IN CONSIDERATION OF THE FOLLOWING:
the Statute of the Scuola Normale Superiore (the “Scuola”), issued with Director's Decree (D.D.) No. 202 of 7 May 2012, thereafter modified several times, concluding with D.D. No. 580 of 31 October 2019, published in G.U.R.I.-S.G. No. 273 of 21 November 2019, and, in particular, article 17;
the Prime Minister's Decrees of 8th, 9th, 11th and 22nd March 2020 containing “ Further implemental instructions added to Legislative Decree No. 6 of 23rd February 2020, “concerning urgent measures for the containment and managing of the COVID-19 epidemic”;
SNS Decree No. 142/2020, as well as the measures and procedures indicated in the attachments “A”, “B” and “C”, approved for tackling the COVID-19 epidemic within the context of the Scuola, in line with governmental instructions;
the Prime Minister's Decree of 1st April 2020 containing “Further implemental instructions added to Legislative Decree No. 6 of 23rd February 2020, “concerning urgent measures for the containment and managing of the COVID-19 epidemic”, extending the effectiveness of the instructions of Prime Minister's Decrees of 8th, 9th, 11th and 22nd March 2020 to 13th April 2020 inclusive;
SNS Decree No. 160/2020 extending to 13th April the effectiveness of the instructions included in the above mentioned D.D. No. 142/2020, brought out as a consequence of the approval of the previously mentioned Prime Minister's Decree of 1st April 2020;
the Prime Minister's Decree of l0th April 2020 containing “Further implemental instructions added to Legislative Decree No. 6 of 23rd February 2020, “concerning urgent measures for the containment and managing of the COVID-19 epidemic”, published in No. 97 of the Gazzetta Ufficiale of 11th April 2020, with effect from 14th April 2020 to 3rd May 2020;
the possibility to further extend the above mentioned SNS Decree No. 160/2020 should the prevailing national regulations aimed at combatting the COVID-19 epidemic be extended;
the need to extend the above mentioned Decree No. 142/2020 to 3rd May 2020;
and the need, especially in consideration of the experience of the past few weeks, to modify and integrate some of the measures indicated in the attached document under letter “A of the above mentioned D.D. No 142/2020,
THE DIRECTOR
HEREBY DECREES THE FOLLOWING:
Art. 1
D. D No. 160/2020 is further extended to 3rd May 2020 inclusive.
The decree can be further extended with a new D.D. should the prevailing national regulations aimed at containing and managing the COVID-19 epidemic be extended.
Art. 2
The attached document under letter “A” of D.D. No. 142/2020 is replaced by the attached document under letter “A” of the decree herein, in which the changes to the preceding text are highlighted in bold.
Art. 3
The decree herein is published on the on-line bulletin board and on the SNS site. It will be guaranteed maximum diffusion on the site.
The Director
Prof. Luigi Ambrosio (*)
(*) Decree digitally signed in accordance with the so-called Code of the digital Administration and inherent regulations.
Allegato “A”
Scuola Normale Superiore
PROVISIONS ADOPTED FOR THE COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY
ORGANIZATIONAL MEASURES
A) TEACHING ACTIVITY
1. All face-to-face curricular and non-curricular teaching activities, including language courses, seminars and other meetings with outsiders, are suspended, regardless of the number of students attending the activities.
2. Only distance teaching activities can continue.
3. Office hours, admission exams to the PhD courses, vivas of PhD theses and final exams are carried out online only.
4. In order to avoid the possible spread of COVID-19, students must not meet in groups to attend distance teaching lectures.
5. The lecturers are committed to following the students online to avoid slowdowns in their study careers.
6. Students with disabilities can arrange personalized teaching methods by contacting the Teaching and Students Office.
B) RESEARCH ACTIVITIES - LABORATORIES
1. Research activities continue to the extent that is compatible with the current health emergency situation and in absolute compliance with the health provisions in force.
2. Research activities at the labs continues only in compliance with the provisions defined by the managers of the laboratories themselves and in any case exceptionally for research that cannot be postponed. Access to the laboratories is allowed only and exclusively to personnel authorized by the managers of the laboratories themselves. Access to the laboratories is however barred to all those who are experiencing symptoms related to a respiratory infection and fever (greater than 37.5 ° C) and to people who have been in contact with the latter.
3. Any experimental activities must in any case be regulated by a special attachment attached to the risk assessment document (DVR) which takes into account the COVID-19 risk, as indicated by the Scuola’s Prevention and Protection Service (SPP).
4. Regarding missions, see point N).
C) CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
1. Educational visits to and from the Scuola are suspended.
2. Public events (conferences, training courses for outsiders etc.) already scheduled at the Scuola are suspended.
3. Where possible, some training courses for outsiders can be carried out via remote connection.
4. The cultural and third mission activities and events are carried out, for the entire duration of the lockdown and of the management of the epidemiological emergency, exclusively at a distance and delivered electronically and by means of the main social networks.
D) LIBRARY AND ARCHIVE
1. The Library and the Archive Centre are closed.
2. The loan service is suspended. Expiring loans are currently extended until 3 May 2020.
E) COLLEGES
1. The Colleges of the Scuola can be used exclusively by students who are not in a position to return immediately to their homes.
