Guidance from the RHS for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Last Reviewed: 23 March 2020

This document was updated on 23 March to give additional information about funding, and the closure of the RHS office.

The current novel coronavirus outbreak is a rapidly-developing international situation, which will cause significant ongoing disruption. This guidance is intended to support Royal Historical Society (RHS) staff, Council members and grant recipients.

Updates to this guidance will be posted on this page.

The largest proportion of the Royal Historical Society’s non-staff expenditure takes the form of support for early career researchers (PhD students and recent recipients of the PhD). The RHS is committed to supporting these scholars during what we realise is a very challenging time nationally and internationally. Please bear with us as we work to adapt our standard policies to accommodate this set of exceptional circumstances.

Additionally, during the novel coronavirus pandemic, we are exploring ways to re-direct the funding usually allocated for travel to conferences and archives/libraries—which is not currently feasible for researchers to undertake. Instead, we hope to facilitate research undertaken remotely and/or research activities that promote historical researchers’ exchange of ideas and wellbeing during this unprecedented peacetime crisis.

Our priorities at this time are to ensure that a) no-one feels under pressure to put their own or others’ wellbeing at risk for RHS-related or funded work and b) individuals don’t incur significant personal expense related to RHS-funded activities as a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Royal Historical Society Staff and Council

• During the current outbreak RHS staff, and members undertaking RHS business, are working from home, and at flexible hours as necessary. The RHS’s physical office is closed until further notice.  Caring responsibilities, limited access to resources, and personal circumstances may mean that responses to queries may take longer to answer than usual. Please bear with us in these exceptional circumstances.
• RHS-sponsored meetings and events will be postponed, cancelled or moved from physical to virtual locations as appropriate until it is considered safe to resume group and large group meetings. It will take some time for us to determine an indicative schedule, and changes will inevitably occur over time.  We will endeavour to provide updates in a timely manner.  In the meantime, an archive of podcasts and videos of past events can be found here: https://royalhistsoc.org/category/rhs-video-archive/.
• If any RHS staff or Council member develops symptoms of COVID-19, they should self-isolate and follow up-to-date NHS guidance: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/.
• If any RHS staff or Council member develops symptoms of COVID-19, or has had contact with a confirmed case, the RHS will follow government guidelines: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/guidance-for-employers-and-businesses-on-covid-19.
• In any event, current government and NHS advice should be followed and may supersede this guidance.

Visitors to the RHS

• The RHS office is now closed until further notice, and RHS-sponsored events have been postponed, cancelled or moved to virtual spaces. The guidance below pertains to any visits made to the office or to RHS-sponsored events prior to Friday 20 March.
• If, within fourteen days of attending our office or one of our events, a person tests positive for COVID-19, or subsequently self-isolates as a precaution, we ask to be notified by email: [email protected].
• Visitors to the office/events who have recently travelled to/from the places identified by the NHS as being at increased risk are asked to notify us: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/advice-for-travellers/.

Recipients of RHS Research Expenses grants and Conference Travel grants

• If a recipient of a personal RHS grant has not already booked travel and accommodation for research or to attend a conference, they will be allowed to delay their research plans for up to 12 months (or until the date of a rescheduled event) and still receive full funding;
• If a grant recipient has already purchased travel and accommodation before 16 March 2020 and these cannot be refunded, the RHS will:
  • not request the return of any expenses already claimed from the RHS;
  • where at all possible, honour its commitments to reimburse individuals if other avenues of refund (e.g. insurance and credit card company) have been exhausted.

Recipients of RHS Conference organisation grants

• Conference organisers are welcome to postpone events for up to 12 months and still receive full funding;
• If a conference is delayed or cancelled and non-refundable travel or accommodation costs for conference speakers have already been booked, the RHS will cover the costs initially provided for if other avenues of refund (e.g. insurance and credit card company) have been exhausted.

Please let us know of any changes or send any queries or requests for reimbursement to Imogen Evans, RHS Administrative Secretary by email: [email protected].

Future Funds for Rescheduled Research and Conference Trips, and RHS sponsored events

• As the situation improves, the RHS will assess the impact on its funded activities. While we cannot yet guarantee to be able to provide additional funds at a later date to support re-scheduled events, we will do our best to provide opportunities for new or top-up applications.
• We will make such decisions at a later date, contingent upon funds being available.

New applications for RHS Funding

• New applicants should continue to apply to our funding streams as usual if a scheme is currently advertised on our website.
• We are actively considering new ways of supporting early career History researchers during the current crisis and if feasible will channel funding into one or more interim schemes to support virtual research and ECR wellbeing during the current crisis. Please continue to visit our website, and follow our Twitter account @royalhistsoc for latest updates.

