee at UQ, as well as updates to the MyResearch platform.
End of year shutdown/Christmas services
As per previous years, the BRF will have limited availability of services during the end of year shutdown and this year UQ has granted additional university leave days. From 20th Dec to 7th Jan the BRF will have limited/no availability for technical services/training and will be working to compress regular husbandry duties into a shorter time window, so additional charges (e.g. weekend/public holiday rates - exact rates TBC) will apply over this period and there will likely be delays in completing colony management breeding requests. If there is the possibility that you may have a need for any technical, colony management or other services above standard husbandry care over this period please email the relevant area coordinator ASAP with details so that we can work out logistics and feasibility.
Network outage
On Tues 5th Oct there will be network maintenance on Level 1 from 5pm to 6pm, meaning there will be no internet, intranet (including TOPS), T drive or email access. If this will create any issues please contact myself and the TRI IT team ASAP.
Mosaic
In the coming weeks there will be updates on the rollout of additional functionality, including the ability to record moving animals between cages and when animals are culled for experiments. If you work with animals in the facility and do not yet have access I recommend getting started and having an account set up in Mosaic. The BRF will be providing additional hands on training sessions to ensure all researchers have access and ease of use of the system – further details to come.
Details on setting up a Mosaic account can be found here:
https://biological-resources.uq.edu.au/mosaic-database
Note that you will need a UQ login to access this information. If you do not have a UQ login please complete this form and email to [email protected] so that we can organise a staff associate account: https://staff.uq.edu.au/files/35725/organisational-unit-staff-internet-access-form-2020.pdf
Workday
UQ is in the process of upgrading its HR systems to a new software platform (Workday). This is not expected to have any major impacts on the BRF’s operations or services, with the exception of additional administrative workloads as we learn and troubleshoot the new system.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to let us know.
