Before the outbreak of the corona crisis, which led to the closure of all buildings on the TU/e campus, there was still some six weeks’ worth of work waiting for the EPC staff, according to director Wim Peters. He says that his staff members could continue to carry out work from home during the past weeks, for example making drawings and designs, and writing software. “The products we couldn’t make ourselves because the workshops were closed, were produced by external companies that, unlike us, were allowed to continue to work,” Peters says.

There is a lot of material currently lying around waiting for his staff - and Peters says they can’t wait to get to work again for their clients. “This week, the workplaces in Matrix will be made corona-safe. Practically all assignments can be performed by one person, so keeping a distance of 1.5 meters won’t be a problem. There will however be fewer EPC staff members present on the work floor daily than under usual circumstances. The usual number of staff members, including people working in the offices, is approximately forty. That number will be somewhere between twenty and twenty-five after we reopen.”

Priority

PhD candidates who need the EPC’s efforts to complete their research will be given priority, the director says. “They can arrange that in consultation with the team leader at the EPC with whom they had contact before. People who want to be given priority should submit a request via mail. This does mean however that other, slightly less urgent assignments will be pushed back to a later date.”

Peters can’t say at this point whether work will continue during the holiday period in July and August. “We normally continue to do some work during that period as well, but whether we will do more work this year also depends on how matters will further unfold as far as research conducted by PhD candidates and other researchers at TU/e is concerned.” Incidentally, EPC staff members have the opportunity to decide for themselves whether or not they want to go back to work in Matrix, Peters concludes.