Please direct any queries or communications regarding this guidance to Ms Imogen Evans, RHS Administrative Secretary by email: [email protected]. Please direct other enquiries about RHS business to [email protected].

Wishing everyone all the very best.

The Society provides the following funding programme for historians who are more than 5 years on from completion of their PhD, and who are members of the Royal Historical Society. This programme runs annually. Follow the link for further details, including timetables for applications.

Mid- and later-career historians are also eligible to apply for the Society’s annual Workshop Grants and Jinty Nelson Teaching Fellowships as well as the Society’s Funded Book Workshops, launched in 2023.

If you wish to join the Society before making an application, please consult the appropriate membership categories via the Join Us page.

Open Research Support Grants

Open Research Support Grants are available to all historians who are more than 5 years on from completion of their PhD. They enable researchers to undertake activities such as visiting archives and historical sites or conducting interviews. Open Research Support Grants may also be used to support travel to academic conferences.

Open Research Support Grants are intended to support historians (working within and beyond Higher Education) who do not have access to any funding streams, or whose access to funding is insufficient to undertake crucial elements of their research. Open to all members of the Royal Historical Society who are more than 5 years on from completion of their PhD.

All enquiries about Research Funding should be sent to the Society’s Membership and Grants Officer at: [email protected].

HEADER IMAGE: Society Couples Dancing, Johann Theodor de Bry, c.1580, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, public domain.

Please complete this form to submit an event you wish to promote on the RHS External Events listing.

We welcome events relating to History within and beyond Higher Education. These may include details of: lectures, seminar series, conferences, symposia, exhibitions and calls for papers, among others. Please note that calls for papers will be listed by the deadline for submission of papers and not of the conference itself. If you wish to advertise the resulting conference, please submit a second request.

Listing is not an indication of the Royal Historical Society’s support for an event, and we remind organisers of the recommendations in our reports on Race, Ethnicity and Equality and Gender Equality: events in the discipline should be diverse and inclusive.

Please note that all submitted events will be listed on our External Events Listing within a week of submission. However, due to the number of submissions each week, they will only appear on the email circular nearer to the date of the event.

The Royal Historical Society

Privacy and Data Protection

Updated 7 May 2020

Introduction

The Royal Historical Society is a company incorporated in England and Wales with the registered charity number 206888, whose registered office is: University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT.

The Royal Historical Society is committed to upholding and respecting your privacy. This policy explains how we use the personal data that we collect for the purpose of administering our membership categories, funding schemes and prizes.

Please read this information carefully.

How to Contact Us

If you have any questions about the Royal Historical Society’s privacy policy, the data we hold on you, the length for which we hold data, or you would like to exercise one of your data protection rights, please do not hesitate to contact us FAO the Executive Secretary.

• Email: [email protected]
• Telephone:  +44 (0)20 3821 5311
• Post: The Royal Historical Society, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT

Changes to this privacy policy

We regularly review this policy. Any updates will be made on this web page. This privacy policy was last updated on 1 May 2020.

Why do we collect personal data?

Personal data refers to the any information relating to you that enables you to be identified either directly or indirectly. In the United Kingdom, the use of personal data is regulated by the Data Protection Act (2018).

The Royal Historical Society relies on the lawful basis of our processing of personal data being necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests.

The Royal Historical Society collects and processes your data so that we can:

• administer our schemes for membership, fellowship or funding, and manage this membership for its duration;
• administer prizes and events and carry out other initiatives organised solely or partly by the RHS;
• work with authors to develop publications;
• appoint to honorary, paid and voluntary positions within the RHS;
• email you with information about RHS activities, events and notices and opportunities that we think will be of interest;
• maintain our historical archives for the purpose of historical research;
• carry out our stated mission to represent, promote, advocate for and support the historical community;

Special Category Data

Through our online applications system we collect special category data within the lawful basis of legitimate interest under the condition of explicit consent. Any personal data coming within special category data (e.g. relating to gender, age, disability, racial or ethnic origin) will only be used for the purposes of monitoring diversity and equality. It will be stored confidentially and any analysis will be undertaken anonymously and with disaggregated data.

If you wish to withdraw your consent for the Royal Historical Society to hold special category data about you, please do not hesitate to contact the Executive Secretary.

How do we collect Personal Data?