2. Students who do not belong to a specific College are not admitted to the latter, even if they are students of the Scuola.
3. Students who are not currently residing in the Colleges cannot return until the emergency period has ended.
4. Specific regulations define the rules of conduct that students residing in the Colleges of the Scuola must follow during the current health emergency period, with a particular focus on the use of common areas.
F) CANTEEN
1. The canteen distribution lines are closed.
2. Only delivered takeaway meals are provided to students who are still residing in Pisa.
3. Meals are delivered exclusively to students in quarantine at the Colleges.
G) MEDICAL COUNSELLING FOR STUDENTS
1. In compliance with the procedures established by the health authorities in relation to the management of the ongoing health emergency (at https://normalenews.sns.it/nuovo-coronavirus-informazioni-per-la-comunita-sns and at https://normalenews.sns.it/new-coronavirus-information-for-the-sns-community all communications and useful numbers are available), students who are still in Pisa can contact, by phone or e-mail, a doctor specifically appointed by the Scuola, to request health-related information. In order to manage the latter in a coordinated manner, an electronic request form has been prepared for students.
2. The Scuola delivers disposable surgical masks to students who are not resident in Pisa as available. The masks must be used according to the provisions included in the Ordinanza del Presidente della Regione Toscana n. 26 of April 6, 2020, summarized below:
a) use of masks is mandatory in closed, public and private spaces open to the public, in the presence of several people;
b) use of masks is also mandatory in open spaces, public or open to the public, when, in the presence of more than one person, social distancing is mandatory;
c) use of masks is not mandatory for people who cannot tolerate them due to particular psychophysical conditions attested by certification issued by general practitioners.
H) PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELLING
1. The psychological counselling service for students is suspended.
2. The psychological counselling service for students can continue exclusively through web channels to the extent that this is deemed possible by the professionals appointed by the Scuola.
I) MOBILITY AND PLACEMENTS IN ITALY AND ABROAD
1. With exceptions to be agreed on a case by case basis with the Teaching and Student Services and with the Internationalization Service, all authorizations for mobility programmes and placements, to be carried out in Italy or abroad, already authorised by the Scuola for the current academic year which have not yet begun, including the mobility programmes defined within the Erasmus + programmes and any other international mobility programmes, are suspended.
2. Applications for mobility for study or internship to be carried out in the academic year 2020/21 within specific international mobility programmes are regularly advanced in accordance with the relevant calls and, in these cases, the allocation of the programmes takes place under conditions and is subject to verification of the resumption of normal activity of universities and host institutions on the dates of commencement of the stay.
3. Applications for offsite study and research activities already submitted to the Faculties of appurtenance and not yet authorized will be examined as soon as it is possible, to forecast the end of the emergency period.
4. All ongoing placements are suspended, including those taking place at external institutions/companies, except for individual cases to be agreed upon with the Teaching and Student Service.
5. When the mobility programme has ended, students must return directly to their own homes (they cannot , therefore, return to the Scuola), notwithstanding the provisions of the guidelines of the Scuola regarding reimbursement of travel expenses. Pisa students must notify the Teaching and Students Service or the Internationalization Service, whereas Florence students must notify the Teaching Activities and Research Support Service or the Internationalisation service for specific programmes.
L) AUTHORITIES AND COMMITTEES
1. Authority meetings (including those envisaged in the Statute of the Scuola), committee meetings (including exam committees) and meetings of working groups can take place only if remote participation is ensured.
M) USE OF COMMON AREAS
1. Students, visiting students and similar cannot access lecture rooms, offices and common areas with the following exceptions:
• the common areas of the Colleges can only be accessed by students who are residing there, taking care to maintain an adequate interpersonal distance;
• the research laboratories can be accessed only for experimental activities in progress, in compliance with the provisions defined by the individual laboratories
2. Lecturers, researchers and fellows are strongly advised to continue their work from home, as far as possible, with the sole exception of experimental activities to be carried out in research laboratories, in compliance with the provisions defined by the individual laboratories and with those stated in point 3 of paragraph B.
3. The lecture rooms are available to lecturers for distance teaching lectures should they not have the possibility of connecting to the web from their home.
N) MISSIONS
1. All scheduled and/or authorized missions of academic and scientific staff in Italy and/or abroad are suspended.
2. The Deans, the scientific managers of the research projects and the structure managers of the Scuola are requested to evaluate alternative solutions to those that involve travel (by way of example: exams, committees and other meetings), possibly resorting to telematic tools.
3. For missions related to research projects, any additional costs due to well-proven causes of force majeure, must be deducted from the research funds themselves, if allowed by the relevant management regulations.
4. It is the duty of the interested party to request reimbursement of travel tickets from the relative carriers, as communicated by ENAC for air travel (https://www.enac.gov.it/news/coronavirus-covid-19-informazioni-ai-passeggeri) and by Trenitalia (https://www.trenitalia.com/it/informazioni/rimborso-per-rinuncia-al-viaggio-febbraio-2020.html) and by Italo Treno (https://italoinviaggio.italotreno.it/it/italo-informa/misure-iniziative-coronavirus-marzo) for rail travel.
O) CALLS
1. All call related procedures are suspended, with the exception of cases in which the assessment of candidates is carried out exclusively on a curricular basis or telematically.
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