The Royal Historical Society collects and processes personal data in the following main ways:

1. Information automatically collected about visitors through our websites. This includes:

• IP address;
• Web browser type and version;
• Operating system;
• A list of URLs starting with a referring site, your activity on this Website, and the site you exit to.

2. Data provided directly by individuals such as when you:

• register with our online submission system, submit an application for, and/or are elected to, one of our membership categories;
• register online to apply for one of our funding schemes;
• are entered for one of our prize competitions;
• nominate either yourself or a colleague to a position within the RHS;
• propose or accept an invitation to publish with us;
• contact us via our email, website or social media channels;
• register for or take part in an event hosted solely or in part by us, whether online or in person.

The personal data we collect commonly includes:

• name
• contact information including email, postal address, and phone number
• institutional affiliation and status
• “special categories of data” including information about gender, age, ethnicity, religion may be requested with your explicit consent for equalities monitoring purposes.

Who do we share personal data with?

The Royal Historical Society will not sell any personal data to third parties.

The Royal Historical Society will only share personal data with third-parties who

• supply the online systems that are used for the purposes of administering our services.
• are involved directly in the running of RHS activities  including working groups, prize committees and assessing funding applications.

Basic factual information (such as name, institutional affiliation, membership of any committees, Council or working groups may be made publicly available on our website for reasons including:

• accuracy of meeting minutes and published reports;
• notices of publications, prizes and grant awards;
• records of events and other conferences that we host may also include the names of those attending;
• providing authorial credit.

Transfers of personal information outside the UK

Data which we collect from you may be stored or processed in and transferred to countries outside of the area covered by EU GDPR legislation, for example if our servers or service providers are located in a country outside this area. If personal data is transferred in this way, we will aim to ensure that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this privacy policy e.g. through the receipt of a written guarantee of GDPR compliance.

How long do we store personal data for?

Data security is of great importance to the Royal Historical Society, and to protect your data we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial safeguarding procedures. We store personal data for different amounts of time, depending on the purpose:

• In the case of data provided in the course of administering membership and fellowship, the Royal Historical Society will keep your data for as long as you remain a Member or Fellow.
• Basic personal data (such as name, date of birth and contact details) from funding applications and unsuccessful nominations will be kept in order to confirm eligibility for future funding scheme applications.
• Data that is necessary for financial audit purposes will be kept for 7 years.
• When personal data is collected for other specific purposes (e.g. participation in an event, survey or temporary funding scheme) we will provide clear confirmation of the data retention period at the point the data is collected.

What are your Data Protection Rights?

The Royal Historical Society would like to make sure you are fully aware of all of your data protection rights. You are entitled to the following rights in relation to the data that we hold about you:

• The right to access– You have the right to request copies of your personal data. We may charge you a small fee for this service.
• The right to rectification– You have the right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request that we complete any information you believe is incomplete.
• The right to erasure– You have the right to request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
• The right to restrict processing– You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
• The right to object to processing– You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
• The right to data portability– You have the right to request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.

If you make a request within these rights, we have one month to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact the Executive Secretary of the RHS by:

• Email: [email protected]
• Telephone:  +44 (0)20 7387 7532
• Post: The Royal Historical Society, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT (please note that during the exceptional circumstances of COVID-19 we are not currenttly able to access the RHS offices)

Password Access

If password access is required to access certain parts of the Website, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential.

Cookies

Cookies are text files placed on your computer to collect standard Internet log information and visitor behaviour information. When you visit our websites, we may collect information from you automatically through cookies or similar technology. For further information, visit allaboutcookies.org. The Royal Historical Society may use cookies to:

• Keep you signed in
• Understanding how you use our website
• Improve your experience of using the Website and to improve our range of services. Before the Website places Cookies on your computer, you will be presented with a message bar requesting your consent to set those Cookies.

You can set your internet browser to not accept cookies; however certain features of the Website may not function fully or as intended.

Marketing

The Royal Historical Society would like to send you information about our services, events and publications that we think you might like. If you agree or register on our websites to receive these emails from us, you have the right at any time to stop us from contacting you for these purposes.

If you no longer wish to be contacted for these purposes please contact the Executive Secretary by email at [email protected].

Privacy policies of other websites

The Royal Historical Society websites contain links to other websites. Our privacy policy applies only to our websites, so if you click on a link to another website, you should read their privacy policy.

How to lodge a complaint with the appropriate authority

Should you wish to report a complaint with respect to this privacy policy or if you feel that the Royal Historical Society has not addressed your concern in a satisfactory manner, you may contact the Information Commissioner’s Office via their website: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/.